It’s been years since seventeen-year-old Becca Hart believed in true love. But when her former best friend teases her for not having a boyfriend, Becca impulsively pretends she’s been secretly seeing someone.
Brett Wells has it all. Being captain of the football team and one of the most popular guys in school, he should have no problem finding someone to date, but he’s always been more focused on his future than who to bring to prom. When he overhears Becca’s lie, Brett decides to step in and be her mystery guy. It’s the perfect solution: he gets people off his back for not dating and she can keep up the ruse.
Acting like the perfect couple isn’t easy though, especially when you barely know the other person. But with Becca still picking up the pieces from when her world was blown apart years ago and Brett just barely holding his together now, they begin to realize they have more in common than they ever could have imagined. When the line between real and pretend begins to blur, they are forced to answer the question: is this fake romance the realest thing in either of their lives?
Fake dating is one of my favourite tropes, but I just couldn’t buy how this one started. It seemed rushed, with limited interactions between Becca and Brett and even more limited character establishment. It could have benefited from more time spent fake dating before the relationship was established, since as it stood, it was insta-love.
The Upside of Falling was incredibly fast-paced. By the end, it felt like only days had passed since the fake dating began. The conflicts that did arise were quickly solved, and while I appreciated the emphasis on open communication being important in relationships, as a reader, I wanted more.
Overall, The Upside of Falling was a sweet but not very memorable read. It was cute and fluffy, and would easily make a good beach companion.
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