Fall to Pieces, by Vahini Naidoo

Ella is struggling to get over the death of her best friend Amy.  The worst part of the whole situation is the whole group, Ella, Amy, Petal, and Mark, were together that final night, the night that Amy jumped, and yet Ella just cannot remember what happened.  She has a distinct feeling that her friends are lying to her, and with the help of a mysterious new boy in town, Ella is determined to chase her memories into dark and dangerous places all in the hopes of remembering.

This book can be summed up in two words: smoldering intensity.  Seriously, this book is really dark, and bittersweet.  All I could think of as I read it was this was sort of like Fight Club for the teen set.  The storyline deals with so many heavy issues, like suicide, sexuality, eating disorders, emotional neglect.  There is a lot going on here.  The characters really leap from the page.  My heart just broke for Ella with every turn of the page.  I really rooted for Ella throughout the entire story.  The ending was not what I anticipated, and I really felt Ella's emotions come through. The writing is honest, and raw; several lovely phrases throughout the text really stuck with me.

My only real concern with the book is the intended audience.  It is marketed for readers 14 and up, but I honestly think it is a little too dark for younger teen readers, and would recommend readers be at least 16.  There is a lot of instances of teen drug and alcohol use, as well as some pretty rough language, so this is best left to mature teen readers.

I received a review copy courtesy of Amazon Vine in exchange for my honest opinion.


If you liked this review, please rate it (and others!) as helpful on my Amazon profile. My Amazon Profile