My review of Falling Behind by Dee Avila--4.5 STARS OUT OF 5

 MY REVIEW 4.5 STARS OUT OF 5

 

This book was so unexpected. I was a little hesitant about it but let me tell you. I loved it!!! I cried so much in this book so just be prepared to have a box of tissues. It starts off with three best friends starting their sophomore year in high school. High school is supposed to be a fun time to enjoy being young as well as college. However, these three friends were not able to experience that. I completely love Titus and how he remained so committed to both the girls. These girls were his two best friends. Although he was falling in love with Reese she wasn’t aware of it. Reese didn’t think Titus shared the same feelings like her so she started dating this jerk Josh. The pressure he put on her about having sex and how she felt she owed him was heartbreaking.. She was too young to understand. In her heart she knew their relationship was not a healthy one but she couldn’t seem to break away from him.

Then you have Titus who can’t stand Josh because he sees right through him. Titus is a great guy and very passionate and loving towards Reese and their other best friend Candice. As Reese is dealing with her boyfriend Josh her best friend Candice is in a relationship that is not healthy. Reese starts seeing bruises on her friend and finds out Candice’s boyfriend is abusing her. Candice doesn’t want Reese to tell anybody but Reese doesn’t feel right about that because she is so concerned about Candice and loves her like a sister. Titus helps the girls to try and see that they deserve better and he is very protective of both of them. Titus and Reese are scared for Candice while Titus is also scared for Reese. He knows Josh is using Reese and is not good for her and at the same time he is trying to keep an eye on Candice to make sure her dirt bag of a boyfriend doesn’t her hurt anymore. The poor guy does nothing but loves the girls and stands by them and tries to talk them into seeing that their relationships with their boyfriends are not healthy and they deserve so much better. Candice stops talking to Reese because Reese finally told Candice’s parents about the abuse. It was so sad that two girls that were so close like sisters were being torn apart from each other because of their boyfriends.

This book shows the young girls that it is not okay to let a guy treat them with disrespect. Unfortunately, it takes some horrible acts of violence for them to finally see what is going on and that you should never be afraid to speak up about something like this. Reese loved Candice so much she was willing to lose her friendship with Candice in order to protect her. There are some very sensitive subject matters in this book that I feel are very necessary for kids to know about. It is sad to know that this kind of stuff really does happen. It’s not just stories written for entertainment but real people dealing with this kind of stuff. If anything this book will shows somebody how to get courage to stand up for what is right and that NO means NO. Throughout the entire book you fall in love with Titus. He is the rock holding them all together as much as he can. These are his best friends since elementary, and very protective of them. After everything is revealed you feel so bad for Titus because he felt helpless because he was not able to do anything to help his two best friends. He tried so hard to convince them their boyfriends were dirt bags and that they deserved so much better. The way the story ended I’m sure there is going to be a second book. I hope so because it ended kind of up in the air. I don’t think the story between Reese and Titus is over and can’t wait to see more work from this author.