Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos
by Jenners • 09/22/2011 • 3.5 Stars, Contemporary, D Authors, F Titles, Fiction • 40 Comments
Falling Together by Marisa de los SantosPublisher: William Morrow, October 2011
Pages: 368
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
Where I Got It: Amazon Vine
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Overview
Pen, Will and Cat meet during their first year of college and are immediately drawn to each other after “meeting cute/terrifying/hostile” (according to Cat, Pen and Will respectively). Forming a close-knit triad who finish each other’s sentences and know each other inside and out, the three are as close as friends can be. Until one day, they part ways abruptly and painfully.
Although Pen (short for Penelope) has moved on with her life—becoming a single mother to her beloved 5-year-old daughter Augusta—she’s always felt the lack of Will and Cat in her life, especially after the sudden death of her father, which has left her devastated and lost. So when, out of the blue, Pen receives a somewhat cryptic and desperate e-mail from Cat asking her to come to the upcoming college reunion, Pen realizes she’s been waiting for this “summons” ever since they parted. Little does she know that Will has received a similar e-mail. When the two arrive at the reunion, the mystery of what is going on with Cat deepens and becomes more complex—leading Pen and Will to reexamine their past, present and future as they try to help their friend and figure out how and if they can fit into each other’s lives again.
My Thoughts
The second I saw that Marisa de los Santos had a new novel coming out (the official release date is October 4), I immediately began plotting how I could get my hands on it. (Lucky for me, I was able to score an ARC through Amazon Vine.) I fell in love with de los Santos’s effervescent writing and lovable characters in her first two books, Love Walked In and Belong To Me. Those books were utterly delightful, involving, touching and funny. The main character in those books, Cornelia Brown, felt like my long-lost best friend. I loved her immediately and instantly got caught up in the stories that surrounded her family and friends.
This new novel, de los Santo’s third, doesn’t involve Cornelia Brown, and I was a bit disappointed when I discovered that. (I was hoping to visit with her again!!!) Still, de los Santos wrote so charmingly in her first books that I fully expected to be drawn into this book just as easily. I’m so sorry to say that wasn’t the case. Although Falling Together isn’t a bad book by any means, it wasn’t as delightful and fun and involving as her first two books. In fact, it took me almost a week to read it, when I clearly remember gobbling up the previous two books in just a day or two.
When trying to figure out why I didn’t fall for this book, I realized that there were two main problems. First, Pen (the primary narrator) just didn’t have the sparkle, humor and pizazz that Cornelia did. Listening to her tell her story just wasn’t engrossing. Admittedly, we’re meeting Pen at a low point in her life. Reeling from her father’s death and involved in a rather bizarre relationship with Augusta’s father, Pen is a bit of a downer. Although I sympathized with her, I also got annoyed at her passivity and inability to recognize what seemed blindingly obvious to everyone around her.
Second, the “Cornelia” character of the book—the one you want to be girlfriends with—is Cat, who we barely get to know except via Pen’s memories and flashbacks. In fact, the entire book is really about Pen and Will’s quest to find Cat, who is built up into this almost larger than life person (despite her diminutive size). But hearing about such a character without really getting to know them is distancing. It’s like hearing your good friend rave about another friend but, never having met the person yourself, you don’t fall under their spell.
Still, as I said before, the book isn’t without its charms. The writing is sometimes so graceful and lovely that you want to write the passages down and make them into a poster. Yet, in the end, I found myself just liking the book—not loving it. Perhaps because of my delight in the first two books, I was destined to be disappointed with this one. However, I encourage you to give de los Santos a chance. She’s a gifted writer who has a lovely poetic way of observing things and she’s definitely worth checking out.
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Listening to your raves about the first two books, I know that they will be put on my list right away! Thanks for sharing them with us.
The first two books are the best. I think you’d LOVE them.
This book’s description intrigues me but the characters don’t sound as relatable and interesting as they could be. I’m sorry your expectations weren’t met with this book. It’s happened to me that I’ve adored an author’s book, looked forward to their new one and been a little disappointed.
I’m excited though because I have Belong to Me on my shelves and I’m very excited to read it now!
I bet you’ll love Belong to Me. I did! But you might want to read “Love Walked In” first as it is the first book and Belong to Me is the second book.
Sorry this one did not turn out to be more enjoyable for you. I hope to try it myself.
It is definitely worth trying … and if you didn’t read the first two books and fall in love with them, it might work better for you.
I was SO looking forward to this as I loved the first 2 books so I am disappointed to hear you didnt like it as much as the first two. It must be difficult to have so much success with early books and then need to live up to that with subsequent books!
