Review: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

Title: Fall for Anything
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub. Date: December 2010
Genre: Contemporary YA
Keywords: Grief, Suicide, Love, Lies, Secrets
Pages: 240
Description (from arc):
When Eddie Reeves's father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why. Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, former student of her father's and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. He seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie's vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on... but some questions should be left unanswered.

Courtney Summers is the Queen of Mean; she holds hold court over characters that readers love to hate... and just plain love. Readers are well aware that Summers can write a compelling mean girl, but, with FALL FOR ANYTHING, she shows us that she can write vulnerable and broken with just as much skill.

I quickly realized that Eddie wasn't anything like Summers' previous two main characters, Parker and Regina. Eddie has never dated the most popular guy in school, she doesn't bully, and, most notably, she doesn't  hide her pain and vulnerability behind a mean exterior. She's had one best friend, Milo, for years, and, except for the occasional girlfriend, it's them against the world. That is, until her father commits suicide, Milo refuses to talk about what happened that fateful night, and Eddie meets Culler Evans.

Eddie's quest to find the reason for father's sudden death is painfully sad and incredibly moving. The novel begins "My hands are dying" and this line stayed with me throughout the novel. Since the night her father died, of which she only has a hazy, incomplete memory, Eddie does not feel alive. She constantly analyzes her father's actions, his words, his life, looking for the reason behind his departure. And when Culler Evans, her father's student whom she's never met, reaches out to her, she holds on for dear life because he's the only person who makes her feels alive. For the first time, something and someone has come between Eddie and Milo, despite the fact that Eddie might need Milo now more than ever.


I'll openly admit that I love everything I've read by Summers, so maybe my opinion regarding this novel is biased... or maybe, my love for her previous novels, CRACKED UP TO BE and SOME GIRLS ARE, and newfound adoration for FALL FOR ANYTHING, offers proof of just how wonderful her stories and characters are and will convince you to pick up these titles for your own collection.