Mini-Reviews : Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts and Red by Alison Cherry

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Tumble & Fall
Author : Alexandra Coutts
Publication Date : September 17th 2013
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

Personal Thoughts

Tumble & Fall is a book that I've been dying to read ever since I laid my eyes on that stunning cover. When the early reviews started to come in, I was a little wary, but I decided to go into the book with an open mind. Unfortunately, that didn't help and my not enjoying this book is entirely my fault. I didn't read the blurb and I went into the book expecting a sci-fi heavy on the romance, judging from the cover. However, that's what not Tumble & Fall is. In fact,  to me, it read more like a contemporary. I feel like I probably would have enjoyed it better had I gone in expecting a contemporary. My next problem with Tumble & Fall was the writing. Third person POV and I never mesh well together, especially when it comes to contemporary novels. I feel disconnected from the characters that is exactly what happened here. Add in three different POVs to that third person writing and you can imagine what happened. While I wouldn't say the POVs were not distinct, it was extremely hard for me to see the flow in the story especially since these three characters seem to have any connection. It's like I was reading 3 different stories and none of the POVs were strong enough to hold my attention. There were some strong instances in this book where I was enraptured, but they were very few. For the most part, I was sorely bored and I didn't have it in me to drudge through more of this book. It pains me to say this but Tumble & Fall might be one of the most disappointing debut of 2013 for me. 

Rating

DNF at 200 pages

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the e-ARC of Tumble & Fall.

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Red
Author : Alison Cherry
Publication Date : October 8th 2013
Publisher : Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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Felicity St. John has it all—loyal best friends, a hot guy, and artistic talent. And she’s right on track to win the Miss Scarlet pageant. Her perfect life is possible because of just one thing: her long, wavy, coppery red hair.

Having red hair is all that matters in Scarletville. Redheads hold all the power—and everybody knows it. That’s why Felicity is scared down to her roots when she receives an anonymous note:

I know your secret.

Because Felicity is a big fake. Her hair color comes straight out of a bottle. And if anyone discovered the truth, she’d be a social outcast faster than she could say "strawberry blond." Her mother would disown her, her friends would shun her, and her boyfriend would dump her. And forget about winning that pageant crown and the prize money that comes with it—money that would allow her to fulfill her dream of going to art school.

Felicity isn’t about to let someone blackmail her life away. But just how far is she willing to go to protect her red cred?

Personal Thoughts

Red by Alison Cherry sounded like it was a ridiculous and quirky book when I read the book summary and that alone was enough to make me want to read it. It sounded unique and quite refreshing. Red was, at the best, mediocre. When someone finds out that Felicity's bright red hair is actually dyed, the person starts to threaten her and makes her do things that could ruin her popularity in Scarletville, a town where redheads are revered. I thought for sure that the author would try to extend the mystery surrounding Felicity's blackmailer but unfortunately, Felicity and the blackmailer face-off rather early in the book. This really disappointed me because I went into the book expecting a mystery story. The blackmailing continued on throughout the story and I was frustrated by Felicity's lack of backbone. She just let her blackmailer manipulate her and didn't do much about it. I also hated Felicity's mother. Calling her a mother would be a disrespect to all the kind-hearted mother out there. She's the sort of woman who cares only about her daughter's appearance. All she wanted was for Felicity to win the Miss Scarlet pageant and she forced her daughter to do things she clearly didn't like. She would rather her daughter concentrate on walking on her strut for the pageant than working on her dream to go to art school. That woman infuriated me too much. The sad thing though, there are actually moms like that. Just watch Toddlers and Tiaras and you'll find plenty. In the end, I just didn't care enough for the characters, the romance or the plot. I'm probably not the intended audience for this book.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 2/5
Writing : 3/5

**Overall Rating : 2.5/5**

 

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-ARC of Red.