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popthebutterfly 's review for:

The Falling Girls by Hayley Krischer
3.0
emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and finished book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Falling Girls

Author: Hayley Krischer

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Diversity: f/f romance side characters

Recommended For...: young adult readers, mystery, thriller, drama, Heathers like

Publication Date: October 5, 2021

Genre: YA Mystery Thriller

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, death, gore, drug use and abuse, overdose TW)

Explanation of CWs: Drug use and abuse is shown in detail. There is an overdosing scene. There is also violence, death, and gore.

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 320

Synopsis: Shade and Jadis are everything to each other. They share clothes, toothbrushes, and even matching stick-and-poke tattoos. So when Shade unexpectedly joins the cheerleading team, Jadis can hardly recognize who her best friend is becoming.

Shade loves the idea of falling into a group of girls; she loves the discipline it takes to push her body to the limits alongside these athletes . Most of all, Shade finds herself drawn to The Three Chloes--the insufferable trio that rules the squad--including the enigmatic cheer captain whose dark side is as compelling as it is alarming.

Jadis won't give Shade up so easily, though, and the pull between her old best friend and her new teammates takes a toll on Shade as she tries to forge her own path. So when one of the cheerleaders dies under mysterious circumstances, Shade is determined to get to the bottom of her death. Because she knows Jadis--and if her friend is responsible, doesn't that mean she is, too?

Review: For the most part I enjoyed this book. I liked The Heathers like nature of the read and it was an ok read. The book did well to world build and to character build. The plot was interesting and kept me hooked on the book until the end. I also liked the mystery of it.

However, the writing was weird and it felt so draining to read this book. It took a lot out of me to complete the book. There was also some queer baiting in my opinion as there’s multiple characters who are written in queer-coded language but aren’t queer in the book.

Verdict: It was ok, but I’m a bit off-put by it.