I know!! It is hard to for authors who do so well out of the gate to continue to meet the needs of their readers. Still, although this one didn’t warm my heart as much as her first two, she is still on my “authors I must read” list.
Another new writer for me to explore! But I’ll start with the first two books.
Good idea! Though then you might not enjoy this one as much!
Even if this one wasn’t as great as the other two, I do want to read her work. Belong To Me is on my wishlist. Nice review!
I do think it is worth reading … it just isn’t as spectacular as her first two but it is still wonderful.
I have had Belong to Me on my shelf at home for (I believe) about 3 years now. It sounds as though I will want to read that one first since this one doesn’t seem to have the same appeal.
Well, it is best to read Love Walked In first because Belong to Me is a follow-up/sequel to that one. I read them out of order because I didn’t realize that.
I’ve had Belong to Me on the shelves so long, I think it’s actually starting to become a part of the wood. Bad me. Bad, bad me.
And ruining that lovely little cover!??? Read it soon!!!
I have heard good things about this author from bloggers that I trust, but despite having books out by her from the library a couple times I still haven’t read anything by her!
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!! She is worth reading, particularly her first two books. The bloggers that steered you to her were spot-on!
Yeah, what Sandy said. We felt the same way.
I think you two are slowly morphing into one person. I noticed she used a food metaphor … that is clearly your influence!!!!
I have loved this author’s books and still look forward to reading this one. Isn’t it funny how we get so mega excited about a favorite’s new book? Sometimes it works well for us and sometimes not. I think we all loved Cornelia so much, it might have been a hard act to follow. I hope everyone will still try Marisa’s books. Such a wonderful way with words.
I agree … Cornelia was a hard act to follow. And I certainly don’t want to turn off anyone to this book or to Marisa at all. It was definitely a matter of having very high expectations and then being a wee bit disappointed. I still plan on reading her future books!
I haven’t read anything by this author yet, but have heard some amazing things about her earlier books and have been told I need to read them. This one sounds like it didn’t live up to expectations though, and though the premise sounds interesting it might not be one that I would rush right out and pick up. I liked your analysis though, and thought that you did a great job with this review!
Thanks for your kind words. That means a lot coming from you. She is an author worth checking out. Her first two books are like a breath of fresh air when you read them. You just feel immediately at home in them.
I haven’t read her stuff yet but I’ve always heard good things. Sorry this seems to have been a departure from her previous sparkle but it sounds like ti was an enjoyable read if not totally great.
It was enjoyable, and that is what is killing me. It just suffered by comparison to her previous books so it felt a bit flatter. But still, her “flat” is still delightful.
So, should I read this book first and then go get the Cornelia books?
That might be the better way to do it!! That way, they will get better and better. And if you do decide to read the Cornelia books, the order is Love Walked In and then Belong to Me. I read them backwards!
As much as I hate to say it, I totally agree with you. I likened her first two books to a mega-trifle, with layers of awesomeness. This was more like a pie…good, but not as complex. She still incorporates all that witty banter though, and her writing is gorgeous. Jill and I will be publishing our reviews a few days after the release.
I love your pie/trifle comparison. (I guess Rhapsody Jill is rubbing off on your with the food metaphors.) I know we had discussed how we were both a bit disappointed. A few others mentioned it too. But, like you said, there are moments of loveliness that make it worth reading anyway.
I just recently read Belong to Me. (read the other a few years ago). I know what you mean about how you tend to like various characters. I haven’t read this book yet, but probably still will.
It is still worth reading … it just isn’t as wonderful as the other books. I’m sure authors hate when that happens.
What a bummer. I was hoping for more Cornelia, too. Although I guess my TBR pile can breathe a sigh of relief.
I know!! We want Cornelia! We want Cornelia! We might have to take drastic action to bring her back.
I’ve not read any books by this author and I must admit this one doesn’t sound like my kind of book. Perhaps I should look up the other two.
The other two were so wonderful. This one suffered by comparison.
I’m so glad you wrote this. This is exactly how I felt about this book and I was never able to put it into words for a review. I had heard this was the next Cornelia volume too and was disappointed to find out I was wrong. Still, I thought the writing was lovely even if the characters didn’t sparkle as much, and I liked the way the book eventually went. It just didn’t have as much life to it, I guess.
Exactly!! It didn’t have as much life to it as the Cornelia books. I guess we don’t want to limit her to those characters but part of me wants to!
I’ve had high hopes for this book too. I’m sorry to see it didn’t live up to your expectations.
I know. I was sad about it. Still, it has some lovely moments.