Review: Falling Together by Melissa De Los Santos

Title: Falling Together
Author: Melissa De Los Santos
Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: October 1, 2011
Source: Library

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're looking for a friendship story.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "What would you do if an old friend needed you, but it meant turning your new life upside down? Pen, Will, and Cat met during the first week of their first year of college and struck up a remarkable friendship, one that sustained them and shaped them for years - until it ended abruptly, and they went their separate ways. Now, six years later, Pen is the single mother of a five-year-old girl, living with her older brother in Philadelphia and trying to make peace with the sudden death of her father. Even though she feels deserted by Will and Cat, she has never stopped wanting them back in her life, so when she receives an email from a desperate-sounding Cat asking her to meet her at their upcoming college reunion, Pen goes. What happens there sends past and present colliding and sends Pen and her friends on a journey across the world, a journey that will change everything."

My Two Cents:

The premise of the book was intriguing; I always like a good friendship story. I've also liked Marisa de los Santos' previous books (Love Walked In and Belong to Me) so picking this one up from the library was a no brainer. Unfortunately, something didn't work for me. Okay, a couple somethings did not work for me. This book was really hard for me to rate (it was between a 2.5 and a 3 star rating).

Pen doesn't seemed to have moved on from missing her college friends. Cat decided that sh...moreThe premise of the book was intriguing; I always like a good friendship story. I've also liked Marisa de los Santos' previous books (Love Walked In and Belong to Me) so picking this one up from the library was a no brainer. Unfortunately, something didn't work for me. Okay, a couple somethings did not work for me. This book was really hard for me to rate (it was between a 2.5 and a 2 star rating).

Pen doesn't seemed to have moved on from missing her college friends. Cat decided that she, Pen, and Will needed to part ways with each other after they had been so close all throughout college. This was the first thing that didn't work for me. Why would you part ways with people you still care about. I agree that sometimes we grow out of our friendships but to cut off a friendship when it still seems healthy and positive just seems weird. Then there were two. Pen and Will parted ways after their mutual trust was broken (this seemed more realistic to me). Fast forward six years later and they're summoned to their college reunion by Cat's husband, who Pen and Will both hated in college because Cat has run off. This also seemed off to me. If Cat's husband had addresses for Pen and Will, why wouldn't he just call to tell them about Cat?

Through a series of events, Pen and Will find out that Cat has run off to a far off country so obviously, they jump on a plane to find an old friend that essentially and unceremoniously dumped them. Oh and Pen brings her five year old daughter with her because that's totally something a normal person would do instead of leaving her with her brother, who figures heavily into the story, or another family friend or her daughter's father.

I guess what it comes down to is that I didn't understand the motives of the various characters so this book didn't seem cohesive to me. I'd skip it!