ARC Review: Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson

We here at BookCrushin are Abigail Johnson fangirls and the wait for Even If I Fall is finally over so we are here to share it with you! There is no one that writes families like Abigail does, which I am confident it’s because of her own amazing family (I had the pleasure of meeting her lovely mother and sister at YallWest!). Check out why Even If I Fall needs to be on your TBR this fall and then pick up a copy ASAP (for real, I hope you didn’t miss those pre-order goodies!)

Even If I Fall

by Abigail Johnson
Published by: Inkyard Press
on January 8, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
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A year ago, Brooke Covington lost everything when her beloved older brother, Jason, confessed to the murder of his best friend, Calvin. Brooke and her family became social pariahs, broken and unable to console one another. Brooke’s only solace remains the ice-skating rink, where she works but no longer lets herself dream about a future skating professionally.

When Brooke encounters Calvin’s younger brother, Heath, on the side of the road and offers him a ride, everything changes. She needs someone to talk to…and so does Heath. No one else understands what it’s like. Her brother, alive but gone; his brother, dead but everywhere. Soon, they’re meeting in secret, despite knowing that both families would be horrified if they found out. In the place of his anger and her guilt, something frighteningly tender begins to develop, drawing them ever closer together.

But when a new secret comes out about the murder, Brooke has to choose whose pain she’s willing to live with—her family’s or Heath’s. Because she can’t heal one without hurting the other.

Review

ICYMI Abigail Johnson is my absolute favorite writer of families and Even If I Fall just completely cements it. 

How do you take two completely at-odds families and find a way to bridge them? I DON’T KNOW BUT ABIGAIL MAKES IT HAPPEN. 

Brooke: ice skater, daughter, best friend, sister to a brother who killed his best friend

Heath: strong, quiet, brother to a boy who’s been killed by his best friend

You know this book is going to have a certain level of angst. Brooke and her family are the town outcasts but there’s no one who shuns her more than the family of the boy her brother killed. I thought this story was going to explore the murder more but I am glad it didn’t. Abigail did not go overboard trying to make Brooke’s brother sympathetic, though you can’t leave the story without wanting to changing everyone’s decisions. 

If you’re a fan of complex family situations, small town/rural dynamics, friendships, and swoon, Even If I Fall is the perfect read for you this winter!