This is the kind of book I struggle with as nothing about it is tidy in the least. While the style took me a bit to get into, by the end I was anxiously reading to find out what happens. Micah's rawness and devolving is palpable, and as she becomes more and more obsessed with what has happened and what is happening to her and around her, the story becomes ever more engrossing and nerve-wracking.

What a twisty little thing this was!

I enjoyed the constant red herrings and SERIOUSLY unreliable narrator. I loved the constant ping pong of either being convinced that Micah was onto something or that she was losing her ever-loving mind.

The multiple timelines also had me turning pages into the early hours, desperate to know the truth. I could feel the story building as Micah got closer to her destination, not knowing where she was going or why for much of the story.

One downside is that Micah did become a bit frustrating after reading many questionable decisions and thought processes. I wanted to give her a shake and then some advice before her next impulsive move.

I could have put that aside if the ending rocked my world and threw me for a huge loop, but it just didn’t seal the deal. The way the big twist/overall explanation was laid out had me wanting more and the final conclusion lost me.

All-in-all, this was an entertaining book with a great “true crime” type storyline! I hoped for a different ending, but had fun reading and know that others will enjoy it!

Special thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my own opinion.

Wow! Finally a 5 star book I really, really liked this book. This book was great and I was really excited to get it. It definitely got me out of my reading slump!

10 years ago, Micah's boyfriend Alex killed her best friend Emily, and was convicted of it. But a podcast about the murder has Micah questioning her memories of that night. Did Alex really murder Emily? We don't know and we want to right? But that's what made this book so good. Micah starts getting increasingly bizarre in behavior and had me wondering if she killed her best friend.

I would recommend this book for everyone. The author did a great job I think of keeping us in suspension in a way that seemed so easy. Clever writing. Great book. 5 stars!

Ohhhhh just read it!****

Ten years ago, Micah’s boyfriend went to prison for killing her best friend, Emily. Although devastated, Micah has, to all appearances, moved on. She graduated high school, worked, and now owns a coffee shop, albeit in the same town where she grew up.

But the past never truly released her. She still sees the same people with whom she went to high school. She’s in a relationship with another boy who was always a part of their core group of friends. A boy who was there, in the woods with her when Emily died.

This novel not so much unfurls as curves inward, with Micah’s thoughts, perceptions, and dreams spiraling tighter and tighter toward the awful night that changed her life. It is a study in a mental breakdown. As true crime enthusiasts dig deeper into the events that sent a young boy to prison for a crime he may or may not have committed, Micah begins to doubt her own memories, her own understanding of what went on until everyone around her is suspect.

Smartly written, with characters roundly realized, this is a novel that will stay with you long after you put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. This book hooked me from the very beginning. Micah is haunted by her best friends death during highschool. Not only did her best friend die but she also betrayed their friendship. Micah is back in her hometown and things start happening that make her question what really happened all those years ago. Micah is determined to find the truth no matter what it costs her. This was a great book that kept me guessing until the end.

Hold tight while I take a glance over my shoulder......

Catch Her When She Falls, is a novel that will have you questioning, "just who can you trust" ? I would classify this novel as a slow burn mystery that will indefinitely hold your attention .

Micah's boyfriend was arrested for killing Micah's best friend, Emily . This completely shattered Micah's world and took years to recover from the loss of her friend and betrayal of her boyfriend. Ten years later Micah is finally in a good place but someone is not ready to bury the past. Soon mysterious things start to happen and Micah is forced to face the truth about what happened all those years ago.

I loved this novel from start to finish and would highly recommend this one to my thriller loving friends!

2022 is looking like it's going to be a *stacked* year, and Catch Her When She Falls has been at the top of my most anticipated reads list since I first saw it announced. I was super excited to receive this one early and quickly dove in.

