Book Review: Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

Falling into Place was one of those books that had a very big impact on me. I feel the same way about this as I feel about Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. To really enjoy this book, I think you’ll have to go into it with a really open mind. Even so, it’s not something that’s for everyone. Even though I personally loved it, hence my high rating, I will still be discussing the flaws. Things that don’t really affect me but could change whether or not you want to read this.

The biggest thing about this book is the characters. The main character, Liz Emerson, was a complete bitch. She was a bully and she took a lot of the things in her life for granted. She screwed up the lives of her best friends Kennie and Julia. I hated her too but what I loved was how the author portrayed how broken she was. Ultimately, she did take her own life and the story is more about the impacts that she had on other people. The characters and their emotions were so raw. I can understand how Liz came to that point in her life. I can understand how her friends allowed Liz to control them. I don’t accept it, but I get it and the author is amazing for being able to affect me like this.

Amy Zhang’s writing is absolutely phenomenal. It’s extremely hard to pull off the perspective. I don’t even know how to explain it. It was third person but present tense and the narrator was unknown. I started the book under the impression that the narrator was a younger version of Liz which would’ve been amazing but I found out later that it wasn’t the case. Either way, it was a unique way to portray the story. I loved the lyrical writing and the nonlinear story structure.

What I got from the story:

• “An eye for an eye left the whole world blind.”
• Revenge is pointless.
• When you blame yourself for everything, you start to take it out on other people.
• In the end, hurting others won’t do you any good.
• Make your own decisions in life.
• Always remember that you have your whole life ahead of you.
• You decide your own fate.
• When all you need is love, spreading hate won’t do shit.

Even though I already knew all of that, I love books that remind me of all those. I hope that anyone who reads this books gets something deep from it as well. No one should finish the book and just think that it was crap because Liz was crap. The author wanted Liz to be a bitch and she depicted her with utmost care. I hope that Liz has a positive effect on your life. If you haven’t read this yet, I highly highly recommend it.

Have you read Falling into Place? What effect did it have on you? If you haven’t read it, tell me why not!

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