Customer Reviews

Falling Under

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Wow, this debut by author Danielle Younge Ullman left me breathless. Gritty, dark and very thought-provoking, Falling Under is a must read.

Falling Under explores the complexity of what happens after a child grows up with parents who are too caught up in their own struggles to care for their own daughter. Mara Foster is used to having to care for her alcoholic father and tiptoe around her heartbroken mother. As an adult Mara uses her sexuality to push her demons away. She discovers a passion and success as an artist. But Mara continues to struggle as an adult after she experiences a tragedy. When she finally finds someone who just wants to love her, she finds herself struggling to open herself up again. And there is that special someone else who she is bound together with body and soul, by a dark secret.

"My skin, all at once, is like an open wound, my insides a battlefield. There is no thought to trace it to, no moment of warning before it happens, and yet I should have known I wouldn't be able to do this.

No matter what my heart begs, my body will not let me love.'

Falling Under may sound like it is all dark and dreary. But there are lots of wonderful funny moments as Mara navigates through her life. I loved Mara's character. Danielle Younge-Ullman's writing made me feel Mara's heartbreak deep in her soul. Women will find themselves identifying with her. Her best friend since childhood, Bernadette is a wonderfully fun character. And then there are those two men competing for her heart. When I reached the end I, found myself turning to the front cover and then suddenly it all made sense. The ending is amazing and I won't say anymore because you will want to have the experience for yourself. I highly recommend Falling Under. There are compelling subjects for discussion for book clubs, such as alcoholism, absentee parents, and then that wonderful ending. Believe me, the discussions will be heated. I look forward to many more books from this author.

When she was a young girl, Mara Foster's parents acrimoniously divorced; besides learning Santa was a fraud that Christmas Mara knew dad was never coming back. She took it personally blaming herself and it still affects her relationships as an adult. Mara always sees the dark side to humans as she suffers from the anxiety disorder agoraphobia.

Men do not want to deal with Mara's issues. That is until she meets Hugo, who wants to be with her in spite of her phobias. He encourages her to move on, but to do so Mara must look deep inside herself; a thought that frightens the young woman, but enough to run from or towards Hugo remains to be seen as she loathes touching and he wants intimacy.

FALLING UNDER is a one woman show as the story line deals with Mara's phobias that make it impossible for her to have an intimate loving relationship; though in some ways she does have that with her only friend who is as angst laden with demons as she is. The storyline focuses on whether besieged Mara can move past her terrors encouraged by the kind Hugo. Readers who relish a realistic study of a tormented lonely person will appreciate FALLING UNDER as the quince will wonder whether Mara finds her groove or remains tortured in self afflicted hell. PS the ending is realistic but not easy to swallow.

Harriet Klausner

...and even then, you'll still be talking about it.

FALLING UNDER will take you by the throat. It's an unflinching, no-holds-barred look inside the mind and heart of a damaged young woman, struggling for contact in a world she can't entirely trust. Good stuff. You'll want to share it with every serious reader you know.

Falling Under is an unforgettable debut novel that sucks you into an orgasmic vortex of emotions for a look into a young artist's tortured soul. Highly recommended!

When it comes to movies, it doesn't take much for my faucet to run. I need a box of tissues for the end of SPACE JAM. Does that embarrass me? No way. There is nothing quite as wonderful as my heart on overdrive and I don't care who notices. Such was the case with Younge-Ullman's debut novel FALLING UNDER. When I coach actors, my ultimate goal is to help them figure out how to allow their characters to feel raw enough to experience the point of pain, which lead them into their present situation. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Younge-Ullman has figured out how to do the same thing on the page. FALLING UNDER exposes Mara Foster's pain, then rips through it with a sickle. The writing is raw and honest in a way I have never seen before. No sugar-coating. FU is a story you can gnaw on while your heart rides through hell and back. A page-turner deluxe. A must read for writers and actors who want to discover what they're leaving out of their own work and anyone else who loves a good cry. I'll be reading this one again.

Falling Under is a fiercely intense book; it takes hold of you and demands that you keep reading. Danielle Younge-Ullman's debut absolutely pulls you in from the very first pages - it's a book that takes reading to another level. This sexually intense novel provokes thought, brings brilliant artistic visuals to the mind, and will have you ripping through the pages, fascinated all the way through to the amazing ending.

This is one of the most compelling debut novels I've read. What a combination: great writing, a compelling damaged-goods heroine who never crosses the border into being whiny, and sex scenes that reveal a lot about the participants, exploring the complex emotions (or lack thereof) that such acts of sex can contain.

This is a powerful, fearless book, populated with memorable characters trying to navigate their own imperfect lives. But most of all, this is just good writing. A friend of mine put it best: it's "writing that doesn't feel like writing." There is a purity about the prose that makes it seem to pour directly from the heart of the main character, offering us a warts-and-all view into the soul of a troubled but brilliant artist. Get yourself a copy.

I didn't have high hopes when I opened up this book...which just goes to show how wrong first impressions can be. The story centers around a troubled young woman named Mara, the only child of diverse yet equally dysfunctional parents. When her boyfriend dies unexpectedly, she buries herself in doomed relationships and dead-end commercial art work to drive away the pain. Not only does this not work, it brings her closer to facing and accepting the truth behind the tragedy. Being able to experience Mara's pain and ultimate growth as she does, is a testament to the talent of this amazing new author. A touching and poignant book.

A bizarre protagonist that kept me curious all the way to the end and an ending that begs to be talked about.