When Micah was in high school, her boyfriend was convicted of murdering her best friend, Emily. She's spent years dealing with the ramifications, but ten years later, as a true crime podcast begins to poke holes into the series of events leading to Emily's demise, Micah begins to question her own memories of that fateful night. Struggling with her doubts, her behavior growing increasingly erratic, Micah is determined to find the truth.

I LOVED this book.

To start, Buccola's writing is beautiful. The prose is crisp and emotional without being indulgent, and Micah's voice flowed well from page one. I loved the seamless transitions between flashbacks and current timeline, a narrative choice that really helped further the plot and the complexity of the character arc. Unreliable characters are my jam, and Micah is someone who will constantly keep you on your toes. Do we trust her? How much can we trust her?

This combined with the unraveling of the murder mystery was the perfect recipe for an un-put-downable page turner. I absolutely devoured this story and think many readers will be equally engrossed. Overall, Catch Her When She Falls is a taut, smart ride that will keep you guessing to the very last page. Plan on staying up all night for this one.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

This is the story of Micah and her boyfriend, Alex, who goes to jail for the murder of her best friend Emily. The murder happened ten years ago while the friends were in high school...turns out Alex was cheating on Micah with Emily when the murder occured. Alex has claimed he is innocent the entire time, even though he gave a false "confession".

The story is told in three timelines, the distant past, the recent past and currently. The recent past timeline has Micah living in her hometown with Ryan, Alex's best friend and she owns a coffee shop where they all used to hang out together eating ice cream. The current timeline has Micah driving to Massachusetts to see Emily's brother ,Jacob. Then there is Julie, Alex's current girlfriend, she is working to get Alex free and prove his innocence.

Weird and threatening events start to happen to Micah and that helped with the creep factor. I know it seems like there is a lot going o but trust me it is worth it. I loved that I didn't know who did what to whom for the majority of the book and the twists were very surprising. The last quarter of the book was so intense it had me holding my breath and changing my mind who the culprit was over and over again. This is a really decent whodunnit debut and I look forward to what the author comes up with next.

DNF. I wasn’t able to connect with this book. The premise sounded really fascinating, but the main character made it incredibly hard to keep going with the story.

Intricately plotted, the mystery is unraveled through Micah Wilke’s unreliable memory of her traumatic past: ten years ago, her high school boyfriend murdered her best friend. Micah’s boyfriend was then arrested for the crime and, a decade later, he is serving his sentence in prison. But when rumors of a wrongful conviction gain traction on a blog for nosy armchair detectives, Micah’s world is turned upside down. She feels herself scrutinized and harassed by locals. Doubts needle her. Trying to filter truths from lies forms the heart of this novel, and Buccola expertly builds pressure to a deeply satisfying boiling point. Overall, Catch Her When She Falls offers a rich character study through Micah’s intimate and troubled point-of-view. The layers of what really happened on that tragic night ten years ago are skillfully peeled back bit by bit. Between the plot’s burning questions and breathless twists, this is a must-read for fans of psychological suspense!

This novel follows Micah, a late twenty-something who is still reeling from a tragic high school event ten years earlier: her boyfriend's murder of her best friend, with whom he'd been cheating. Micah has tried to build a separate life, away from her hometown and the memories, but when her mother dies she returns home and decides to open up a local coffee shop--and even begins dating an old high school friend. Physically entrenched in her old life, Micah finds herself often revisiting the past, wondering if her ex-boyfriend--who has always maintained his innocence--is truly guilty. Things get even murkier when internet sleuths on a true crime forum begin discussing her case, and Micah soon receives threatening messages. As Micah tries to unravel the past and find clarity, she, too, begins to unravel, unsure whom to trust. She is also struggling with a secret about the night of the murder that she never shared with the police. This is a novel about small town dynamics and secrets that eat away and bonds--and fractures--with those you've known forever. Buccola seamlessly weaves the past with present in this fast-paced, suspenseful page turner and lends Micah a vulnerability and depth that will have the reader simultaneously rooting for her and wondering whether she, too, can be trusted. An excellent read!

