Cover Image: The Fall of Lisa Bellow

The Fall of Lisa Bellow

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An incredible book about moms and daughters, told via a story about a disturbing kidnapping in a small suburban town. This novel was haunting, well-written, fast paced, and will definitely stay with me.

The plot centers around the Oliver family, which has been through a great amount of trauma because of a devastatingly injury to their son Evan, and the almost kidnapping of their daughter Meredith. As Meredith tries to work throughout her PTSD after the incedent, and her coming to terms with the fact that she's watched another girl get taken during a robbery of a deli, the story becomes more about her coming of age, dealing with this trauma as an 8th grader. Her mother, my favorite character, is also dealing with how to properly raise her children in the midst of the horrors they have faced, while also coming to grips with her own traumatic past. The family seems very real and layered, and perfectly flushed out by the author’s incredible writing.

I think this may already be one of my favorites of the year. It is both moving and plot-driven, two things very important to my love of good novels. It has a mystery, it is sometimes scary, but it's also a beautiful look at families, women, loss, and survival.

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In The Fall of Lisa Bellow a young girl, Lisa, is abducted from a local sandwich shop, another, Meredith, is left behind. What follows is not the standard suspense book about the search for a missing teen, but an examination of the life of a suburban family and in particular, that of the girl who remains.

Mark and Claire Oliver are dentists. They have consciously chosen careers and a life that will offer them the least amount of inconvenience and worry. Son Evan’s tragic accident on the baseball field has marred their picture-perfect life. Now they must deal with daughter Meredith’s terrifying experience. It threatens to topple their happy home. This is the main focus of the novel.

Having taught middle school English, when it comes to the behaviors of Lisa, Meredith and their friends, I can say Ms. Perabo knows her subject. In addition, the description of the middle school cliques made me inwardly cringe as I remember my own days, suffering through lunch hour, gym class, and those hours when I wasn’t safely cocooned in my room, away from the scrutiny of those deemed more popular than I. And as reprehensible as Claire Oliver’s reactions may be towards Evan’s preschool bullying and Meredith’s unpopularity, I as a mother understand.

The Fall of Lisa Bellow is an excellently crafted and sensitive book that examines the human emotions and reactions to a tragedy and its far-reaching effects.

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The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo
Meredith, a very typical eighth grader, is low on self-confidence, longs to be part of the popular crowd though she protests that she does not, has an older brother she adores, parents who are in her business too much, and ultimately gets caught in a 'moment' that will change her life. As she stands in a convenience store next to Miss Popularity, Lisa Bellow, a robbery ensues, ending up with Lisa being kidnapped while Meredith lays on the floor, unmoving and terrified. As the news of Meredith's involvement slowly leaks out, her hum-drum life changes as she attempts to deal with the trauma this incident does not only to her social identity, but to her psychological identity as well. Thrown into this mix is her brother, Evan, dealing with the aftermath of a terrible accident that ended his baseball career, the grieving mother of Lisa Bellow who is unable to move on, and the parents, dentists who are rightfully concerned about the traumatic changes in both their children's lives over the past year. The plot premise is creative, yet the character development lost me, as did all the tangents taken throughout the story line. I kept searching my brain for some compassion for any of the characters and came up empty; the mother has nary a redeeming quality, dad has no backbone, and Meredith is beyond annoying, when I wanted her to be more complex, heroic, intuitive, you name it. About the only character I could stomach was Evan, the brother. Ultimately, I skimmed through the last quarter of the book, hoping for an ending that could redeem a rather 'meh' book for me. Sadly, I was disappointed.

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I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let's start with the fact that I really wanted to love this book. The synopsis got me really excited, and the story is one that is right in line with the type of books I normally love. However, I just could not connect with this one.

I almost DNF but there high reviews from other people so I kept going. Intentionally I will not go into details, because like I said MANY people seem to love this book and I do not want to turn anyone off from reading it. Might pick it up again in a few months and see if my feelings towards it change.

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Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC.

This is a book about coping.
The whole story starts after Evan's accident, when a baseball essentially shatters his eye. His sister and parents are struggling to deal with the changes and limitations in their son.

