13. The Way We Fall

Book #13: The Way We Fall

Author: Megan Crewe

Published: January 24, 2012

309 Pages

4 gold stars

(summary from Goodreads)

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn’t?

It starts with a itch. Then you start sneezing. Then you get super friendly with your neighbours but none of them want to go near you because you're sick. But how do you say no to someone that's smiling and saying everything you want to hear? Well if you're smart, you find a way. Megan Crewe has taken a small vacation island and turned it into the breeding ground for a new virus. Our heroine, Kaelyn, wants to help in anyway she can but it's not as easy as it seems. Told through a series of letters to her friend Leo, who is no longer living on the island, we follow Kaelyn's journey as she discovers the virus, sees the virus and feels the virus affect everyone around her.

She breaks my heart and I was rooting for her the entire time. The journal entry format made this book hard to put down. With its fast paced, action packed plot, with every turn of the page you wonder if she'll make it to the end. Her emotions are real and heartfelt and her reactions to the terrifying events taking place around her are believable. The minor characters react in every way you would think people might react in a situation like this. Some get angry and try to fight their way off the island. Some get even more angry and try to kill the virus through violence. Some hide, hoping to survive. Some help where they can to help others survive. Some die trying. A lot of the characters are too calm at points, points where I know if this was happening to me, I'd be screaming or too terrified to leave the house. But I'm not as brave as Kaelyn, I guess, who in the light of danger and death, keeps a cool head and continues to struggle to survive. She's not a quitter, that's for sure.

I'm excited to read the sequel, now that the virus is spreading it will be interesting to see what Crewe does to advance this new disease. Her voice, dialogue and descriptions put me right onto the island with Kaelyn, and wondering when or if I will ever make it to the other side.

"Most people think the scariest thing is knowing that you’re going to die. It’s not. It’s knowing you might have to watch every single person you’ve ever loved – or even liked – waste away while you just stand there."