#BookReview: Falling Together - Marisa de los Santos

We're all familiar with the poem that states, "People come into your life for a reason, season or a lifetime."  From the first day they meet as college freshmen, Pen, Will and Cat are sure that they're destined to be in each other's lives forever.  Within their symbiotic relationship, Pen is the caretaker, Will is the thinker and Cat is the carefree spirit that makes the friendship work.

As adults, their friendship continues until the day Cat makes the decision to leave the group, with the request that they not try to find one another in the future.  Though Will and Pen try to make their friendship work without Cat, she's the missing piece of their puzzle and so they too agree to end their friendship.  But not a day goes by that Pen doesn't think of her friends and wonder if she's left an empty space in their lives as they've left in hers.

The day an email arrives from Cat asking both Pen and Will to attend their college reunion because she needs them, both are hesitant, but it's Cat, so, of course, they'll attend.  Except Cat isn't there, at least not physically, her husband is and he's the one that needs their help.

Cat's presence is felt so strongly throughout this book, though she's mostly spoken of in third person.  As much as Will and Pen adored her, I came away from this book disliking her immensely.  Pen and Will, but especially Pen, have had so much faith in her and remembered so many good things about her.  I'd agree with them that she was a light-hearted free spirit, but she was also selfish and unfeeling.  You certainly can't expect your friends to be the same way they were years ago, but to be dismissive of them as if they never played an important role in your life is cruel.

Looking back, Cat played the child to adult-like Pen and Will when they were students.  So she expected them to take care of her until she was ready to take care of herself and when she was ready to do that, she no longer had any use for them.  Like parents that sometimes fall apart when their child leaves the nest, Will and Pen fell apart without Cat.  I think that's why I dislike her so much.  It's her departure that interrupts their lives for years until she summons them.

I didn't expect to be so drawn in to Falling Together or to become so heavily invested in the characters.  Marisa de los Santos tricks the reader into caring about the characters by making them fully developed multi-dimensional characters.  This was my first read from her and I can't wait to delve into more from her.

384pp
Published: October 2012
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.

Theme: Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye

Books: Passports to the World

It's a little early to announce reading challenges for next year, but it requires a little planning and I need your help.  I've created the Books: Passports to the World challenge, where the goal is to read a book a week set in a different country.  There are just under 200 recognized countries in the world today, my plan is to come up with books set in 52 of those places.  Why 52? There are 52 weeks in a year, so each week I'll be posting a review of a book from one of the countries.

Here's where I need your help.  I've created a list, and come up with a good number of books so far, but I'm hoping that you've read a book set in a country that I've not already found a book for and will share it with me.  The list of countries and books can be found here.  Please take a look and submit your suggestions for books that should be added to the list below.  And don't worry, sign ups for the challenge are coming soon.

#BookReview: Love Your Frenemies - Mina V. Esguerra

I'm finally getting back on track with the Colorful Chick Lit challenge and Love Your Frenemies is the perfect read for it.  Set in the Philippines, it's the story of Kimmy Domingo, the girl everyone loves to hate, at least that's what Kimmy believes.

When her fiance' ditched her the week before their wedding, Kimmy took off to parts unknown.  With an occasional phone call to her mother, Kimmy let her friends and family know she was okay, but for a year she traipsed around the world trying to find herself and forget the humiliation of being left at the altar.  The wedding of her BFF has brought her back to Manila and that's not necessarily a good thing.

Faced with the same demons that haunted her before she left, Kimmy returns to a clingy and needy mother, a tense relationship with her childhood friends and blatant hostility from coworkers.  So how does she plan to resolve these problems? It's simple.  She'll cut off unnecessary contact with all of them after the wedding.

What did you like about this book?
I always enjoy reading stories from a different perspective.  Though Love Your Frenemies is chick lit in nature, it's also a short study in Filipino culture.

What didn't you like about this book?
There were a few cultural references that readers outside of the Filipino culture may not understand.  It would have been nice to have footnotes or a short glossary in the back to help bring the reader up to speed.  On the other hand, Google is always available for readers willing to do the legwork.

What could the author have done to improve this book?
Kimmy is a likable character.  I could definitely see a series based around her.  Hopefully, the author will make that happen.

120pp
Published May 2011

Theme: Do You Know Where You're Going To (theme from Mahogany) by Diana Ross