I LOVED this book ! What an inspiring journey!
I really struggled with the rating though: I wanted to give it 4 stars because of Stacia. I wish she was a more fleshed out character, she felt like a prop until the very last pages and it kept me from fully enjoying the story. There's nothing wrong with being obsessed with fashion and being feminine I wish authors would stop using this as a flaw. She just had different interests. Also there's nothing wrong with falling out of love when you're like 19/20, cheating is awful even if the gf is evil but there's also nothing wrong with what any of these characters did because they're so youuuung no need to use the evil gf trope we ain't dumb don't manipulate us. It's one of the things I find annoying in love triangles involving two women and a man.
The reason why I changed my mind and gave it 5 stars anyway was because even though I didn't enjoy this part I think The Year we fell Down qualities outweigh its flaws AND at the end of the day it's Corey's story .
I love everything about Corey Callahan the heroine, except maybe her name because I have to specify that it's the heroine i'm talking about and it was confusing for me at the beginning. I wished she picked a different name until I read THAT part (you'll know when you'll reach it). Corey could have easily been a mary sue, she could have easily been written as a perfect, innocent, fragile blonde, the opposite of Stacia that made Hartley feel like a white knight and I would have hated it because I hate a hero with a savior complex. This kind of heroes hinder the heroine character's growth, they can be so controlling and I hate that they're partly attracted to the heroine because she's vulnerable.
ANYWAY that's so not the case here, everything about Corey is so well-thought-out, I felt right there with her, she felt REAL. I really learned from her, or I should say WITH her that's what's great about her journey. She learned to love and accept herself as the story progressed and it happened naturally, there was no epic realization no epiphany, she had her lazy moments like all of us when she didn't want to do anything but complain or play video games with her crush and I loved that about her. I loved the fact that even playing video games was progress, I think if there's any message to get from this book it's to be kind to ourselves. We're so focused on being good people for others but we tend to be so harsh when it comes to ourselves, this book is about self love and self care more than anything. It's about acceptance for both Hartley and Callahan.
Each step Corey made towards accepting herself the way she was and towards acceptance and happiness made me so happy!
I felt the same about Hartley, I love how they connected because of his temporary injury, his admiration for her and the fact that he saw her strength made me root for them. I'm ngl at some point in the middle of the story I felt very frustrated with him but during the last chapters he honestly came alive as a character and he won me over in the best way! Another thing I really liked about him other than his cute dimples is the fact that he was a really really good lover,their sex scenes are a great example of positive consent. I honestly cried because I thought about a younger girl reading it and realizing that yes you can enjoy sex with a boy that ask you several time if you're ok and if that's really what you want (not a mood killer guys!!!) . Obtaining consent is sexy and apparently it also makes me cry lmao
The Year We Fell Down is everything a new adult romance should be. It's everything I wanted to read when I was 20 and there was no romance books set in college, with younger adults living like younger adults. I can't wait to read more from Sarina!
5 Stars
Amazon Global
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