Blog Tour - The Fall Up by Aly Martinez - Review, Excerpt & Giveaway
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Synopsis:
I wanted to jump.
He made me fall.
As a celebrity, I lived in the public eye, but somewhere along the way, I’d lost myself in the spotlight.
Until he found me.
Sam Rivers was a gorgeous, tattooed stranger who saved my life with nothing more than a simple conversation.
But we were both standing on that bridge for a reason the night we met. The secrets of our pasts brought us together—and then tore us apart.
Could we find a reason to hold on as life constantly pulled us down?
Or maybe there’s only one direction to go when two people fall in love at rock bottom—up.
Review:
The Fall Up is another great read from Aly Martinez. I am so glad I found her books recently as I have pretty much loved all of them. Her characters are so well written you can't help but love them. Normally I don't like famous/rich people in my books, but The Fall Up was wonderful. I think it is because it was not the main focus of the story. The characters just happened to be famous/rich, not that is all they are. Such a great read.
The Fall Up is the story of Sam and Levee. They meet under some unusual circumstances, both of them up on a bridge. I love how everything was revealed slowly. What was Sam really doing on the bridge? Did he want to jump? What are his secrets from his past? And Levee - why is she up there? What brought her to the point that she keeps coming back night after night. It was really an amazing read.
Sam is fine. His job is fine, his friends are fine, his life is fine, everything is fine. He is getting tired of fine. He wants something great. Something better than fine. Something that will make everything that much more than it is now.
Levee is not fine. Not at all. If you ask she will say that she is, though if you look carefully you will know that is not true. She is struggling and she doesn't even know why. She just knows that she always feels like she is free falling and she cannot really take it anymore. She wants it to stop. She wants to stand still and just be, but she doesn't know how to. She is famous, people love her, but she is also very much alone. She struggles with some mental health issues and I loved reading her. She was so real. She felt like someone you could run into in the street. And she was kind of amazing.
For all of her struggles Levee has a huge heart. She tries to use her fame for good, to help sick children in the hospital. She just goes a bit overboard with it. She tries so much to help others that she doesn't even think about herself. She is so determined to bring a smile to these poor, dying kids that she is running herself into the ground, but she can't figure out how to stop. She doesn't know how to turn off her brain so she can sleep or remember to eat or anything. She is kind of a mess, even though she pretends all day that she is not. She has the bridge though.
When Sam keeps seeing Levee up on the bridge he knows she needs help. He knows something is wrong and he wants to be there for her. He has some darkness in his past, some people he wasn't able to help, but he doesn't want Levee to be added to that list. When he first meets her he doesn't even know who she is and assumes her life is worse than it is. He was so sweet. Really the two of them together were amazing. They both have dark spots in their pasts, but together they don't seem as dark. Sam has an amazing ability to make things lighter when they need to be. Their humor was so much fun to read. They can really be goofballs sometimes. Ah they were so sweet together.
As I said above Levee has some mental health issues. She can easily spiral down into an unhealthy headspace. She feels like she is falling all the time, until she meets Sam. Sam who makes things better. Sam who makes her feel safe and secure. Sam who is so sweet, but needs Levee to be okay so they can really have a future together. Levee is the great things Sam has always been searching for. When I found out what happened in Levee's past, what brought on this need to help the sick children and when, I was really surprised. Not at all what I expected and really highlighted the mental health issues. It was dealt with in such a great way, but I just wanted to scoop Levee up and make everything better. Levee is such an amazing person. Together with Sam they are magnificent.
This book deals with some serious issues, but it can be so lighthearted and fun at the same time. Sam and Levee just joke around a lot and it was great to read. It really highlighted that no matter what happens, what life throws at you, if you care about someone enough and them you it is all worth it. You can make something beautiful, something light and bright, even if you started in darkness. This story was a really great read. I loved the characters, I loved how the issues were dealt with, I loved the story, I just loved it. Sam and Levee are wonderful together and it just made me so happy seeing them happy. A great read.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★1/2
Excerpt:
“You’re overdoing it, Lev. I know this job isn’t exactly nine-to-five, but it’s not twenty-four-seven, either. You have to stop being Levee Williams all the time and just be you.”
“I know,” I responded.
I didn’t though. I felt like a robot parading around in a lost woman’s body.
Smile.
Pose.
Turn.
Toss in the occasional song.
Repeat.
What little time I did manage to carve out for myself was spent at various children’s hospitals across the country.
Smile.
Pose.
Turn.
Watch a child die.
Repeat.
With every day that passed, the smile became less and less genuine, the pose more and more forced, and the turn took me further and further away from who I really was.
My career was soaring while, personally, I was plummeting. Every single day felt like a terrifying free fall in no particular direction. I was stuck in the middle with no way up—or down.
“You remember that girl, right?” Henry asked, tucking a hair behind my ear.
I nodded.
I did remember her. She was fun and carefree. She loved going out and dancing at nightclubs until the very last song played. She slept until noon if she could. Then, fueled by coffee alone, she’d spend the day with a guitar strapped around her neck and a notepad at her side. She had a huge heart, but she knew her limitations.
Oh, I remembered that girl. I just couldn’t figure out how to get back to her.
About the Author:
Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under the age of five, including a set of twins. Currently living in South Carolina, she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.
After some encouragement from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job titles. Five books later, she shows no signs of slowing. So grab a glass of Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the crazy train she calls life.
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