<em>The Way We Fall</em> by Megan Crewe
Let's start off with this: I love a good plague story. I'm a pretty cheery person, but there's just something about that terrifying enemy you can't see that does it for me.
But because I'm a plague fan, I set the bar pretty high. I'm hard to impress. THE WAY WE FALL impresses me on every level. Today I'm giving away:
A copy of THE WAY WE FALL in your choice of hardback or kindle
And the fabulously generous Megan Crewe has donated some limited edition swag! Check it out!
THE WAY WE FALL journal!
THE WAY WE FALL pen!
THE WAY WE FALL hand sanitizer (you'll need it after you're done reading!)
THE WAY WE FALL magnet!
THE WAY WE FALL bookmark!
A signed bookplate!
And yes, the giveaway is international!
It starts with an itch you just can't shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you'll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.
And then you're dead.
When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back. Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival.
As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest. Because how will she go on if there isn't?
So, why am I raving about this book?
It's not because I'm fevered, although you'll be scared of that too by the time you've finished! THE WAY WE FALL is told in journal format, as Kaelyn pours out her thoughts to her absent friend Leo. They parted on bad terms, and as the book progresses, Kaelyn leaves him a record that might tell how they survived, or how they died.
The story is gripping, in that way that way that demands you keep on reading long past bedtime. For me, part of Megan Crewe's mastery lies in the way she handles the book's escalation. Slowly but surely things creep from worrying to bad, from bad to worse, and the reader travels with Kaelyn, so that things that should shock us simply become part of life. Then, from time to time, we realise with stunning clarity how far we've come, and how dire the situation has become.
Another of Crewe's outstanding strengths is her cast of characters. THE WAY WE FALL's characters are variously mixed-race, gay, single parents, introverts, islanders, mainlanders and many other things. She doesn't slap labels on them for the sake of diversity, and then ignore what makes them different -- but nor does she let those qualities define them to the exclusion of all else. On a small island, being different does matter, but so do many other things. Crewe's characters are complex and textured and real.
THE WAY WE FALL is an intelligent book, finely crafted and heart-pounding all at once. You can find it here on Goodreads, and you can visit Megan Crewe's website here. I loved her book. You should read it.
To win your own copy plus all that awesome swag, fill out the form below and leave us a comment telling us the one thing you'd never leave out of your emergency supplies, in case of plague!