How does a woman like Ms. Scott get a male voice so very right? I am not a male (or a teenager for that matter), but I have to imagine that the voice and persona and thoughts and actions that Ms. Scott created for the main character, Seth, are what it is like to be a guy who's a teen. It felt so very authentic, so real. I connected deeply with Seth and some of the minor characters because they felt real, too. So good.
Freefall starts with Seth, a talented bass player who's just lost his best friend Isaac. They had been partying, and Isaac had wanted to sleep under the stars. Seth did not, so he went inside. When Seth woke up, Isaac was dead. He had choked on his own vomit in the middle of the night.
Of course, Seth blames himself for Isaac's death. Isaac was such a force in Seth's life that Seth feels as though nothing will ever be the same. And he's right. There is no same, but there's a whole of of different that can be healthy and good. For one, Seth decides to stop drinking. He and Isaac had gotten into a habit of drinking heavily most nights, and this pattern continued after Isaac's death. Only, Seth was drinking with friends and alone. Not good.
Then there's the issue of communication. Seth is not a great conversationalist. He keeps all of his feelings and fears bottled up to the point where the little that he does let out is very sarcastic and potentially hurtful to whoever is talking with him. He uses this blase front to keep people away. But, when he meets a beautiful, intelligent girl by a pool at a party one night, he finds that he wants to open up. But, he doesn't really know how.
This book is told in a sort of journal style, with dates and times at the top of each section. I honestly lost myself in this book and did not want it to end. It just has that authentic quality to it, that realness that makes a book unforgettable and characters feel like actual people. I feel like I have known Seths and Isaacs before. Again, I don't know how Ms. Scott did this. But, I'd like for her to do it again!
I read this book as part of the Contemps Challenge. I'm loving all of the books that I've read thus far, which is pretty amazing. It's a great challenge and you should all look into joining if you haven't already.
