They All Fall Down

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 11 Nov 2019 | Archive Date 01 Jun 2020

Talking about this book? Use #TheyAllFallDownKimHoodBetimesBooks #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

It is 1994. Rosie—a 17-year-old Irish girl–has been sent to look after her Rwandan grandmother. Callie—an 18-year-old Canadian girl—is looking forward to volunteering for an aid organisation in Rwanda. Both are going to Rwanda to escape their lives at home. Neither Callie nor Rosie is prepared for Rwanda. Nor do they want to see how similar they are, despite their different backgrounds and experiences. They are both struggling with questions of where they fit, and who they truly are.

When the Rwandan president’s plane is shot down, sparking the most horrific genocide in history, they are forced to face fundamental truths. Rosie must learn to lead, and fight to survive. Callie must accept that she cannot make the world as she would wish it. And then there is Blessing—the 11-year-old Rwandan who wins the heart of both Rosie and Callie…

Already familiar with Africa, Kim Hood travelled to Rwanda in 2017, after extensive research on the genocide, to see where some of the worst atrocities in recent history had occurred, and to try to understand: Why do we forget so quickly?

It is 1994. Rosie—a 17-year-old Irish girl–has been sent to look after her Rwandan grandmother. Callie—an 18-year-old Canadian girl—is looking forward to volunteering for an aid organisation in...


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9781916156517
PRICE $6.50 (USD)

Average rating from 5 members


Featured Reviews

Wow. This small word kind of sums up my feeling towards this book.

They All Fall Down deals with so many themes at once that it' overwhelming trying to write them out. What is clear is that Kim Hood did a lot of research and was able to lay out quite simply such an intricate topic, while also pointing out the absurdity of it all.

Although the main event of the book is the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, I think that this is a story of self-discovery. The story of two (three) young girls trying to find their own place in the world, in a world where home feels foreign and you are a foreigner at home. A journey of accepting yourself for who you are and that being or wanting to be different is not such a bad thing.

As someone that lives alone in a foreign country, I loved and connected to the first chapters, the struggle of finding yourself and belonging somewhere, never being local enough, The clash between the perception you have of yourself and that of others.

I highly recommend this book to everyone

#TheyAllFallDownKimHoodBetimesBooks #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley and Betimes books. It covers an area of history that I really know little about and considering it happened in my lifetime that is truly shocking. Through the voices of two teenager the author weaves a story of internal unrest and racial hatred indiscriminate killing and pathways to escape.
Rosie and Callie have only ever experienced life in relatively normal settings and both suffer from teenage angst and a belief in the unfairness of life. What they are about to experience will change all that.

This is beautifully crafted and yet simply told the author truly brings the places and emotions to life
I will certainly look for more from this author

Was this review helpful?

Two young ladies, 17 and 18 years of age embark on an adventure to Rwanda. Rosie from Ireland, to help out her Gran, Callie from England, to help in a poor country. They meet on the airplane, then again in Rwanda. All is well at first and they experience a life that is so different from their upbringing. You will also meet Blessing, a 11 year old Rwandan girl who has been helping out Rosie’s Gran.

One day the President’s plane is shot down and everything changes. All three have to flee for their lives. A tragic story that many of you will remember, that happened in Rwanda in 1994, but one that we should not forget.
Well researched and written. A very good read, but there are some graphic details that will disturb you.

Was this review helpful?

Many thanks to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book. I wasn't ready. The first part felt so familiar and natural, teenage girls in western countries are quite similar even with completely opposite personalities, with their dreams and wishes and the wall of reality to crash into at full speed. Although I'm younger than the characters, I have memories of this period that the author brings up and it was easy to fall back in time. I also volunteered in Senegal for my very first plane trip and Callie's views were so perfectly matching my expectations. I got really attached to Rosie and Callie and that made the second part so much more unbearable. The acknowledgement part of the book refers to many Rwandans coming forward with their stories, so I suppose most horrible things happened for real and the scale of the tragedy is really inimaginable. It was also interesting to see how the hurting and healing can take different forms while the scars will always be bare. And noting that the conflict is still not really over is an important reminder that even after all that happened, Rwanda and the rest of the world is still not out of the horrors of war and genocide.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: