About the Book:Title: How to Keep Rolling After a Fall
Author: Karole Cozzo
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Publication date: August 2nd 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
After a cyber bullying incident turns her life upside down, a handsome wheelchair rugby player shows a former mean girl that everyone deserves a second chance in this swoonworthy new novel from the author of How to Say I Love You Out Loud.
The party was at her house. The photos were posted to her Facebook account. That’s all the evidence anyone needed to condemn Nikki Baylor for a cyberbullying incident that humiliated a classmate and nearly resulted in the girl’s suicide. Now Nikki’s been expelled from her old school, her friends have abandoned her, and even her own parents can’t look her in the eye. With her plans for the future all but destroyed, Nikki resigns herself to being the girl everyone hates – almost as much as she hates herself. But then Nikki meets Pax, a spirited wheelchair rugby player who knows what it’s like when one mistake completely shatters your life. Refusing to judge her because of her past, he shows her that everyone deserves a second chance… and everyone deserves to be loved.
Author Bio:KAROLE COZZO is a school psychologist by day, a wife and mother of two by night, and a writer of YA romance in the wee hours of the morning. She loves camping out at Starbucks, breakfast cereal at all hours, and watching every movie made from her favorite YA books. How to Say I Love You Out Loud is her debut novel.
Review:
This was my first book from Karole Cozzo, and I would definitely be interested in checking out more from her in the future. As a whole, How to Keep Rolling After a Fall is a solid YA story that will inspire many teens (and even adults) to appreciate what they have in life, and remember not to take things for granted. However, this being said, I did have my ups and downs with this book. There were a couple things that I didn't really like, but they were relatively minor overall. Ms. Cozzo's writing is very real, and flows naturally. The characters she has created are very well written and incredibly realistic. I liked the spin she took in regards to the plot and the point-of-view of the story, and it gave the book an overall better feel because we were able to see from a different perspective than other books with this same theme.
One of the things I appreciated about this book was the way in which Ms. Cozzo portrayed Pax's (our main character's love interest) disability. She wrote his character very well, and speaking from experience of knowing someone who is in a wheelchair, I do feel that Pax's behavior and attitude was realistic (albeit a bit mature for someone his age in regards to his deep thoughts, but that just made his character more enjoyable to me because let's face it...most 17-year-old guys aren't like 17-year-old guys in books). Many people do not understand the challenges and the feelings associated with being in a wheelchair, and Ms. Cozzo did a great job at giving Pax's feelings a voice throughout the story. Many authors do not portray this so well, and this made the story more enjoyable for me. Pax is definitely not perfect or overemotional, but he is incredibly real. However, I never fell in love with him like I do in other stories. Maybe because this book was relatively short, but I just never made that connection to him. Don't get me wrong, I definitely loved his character and I liked his addition to the story, but I just never felt like he was book boyfriend material.
Our main character, Nikki, was an interesting lead. This ties into what I mentioned earlier about the perspective of this book. You see Nikki was a bully and currently her life is in shambles due to her actions. I liked being able to read from the "bully's" POV because this is not something typically seen in YA right now. While Nikki did have her moments where she got on my nerves, she is a great lead character. You see a transformation in her character over the course of the story, and you can tell she does feel sorry for her actions. However, this doesn't excuse her prior actions, and there were times where it seemed as if she was more sorry for herself (and thus how her current situation) than sorry for her actions. This was something that did bother me a bit while reading, but towards the end, I think it was clear that she was regretful of what she did and how her actions affected someone else's life.
One thing that I did appreciate about both Pax and Nikki was the way their relationship developed. It seemed very naturally, even though it was a bit fast for my taste. That being said, they were never annoyingly in love and making moony eyes at each other. Pax and Nikki had a cute relationship that helped both of them grow and learn. I also did like the confrontation between Pax and Nikki towards the end of the book because I thought it was something that needed to be said as it was very true. Regardless, Pax could have gone about the whole thing in a better way, but when emotions are running high, reason sometimes goes out the window. Again, this is why I liked Ms. Cozzo's writing as it was extremely realistic. This is exactly how I could imagine this scene playing out between two people who are in the situation they are in during this book.
While the ending was the best for me, this book is definitely one to check out if you are fans of this type of story (remember to enter the giveaway below!!). Is this story revolutionary? Not really. And yes, there were some things that I didn't quite like about the story. However, I really enjoyed Karole Cozzo's writing and the story she created. She captures what it is to be a teenager today very well, and I definitely will be checking out more from her in the future!
One of the things I appreciated about this book was the way in which Ms. Cozzo portrayed Pax's (our main character's love interest) disability. She wrote his character very well, and speaking from experience of knowing someone who is in a wheelchair, I do feel that Pax's behavior and attitude was realistic (albeit a bit mature for someone his age in regards to his deep thoughts, but that just made his character more enjoyable to me because let's face it...most 17-year-old guys aren't like 17-year-old guys in books). Many people do not understand the challenges and the feelings associated with being in a wheelchair, and Ms. Cozzo did a great job at giving Pax's feelings a voice throughout the story. Many authors do not portray this so well, and this made the story more enjoyable for me. Pax is definitely not perfect or overemotional, but he is incredibly real. However, I never fell in love with him like I do in other stories. Maybe because this book was relatively short, but I just never made that connection to him. Don't get me wrong, I definitely loved his character and I liked his addition to the story, but I just never felt like he was book boyfriend material.
Our main character, Nikki, was an interesting lead. This ties into what I mentioned earlier about the perspective of this book. You see Nikki was a bully and currently her life is in shambles due to her actions. I liked being able to read from the "bully's" POV because this is not something typically seen in YA right now. While Nikki did have her moments where she got on my nerves, she is a great lead character. You see a transformation in her character over the course of the story, and you can tell she does feel sorry for her actions. However, this doesn't excuse her prior actions, and there were times where it seemed as if she was more sorry for herself (and thus how her current situation) than sorry for her actions. This was something that did bother me a bit while reading, but towards the end, I think it was clear that she was regretful of what she did and how her actions affected someone else's life.
One thing that I did appreciate about both Pax and Nikki was the way their relationship developed. It seemed very naturally, even though it was a bit fast for my taste. That being said, they were never annoyingly in love and making moony eyes at each other. Pax and Nikki had a cute relationship that helped both of them grow and learn. I also did like the confrontation between Pax and Nikki towards the end of the book because I thought it was something that needed to be said as it was very true. Regardless, Pax could have gone about the whole thing in a better way, but when emotions are running high, reason sometimes goes out the window. Again, this is why I liked Ms. Cozzo's writing as it was extremely realistic. This is exactly how I could imagine this scene playing out between two people who are in the situation they are in during this book.
While the ending was the best for me, this book is definitely one to check out if you are fans of this type of story (remember to enter the giveaway below!!). Is this story revolutionary? Not really. And yes, there were some things that I didn't quite like about the story. However, I really enjoyed Karole Cozzo's writing and the story she created. She captures what it is to be a teenager today very well, and I definitely will be checking out more from her in the future!
Happy reading :)
~Cassie
Great review, Cassie! This sounds like a well written and well developed read! Glad you liked it! :)
ReplyDelete