Review: Freefall by Mindi Scott

How do you come back from the point of no return?

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend Isaac alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time where Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn’t wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend’s death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he’s ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn’t the only one who needs saving . . .

My Review:

Freefall is a well-written story of friendship, love, and getting past your fears.  The book contains many serious elements, but there are fun scenes as well.  It is told in male POV, and the male voice was well done.  I loved this entire story and the characters.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Seth McCoy is wasting his life away at the beginning of Freefall.  His life feels different after his best friend Isaac passes out drunk one night and never wakes up.  Isaac was a member of the band that Seth is in, and the band expects to go on performing even though.  Other kids at school call Isaac's death a "nontragedy" to Seth's face.  Seth drinks, gets stoned, and fails classes.  He decides he needs to get his life back on track.  He talks to his guidance counselor, and she puts him in the same math class that he's already failed twice.  He decides to stop drinking, even though he still wants to often.  Seth grows and changes much over the course of the novel.

Two more well-developed characters are the two main females in the book.  Despite the fact that there are two girls, this book does not have a love triangle.  Kendall grew up next door to Seth in their trailer park, but now she has moved to the richer part of town.  She likes to talk to Seth's mom.  Also, Seth thinks he had a one-night stand with her at a party.  The two of them decide to become "nonenemies," but by the end of the book, they are basically friends.  Kendall makes many mistakes that end up hurting Seth as she struggles in her relationship with her secret boyfriend, but she really does care about Seth and feel sorry for her mistakes.  The other girl in the book is Rosetta.  She has many problems from her past.  She is an orphan who moved to town to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents' deaths.  Her first meeting with Seth doesn't go too well since Seth inadvertently lies to her.  The romance that develops between Rosetta and Seth is slow and realistic.  There are some sweet scenes between the two of them, and some more serious scenes.

This book also has some focus on getting past her fears.  Seth and a member of the new band he joins have stage fright.  Seth has managed to play shows in the past, but he usually gets stoned before them to get rid of his fear.  In the book, he learns some more positive ways of coping with his fear.  Rosetta has motorphobia, or the fear of riding in motor vehicles.  She walks everywhere, and if people ask her to ride with them, she makes up a lie about making a pledge to the environment.  When the reader discovers why Rosetta has motorphobia, her fear makes sense.

If you like YA contemporary from the male POV, read this book.
  
Katie