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Romance stories do tend to stick to common patterns and use a short list of tropes. The “fake dating” trope is popular. This book has its two potential lovebirds enter into a pretend-dating agreement with very little lead-up to the scene. Basically, the girl is talking about how she needs a boyfriend, and the handsome star football player (who doesn’t have a girlfriend, let alone date much) happens to walk by and overhear. He then offers to help out. And boom, they are pretend going out.
Girl: Becca Hart is, in another trope, a nonbeliever in true love, because (just as commonly) her dad left her mom. She relies on her beloved romance novels for that part of her life but knows they’re not at all reflective of reality. Boy: Brett Wells is wealthy, good-looking, a doted-on only son of parents who are very much in love, and popular. He’s focused on his future: playing football in college.
Of course, they have to spend time together to prove they are dating. They get to know each other. Each learns that the other faces more challenges than they let on. They help each other through tough challenges. They bond. They fall for each other. They actually start dating for real.
This young adult romance book was short and slight, and the story just fell flat for me. Books that rely heavily on tropes have to really shine with awesome characters, jump-off-the-pages chemistry, excellent dialogue, and fun.
The Upside of Falling delivered none of that for me and I was just happy to get through it. It also felt like a “clean” book for a lot of it, but the author threw in some profanity here and there to give it some cred or something. And she threw in the characters having sex near the end (though with no details). It just didn’t flow naturally.
I think a much better young adult romance book with a girl jaded by her parents’ divorce is Instructions for Dancing.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 3 uses of strong language, about 10 instances of moderate profanity, 20 uses of mild language, and a dozen instances of the name of Deity in vain. There are some kissing scenes that feel fairly chaste, and then an “off-screen” sex scene with no details.
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