They All Fall Down

This week, I’m a few weeks late with a review of They All Fall Down by Tammy Cohen. I got it as an ARC, read it, and then just plain old didn’t feel like writing the review. But – here we go!

They All Fall Down

So, I was really excited about it. Our main character, Hannah, finds herself in a mental hospital. As it’s explained to us, she has lost her child – by her own hands – and is not handling reality well. Unfortunately, several of her friends in the mental hospital have recently died. The staff seems certain they are suicides; Hannah is convinced they’ve been murdered. But with no obvious killer, no obvious clues, and no obvious reason, she must decide if she has legitimately gone crazy or if she’s just sane enough to watch her back.

Right off the bat we have a bit of a psychological thriller, which is good. It takes place in England, which is good. Her husband is shady; he says all the right things, but he’s losing interest in visiting her and seems rather happily resigned to the idea she may live in a mental health facility for the duration of her life. Her mom is protective; she knows her daughter has some mental issues but also believes her daughter is genuinely frightened. Her sister is estranged; she lives in New York and their recent phone conversations have been tense.

And her friends, as you might expect given the setting, are odd.

It’s definitely an interesting cast of characters.

And then I got bored out of my mind.

Image result for monty python bored meme

Talking to you, Book.

I think part of it was that the clues were, to me, just a tad too obvious, which made reading it seem tedious – I knew what was coming and I just wanted to get there and be done with it. I hate to say that, but, even after I’ve thought about it for a few days, I just can’t shake that feeling. I won’t give you the clues (because they are obvious and would be spoilers) so you’ll just have to trust me on that.

The short version is: this book is several hundred pages, and there’s a very simple story. I didn’t really like any of the characters; they irked me. Except for the mom, because if one of my girls ever decides to lose her mind I hope I’d be awesome enough to fight for them irregardless of what that means.

It is a bit choppy to read because the point of views change every chapter. Sometimes you see it from Hannah’s perspective, sometimes it’s her mom, sometimes it’s her friends, sometimes it’s her therapist . . . it’s always someone different, which is a bit confusing as you have to try to understand everyone’s thought process and perspective. Some of them were more developed than others, and some of them – it seemed to me – were forced into development.

All in all, this book is fine if you’re looking to kill an afternoon. Or if you’re a big fan of psychological thrillers (especially the ones set in England with their wonderful little tics – seriously, that’s a compliment), this might be an okay read. Is this going to win literature awards or be a movie or sell a gazillion copies? Probably not. And I say “probably not” because sometimes bad books do become movies (hello, “50 Shades”!). BUT, if you just need some mild entertainment, this will probably fit the bill.

Overall: 5/10

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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