Falling from Fire

Rating:
Summary: Plot Drops Deat at Your Feet
Review:

Teri Dinsmore is a high school freshman nobody. Her mother is the most beautiful woman in the town, and her older sister Samantha is a rebel who tries her best to be everything that their mom isn't. Suddenly, on Teri's birthday, her house burns down and her life changes. Suddenly, her crush (the cutest boy in school) breaks up with his girlfriend and wants to go out with her. Suddenly, she starts developing feelings for her best friend, and suddenly her mother (who rarely settles on a man) decides that she's in love with Nolan, her current amour. Teri's world is completely altered. Are you yawning yet? Is this plot a little too familiar?

Falling From Fire has a promising and original idea in Teri's birthday cake burning down her house. Unfortunately, that's probably the only original thing in the book. The characters are one-dimensional, and the plot drops dead at your feet. It is as though the author, Teena Booth, took all of the teen stereotypes she could think of and crammed them into a book. The book's purpose isn't to tell us a story or teach us a lesson. Rather, it stalls trying too hard to get the reader to feel something. There's one scene where Teri ends up drinking. This (like many other scenes in the book) seems to have been just thrown in. Oh, here's something else! Teen alcoholism! Feel something, darn it!

After I read the first couple of pages and the side of the book, I pretty much knew what was going to happen. Expecting the characters or the plot to surprise you is like expecting a cat to talk. It just isn't going to happen. Even at the end, when Nolan tells Samantha he plans to marry her mother-was the reader really supposed to be shocked? A happy ending for insecure Teri Dinsmore, who loves and hates her mom, who loves and hates her sister, who loves and hates her best friend, is pretty much expected. Oh, and did I mention that Samantha takes drugs and plans to run away with her boyfriend, only to change her mind and come back to finish high school because it's the right thing to do?

The only part that gave me a twinge of feeling was when Teri's younger brother left with his alcoholic father. You can't help but feel for the poor kid who is neglected by nearly everyone around him. Maybe if Booth had given the rest of the characters the same honesty she gives Teri's brother, the book would have been better. Who knows?

My advice? Go read the dictionary. You'll learn something new and won't be half as bored.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK!!!(...)
Review: At first i thought the book might be boring, but then i couldn't stop reading it. All of the characters are so well written. There is a beauty queen mother, ordinary girl, her smart best friend, troublesome little brother, rebel sister, and a fire that changeed them all. Teena Booth is a great author and i hope she makes another book soon.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: Never has there been a more realistic book about a teenager, that other teenagers can relate to. This book is great for young teenagers, and is a great cliff-hanger. You will not want to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: Sweet and Endearing
Review: While this book isn't deeply thought-provoking or "brilliant," Teri Dinsmore is a believable main character and I felt myself rooting for her and feeling her emotions. Some of the characters are a little steriotypical, but the story is sweet enough, and I enjoyed it.