Good story about an event from the past. I had a little trouble connecting with Micah and her ever expanding list of suspects but overall a good read. I would recommend this one.

Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy!

I’ve just finished “Catch Her When She Falls”, the story of a set of small-town friends: Micah, her HS boyfriend Alex, her best friend Emily, Emily’s brother Jonah and Ryan, a fellow classmate. When Emily loses her life from a fall out a window during a party in the woods, Alex is tried and sent to prison as the killer, based partly on Micah’s recanting of the alibi she originally furnished him. Flash forward to present day; Ryan and Micah are now living together and Alex is up for parole. This news sends Micah into a tailspin as she begins to question whether he was guilty after all. She’s has never been sure what happened that night so she takes on the role of amateur sleuth. She tracks down facts, questions eyewitnesses, and searches her own memory for clues. When she stumbles across a true crime chat room, and assumes a false identity online, she provokes the wrath of another classmate Julie who has formed a relationship with Alex while he’s been incarcerated. Before long, Micah’s imagining people gossiping about her, following her down the street, and breaking into her apartment. In her zeal to solve the mystery, she even drives hundreds of miles to talk to Jonah, who has rebooted his life under a new name.
I found some of Micah’s machinations a bit obsessive and over-the-top as she flips between suspects, doubting everyone, neglecting her coffee shop, and making assumptions that only serve to feed her growing paranoia. The ending needed a bit more grounding to make it believable, and I’m not sure all the blind alleys were sufficiently explained but the book did keep me engaged in trying to figure out the mystery and the characters were well drawn so it’s four stars for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: February 1, 2022

SUMMARY:
Micah’s best friend was killed when they were seniors in high school...and Micah’s boyfriend was found guilty of the crime. Ten years later, Micah has moved back to their hometown, now in a relationship with Ryan, a former friend. Moving forward has been an issue for Micah, so when she begins receiving threats and other reminders of that awful time, everything she thought she had buried comes rushing to the surface. What else will be exposed as she tries to discover once and for all what really happened that night?

PROS and CONS:
An unconventional method of unfolding a story, with bits of past and present mixed together in each chapter, as well as being written as though Micah is addressing another person at times. It’s unique...and I liked it! The ending however...not so much.

READ IT?
It was pretty good - I’d be interested in seeing what this author comes out with next!

3.5 Stars

Alex has gone to prison for murder. After ten year his ex girlfriend still does not trust who really killed her best friend, Emily. Micah questions everything and is going crazy trying to avenge Emily’s death.she is losing her grip on reality in her search for the truth. was Alex-really innocent? Someone is messing with her head and she is jumping to exaggerated conclusions..who killed Emily?.

Catch Her When She Falls by Allison Buccola
Rating: 4 stars

Summary: A now young adult women starts questioning a murder of her high school friend and the man convicted of the crime. When Micah starts being reminded of the events surrounding the murder she goes down the rabbit hole to explain who really killed her friend Emily.

Comments: A page turner in the likes of Riley Sager or Denise Mina of peeling back the events of a past crime. Most unique here is Buccola’s debut novel she gives very little away each page. No big surprises until you are well on your way into the bedtime reading.

Tense chilling a true page turner.I picked it up to read a few pages could not put down read late into the night.An excellent debut an author to follow a book I will be+recommending.#netgalley #randomhouse.

This was my first book to read by this author but I cannot wait to read more! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Such a great story and fast read. Highly recommend!!!

This book was just an okay mystery. At times a rather slow read. The transitions between past and present were choppy and not smooth. One thing I did like was the somewhat unexpected ending.

I gave up early on this one, unfortunately. I found the protagonist's voice to be unbearably self-pitying and self-victimizing. She came across as a "Mary Sue," someone without any real internal flaws, and therefore she seemed nuanced and uncompelling. It's possibly she might have developed intriguing complexity had I read further, but I simply did not find her engaging enough company from page to page. That said, the writing is competent enough and I have no doubt there is a sizable audience for such a character and story.