Rebecca Raine

My mind is not overflowing with words like it often is after reading a book I have thoroughly enjoyed, but I feel I can't really move on to my next literary adventure until I've said something.

This book was a surprise. I wasn't expecting what I got, but it was unexpected in the best of ways. I'm not a cold person but it generally takes a talented author to bring out the more intense emotions, and it doesn't happen often. I'm glad to say The Harder We Fall was a beautiful exception.

Numerous times, as I read, I found myself sniffling and wiping tears from my eyes. During my last 90 minutes or so of reading, I wound up with a pile of tissues next to me. Since that hardly ever happens, it's worth noting when it does, and I simply had to let anyone who reads this review know that while this was my first book by this author, it won't be my last.

Beautiful, heartbreaking, and everything I look for in a story about loss, love, and healing, this is a book that deserves to be read.… (mehr)

This was alright. I liked the research/experiment aspect but the romance was kind of iffy and it was way too long. Logan was okay but I didn't really have any strong feelings for him. He was pretty self-aware which was kind of ironic since Patrick was kind of dumb. For all Patrick's a PHD psychology student, he has no clue about people and he's not too aware of himself for all his say so. I mean it was pretty obvious he was into guys. The root of the sick feeling he gets was pretty bloody obvious as well. For someone who prides himself on knowing himself and being authentic - he failed to see the blatantly obvious - that he had a traumatic experience and all subsequent experiences lacked trust. The romance between him and Logan drags though. It races ahead and the slows down and then just stalls and I didn't care enough about either of them to move past it.

I did like the idea of Patrick's PHD research into the concept of living authentically and owning your truth though. The idea of a framework that individuals could use to explore and use to find answers to those questions was interesting. And I liked the conclusions he came to namely asking himself who he would choose to be if he wasn't afraid? If nothing else, finding that gem made reading this worth it. 2.5 stars.… (mehr)