Review: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

Title:  Fall for Anything
Author:  Courtney Summers
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date:  December 21, 2010
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Book Depository
Source: Macmillan

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

Wow. I loved this book. From the first word to the last, I was hooked. It is a story about trying to deal with grief, but more than that it is a story about the struggle to understand. Death is a difficult thing to process, but perhaps the most difficult part of dealing with it is the search for the why, particularly in cases of suicides. I was awed by the truth of Eddie's desperate and obsessive search for an understanding. As people, we feel like we need to know - that somehow knowing might make it better. The truth can be an elusive little bitch.

I fell in love with Eddie's voice in this novel. It's perfection. She feels so real. Her thoughts, her actions, her reactions, her honesty, her lies. I connected with her. I felt like she could be me. Or you. Eddie's a superbly believable and sympathetic character. The supporting characters are complex and wonderful as well. I loved them. I hated them. I felt sorry for them. I wanted to kick them. I felt things while reading them, and that is how I know they're great characters.

The book is short (~230 pages), but it does not suffer for it. The plot is well paced - neither rushed nor drawn out - and is driven by Eddie's attempts to find out why her father would have killed himself, her contemplations, and her interactions with the people in her life as they all go through the grieving process. It sucked me right in, and I read the whole thing in one sitting. Though the search for a person after their death is something that's not exactly new, I never felt like I had read this story before. I highly recommend it.