Not a year later, Meredith is witness to a sandwich store robbery and kidnapping of a girl and develops PTSD. She is having hard time trying to separate reality from imagination, what if she would have been taken?

I almost thought the Evan story was more interesting, but a good read all in all.

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I didn't finish this book. I never could really get invested in this story. I think partly because of Susan Perabo's way of telling the story like talking to someone who's thoughts keep jumping around. I got 23% of the way in and decided to move on to reading something I would enjoy more.

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I didn't really know what to expect with this book. I have to be honest, I was hooked by the cover and soon the story. This book is a crime one, so if you need a thriller to start your year, this may be the book for you.

I enjoyed this book because it deals with some tough issues and the feelings that happen as a result of those situations. The book's characters feel very deeply (as they should) and I found that to be an interesting dynamic throughout.

I would recommend this book for those who enjoy Pretty Little Liars, because I think some of the themes are similar.

Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the publisher. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

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A life-changing event occurs and Meredith Oliver’s previously quiet, unobserved life is suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Her occasional morning ritual of recognizing herself in the mirror, of greeting herself, grounding herself in the here and now will forever be changed on one day. That moment of sinking into the rhythmic tone of her voice and the repetitive phrase reminding her to stay in the present, in the here and now, this has become like a mantra, it’s a part of the pattern of her life. That split second between when the inner calm shut out all the outside noise, her sense of being – just being. An inner recognition of it all …merging, becoming …and then being whooshed into the rush and bustle of the day. That is what would give her the sense of self she needed to get through another day of school. Another day of school, of not being one of the popular ones, of going unnoticed. Just another day of being thirteen, almost like any other.

This day may begin like most others, a few minor school-related things, a broken pencil, an annoyed teacher. So, just an ordinary day at school - except Meredith is hung up on the less-than-perfect score she’ll now get because of a broken pencil. What is the solution for pre-teen angst over those things adults recognize as small stuff but at thirteen can turn into monumentally life altering, horrible, why-can’t-you-understand moments? Root beer. Or, at least on this particular day for this particular girl, this is what she wants. The negative? She sees Lisa Bellow inside the market, the most popular girl in her class. Another day, this might have stopped her in her tracks, but today she’s not going to change her mind.

Lisa and Meredith are standing and waiting when the bell on the door rings again and in comes a man. Not a customer, though, this man’s face is covered by a mask and a hood, and most of his body are covered by and oversized hooded sweatshirt. He orders the girls to the floor. When Lisa is overwhelmed with fear, it’s Meredith that talks her down. When Meredith’s begins to mount, it’s Lisa’s words that calm her. Nothing extraordinary, Lisa just tells her not to worry, that everything will be okay - only now the thief’s not satisfied his meager haul is enough for all his troubles, so he decides to take Lisa Bellow, too.

And just like that, there’s one girl missing, and one girl left behind, and the girl left behind crumbles under that pressure. Breaks a little. And just like that, lives change. Meredith’s life, her parent’s lives. Her brother’s life, Evan, already recovering from his own life-altering event, changes yet again. Lisa Bellow and Lisa Bellow’s mother’s lives change, and everyone who knows either girl is affected in some degree or another.

There are the inevitable questions asked and rumours floating about, interrogations to contend with, school and jobs to return to. The ripple effect keeps growing and receding, pulling people in, pushing others out. And a thirteen year-old girl is somehow left to navigate this new and ever-changing terrain. Instead, she keeps reliving the event in her mind, building on it, forging a closer relationship post-kidnapping than they had before, Meredith tries to give back to Lisa what Lisa gave to her: Hope. A way to let go of the past and to move forward for Lisa, and also for Meredith.

I don’t know what percentage of people can relate to a thirteen year-old girl, maybe not even another thirteen year-old girl – quite possibly not even the thirteen year-old girl in question. Let alone to relate to a thirteen year-old girl suffering from survivor’s guilt, that’s quite an accomplishment, but Susan Perabo clearly has that ability and talent.

Pub Date: 14 Mar 2017

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Simon and Schuster

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Reading this story had me riding an emotional roller coaster ride and I couldn't be happier. I had never read anything written by this author beforehand and I must say that she now has a new fan!!! A must read!!

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