101. Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie

Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie
Published April 2012 Simon & Schuster

From the publisher:This is life, not a rehearsal...When River auditions for a part in an inter-school performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself smitten by Flynn, the boy playing Romeo. River believes in romantic love, and she can't wait to experience it. But Flynn comes from a damaged family - is he even capable of giving River what she wants? The path of true love never did run smooth...                            

In some ways this is your regular 'girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks' love story, but there's something a bit darker about it.

River falls for Flynn from the first time she meets him.  Flynn keeps his cards very close to his chest, so River is unsure if he knows she exists, let alone 'fancy her'.

As Flynn lets his guard down, and his feelings for River come to light we slowly learn why he is such an angry young man.  He come from a struggling family, he works three jobs to try and help his mother make ends meet.  His father, who no longer lives with them is a drunk who was nothing but trouble, and Flynn has become the protector of the women (his mother and the sisters) in his family.

As an adult, I read this book and want to keep River away from him.  He is not the gentle, sweet, loving first boyfriend that you would wish on a teenage girl.  In this book he does nothing to hurt her physically, but emotionally she is in constant turmoil dealing with his ever changing moods.  


A big part of this book is about having sex for the first time.  River's two best friends are already having sex, and now she has met Flynn the topic of sex is very much on Rivers'  mind. So that may affect where this book end up, if you're in a school library.


 It looks like there may be more books to come in this series, so we will have the chance to see what happens to the two.


See below for an interview with the author.

Who will like this book: Girls age 15+
Read it if you like: the "Girls In" series by Jacqueline Wilson