edited on September 13th, 2023 at 08:44 pm
Dare To Fall by Estelle Maskame tells about grief, loss but friendship and romance through those hard times.
MacKenzie Rivers seems like she has it all figured out. She has great friends, she’s doing well in school, and her handsome ex-boyfriend is desperate to win her back. But something is missing from her life in Windsor, Colorado. And as much as she hates to admit it, that something might be Jaden Hunter. Tall, blond, and athletic, a year ago Kenzie was falling fast for him and his crooked smile. Twelve months later, everything has changed. A tragic accident has destroyed Jaden’s family and, despite the way she feels, Kenzie has no idea how to talk to him anymore.
Review
When I started the book, it felt like I already knew the story. So, it might be the case that I read it before but I couldn’t really remember it.
I loved her “Did I Mention I Love You” series some years back and even re-read them, so I gave it another try.
Something I like about the book is talking about loss and grief. Because for some reason, Jaden seems quite mature for his age.
As Kenzie struggles with the question on how to talk to someoneafter they lost their parents, she decides to rather back off instead of being their for her crush and his sister. And I honestly can’t blamer her for that, since I never would have known an answer to that question either. And, especially since she knows grief just all too well, they rather lose contact than stay in touch.
Only, until she somewhat got pushed in a situation to talk to Jaden again and from then on, their interaction grows again as well as they get closer and eventually give each other another chance.
Because of Jaden being more forgiving that his twin, he’s also more open.
I honestly can feel with both sides – Kenzie and Jaden as well as Danielle here. Grief, loss, death aren’t easy topics to talk about as I don’t think everyone talks about it or even knows how to handle it. Knowing this, it’s fine to forgive others when they’d rather back off out of not knowing how to handle a situation. I also get Danielle in this point who’s just incredibly angry towards her former best friend, Kenzie.
One thing I really don’t know is the whole lot of drama towards the last 1/4 of the book. I almost thought about not finishing it but decided against it, only to know how it ends.
Because it was kind of predictable and sure, the character’s age is’n my own agegroup anymore, so that could matter to an extend.
Rating: C-/D
A+ : 10-9.3 | A: 9.2-8.7 | A- : 8.6-8.0 || B+ : 7.9-7.3 | B: 7.2-6.7 | B- : 6.6-6.0 || C+ : 5.9-5.3 | C: 5.2-4.7 | C- : 4.6-4.0 ||
D+ : 3.9-3.3 | D: 3.2-2.7 | D- : 2.6-2.0 || E+: 2.1-2.4 | E : 2.5-1.8 || F: 1.9-0
What do you think of the book? Have you read it? Or do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!