Not really a romance but a story of survival of a young woman and her children from an occult and her impact on her previously unknown father and his wife
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I was very torn about how many stars to give this one. Four seems too little but it doesn't quite reach five for me. All Fall Down is a stunning story about cults, religion, family and choice. I was drawn into this lovely book from the first page and could hardly force myself to look away.

This book follows the lives of Sunshine (and her children, Happy, Peace and Bliss), Christopher and Liesel. Sunshine and her kids have just escaped from a cult, moments before the rest of the members commit suicide. Sunshine turns up at the door of her father's house, and he and his wife don't hesitate in taking her in. She is scared and vulnerable and it shows so well. The emotions in this book are so well written I had no problem empathising with the characters. By the end of this book, I was completely invested emotionally and willing everything to go right for the characters.

There are many heart-racing moments in this book. Naturally, Sunshine and her children have a difficult time adjusting to the world outside and being around ''blemished'' people. They have to relearn social norms and forget everything they've been told before. I thought Christopher and Liesel did a wonderful job of being supportive and caring even though it clearly would not have been easy.

This book really makes you think about the dangerous situations people find themselves drawn into it. There are some crazy ideas in that sanctuary that Sunshine came from and it was fascinating watching her trying to separate what was real from what she had been lied to about. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who enjoys adult literature with a focus on family and I look forward to reading more from this author! ( )

I absolutely adore the cover of this book. It's so simplistic yet ominous. It's the perfect cover to signal that something not quite right is going to happen in the novel. The storm clouds are gorgeous. Gah, I just love the cover. Kudos to the designer. So I remember reading the synopsis when I requested this novel but until I started reading it, I completely forgot what it was about.

What I really liked about this novel was the characterization. I especially loved the characterization of Liesel. I loved that Hart didn't shy away from the way many women would feel after marrying someone whose been divorced... the "other" woman never truly goes away and I think sometimes writers don't show that side of the relationship. Hart dared to go there and explore those feelings and it turned out so well for Liesel's characterization. I also thought she handled Liesel's desire to have children against Sunny and her children showing up and the subsequent challenges of motherhood or maybe in this case, grandmother-hood.
Sunny was another character that I really liked. Hart did a great job showing us how Sunny grapples with this entire lifestyle she grew up in versus the "real world." I imagine it would be as difficult in real life as it is for her in the novel. I like that she recognizes that some of the things she was taught was wrong but that some of the things she was taught could also still be considered right. This novel is an interesting look at religion/cults/organized groups but it doesn't go into a whole lot of detail.
I thought the most obvious tension of Sunny showing up on her father's doorstep when he didn't even know she existed was done fairly well. Christopher reacted much how I think most men would have reacted.
The writing was also very well done and it was a fairly quick read. I'm a huge fan of ambiguous endings and this one aligned right in my fav type of endings.

Liesel and Christopher kind of annoyed me with their shifting personalities. I didn't even feel like they really loved each other. One minute they were fine and the next they were not. It just felt like they'd change moods but there wouldn't exactly be good textual evidence as to why they should have changed or acted like that. Just made for a few confusing spots.
In my opinion, things started to kind of fall apart toward the last part of the book. It's like Sunny's relationships that were going so well seemed to just stop. There was a reintroduction of a character from her past and I know that had something to do with it, but to me, it didn't seem like enough to make up for how everything seemed to just stop. This made for the last couple chapters to seem rushed/abrupt and not quite the best they could have been.

Overall, I thought this was a quick, easy and enjoyable read. I liked Hart's writing style and the ease with which the book flowed. I recommend this book for Contemporary Adult lovers or anyone looking for a different kind of read. I'd say Megan Hart is a mixture of Jodi Picoult and Kristin Hannah.

**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ( )

Liesel is a happily married woman. She and Christopher have a good relationship and a good life, but Liesel is beginning to want more. She wants children. Sunny has only known the compound. She isn't happy, but she isn't exactly unhappy. The last thing she expects is to leave the only family she's ever known and start anew. Liesel and Sunny both struggle with new obstacles and strive to remain steadfast in All Fall Down by Megan Hart.

Liesel knows that her husband Christopher doesn't really want kids, but the last thing either of them expects is to have Sunny arrive on their doorstep with three small children in tow. Bigger surprise is that Sunny is Christopher's child from his first marriage. She's only nineteen years old and has three children ranging in age from four to eight months old. Liesel wants to make the best of an obviously awkward and bad situation and welcomes Sunny or Sunshine and her children, Happy, Peace and Bliss. Sunny isn't quite sure how to deal with these new changes and desires the simple family life she's always known. She didn't relish the punishments or lack of food, but she openly accepted having someone tell her what to do, at what time and where. She even allowed the leader John Second and others to use her sexually and father her three children. When Liesel, Christopher and Sunny realize the family at the compound has committed mass suicide, or "entering the gate" as Sunny puts it, they all realize there is no going back.

Becoming a mother, or even a stepmother and step-grandmother, overnight with little forewarning and preparation is a bit more than Liesel expected. She quickly becomes overwhelmed and stressed out. It doesn't help that Christopher isn't home much and she's run off her feet. There are major adjustments to be had on all sides with Liesel and Sunny making the major adjustments. Sunny must learn to accept her newfound freedoms, but she yearns for more. She's also feeling a certain amount of survivors’ guilt because she was left behind.

After reading the first chapter, I presumed that this was not going to be a happily-ever-after book and was waiting for some major tragedy to occur. Ms. Hart keeps the reader twisted emotionally with the guilt and stress felt by Liesel as well as the guilt and bewilderment experienced by Sunny. Both women are trying to fit into some preconceived mold of what is normal. The stresses they both deal with are primarily stressors that they impose on themselves and they both find themselves lacking. This is the true tragedy. I found All Fall Down to be a quick read that, fortunately, does end on a hopeful note with both women learning from the other. ( )

hought provoking book on cults and those who leave to join them as well as those who leave and try to adjust outside. Sunny and her three children are sent away by her mother and told to go to her real father, who she never knew existed. Not understanding, but used to obeying she does just that. The next day she finds out that everyone else from the cult have committed suicide, or rather left their earthly vessels. Trying to explain, what to me is unexplainable, Hart does a very good job showing the problems of adjustment, for herself and her three children as well as the father who never knew he had a daughter, and her new stepmother Liesel. I absolutely fell in love with "Happy" who is the four yr. old child and through him we see how a person can become ingrained to specific beliefs and find those beliefs normal. The punishments and sexual practices of the cult leave one to wonder how any mother could allow these things to happen to their children. Sunny is herself barely twenty and yet already had three. I would have liked if the author had spent more time on Sunny and a little less on Liesel and her problems with conception, at times she came off as excessively whiny. All in all a good read. ARC provided by Net Galley. ( )