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Mar 02, 2010

Sonia rated it:

Disappointed in this one. Theme is things falling apart: Veronica's parents marriage and her college classes are out of control. Then she makes some bad choices and those get out of control. For me the premises and situations of this book were so unimaginative. Like if the author was in a hurry and said to herself, "Okay, how can I give my character Veronica a really shitty day? Like this: She'll get in a car wreck and she'll throw a party that gets out of control. And I'll have her More...

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Dec 31, 2009

Laura rated it:

Veronica's father finds Roofer Guy in the marital bed, and decides to divorce her mother. As a result, Mom starts on one of those downward slides where everything just snowballs into A Bad Life. Veronica, in college as a pre-med, is heading in the same direction. Not doing her job as an RA well, not getting Organic Chemistry, just Not Doing in general.

The problem is that I just didn't feel sorry for her. I know what depression can be like, and yet there was a part of me that want More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 12, 2011

Diane rated it:

After her parents' divorce, Veronica can't seem to concentrate on her studies, her job, her boyfriend or her life in general. Her mother is falling apart, her father is looking for any way to punish her mother, her sister is off living her new life in LA and Veronica is stuck trying to pass an impossibly obtuse organic chemistry class. Why is her mother avoiding her? Why does the freshman on her floor insist on following her around? Why is her boyfriend pressuring her to move in with him? A More...

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May 20, 2011

Cyndy rated it:

I seem to be on a run of divorce stories lately (coincidence), which is how I ended up with Laura Moriarty's While I'm Falling in my recent library binge. This book cheered me up, but not in the way I'd hoped.

::: The Plot :::

Veronica is the younger daughter of two typical middle class parents. Dad is a lawyer. Mom is a sometimes substitute teacher. Her older sister is already a lawyer just like dear old dad, and Veronica wants to make her own way in the world, starting with h More...

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Mar 22, 2010

Lisa rated it:

While I'm Falling will resonate with fans of Anne Tyler. Middle-aged mother finds herself divorced (her idea) and looking for herself, having difficulty succeeding in doing so. It is a story about what one gives up in a marriage (or rather may give up)and the relationships between mothers and daughters, from the complex and unfathomable to the unconditional and exasperated. While there is certainly some solid writing here, I just didn't find myself particularly stirred by the plot which did n More...

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Dec 30, 2009

marg rated it:

What a perplexing book, in that, if a student wrote it and handed it in to me, I would be forced to give her two marks - an A for substance and a D - for writing.
MOriarty - what happened??? HOw can you be a one book wonder? Center for Everything was such a delight, and since then, two whopping disasters. Well, to be fair, the other one you wrote was seriously awful, and this one had a lot of redeeming features, if the writing was not one of them.
The story chronicles, in brain dead pr More...

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Aug 29, 2009

Sarah rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 24, 2009

Denise rated it:

I am a huge fan of Laura Moriarty, and I was not a bit disappointed with her latest offering, "While I'm Falling." It is wonderfully relationship driven and fast moving. Ms. Moriarity creates very real, multifaceted characters and has us caring about them before we know it. I sometimes gauge a book by how many times it makese me cry, and this one made me cry twice which is a very good sign. Lol

This is the story of pre-med student Veronica Von Holten and her family. Ve More...

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Oct 22, 2009

Clif rated it:

The angst of the mother-daughter relationship is thoroughly explored in this book as only the skillful writing of Laura Moriarty can do. However, also contained in this book is exploration of an example of how a long time marriage can end up in divorce. The book is structured around the parallel actions of a mother and her daughter, and as things develop their lives appear to be mirror images of each other. They both make mistakes, and they are both "falling" from their former lives More...

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Sep 10, 2009

Lisa rated it:

Veronica Von Holten is a pre-med student at the University of Kansas and is struggling through an already tough semester when she gets the news that her parents are divorcing. The stress leads her to a couple of bad decisions over a long weekend, which are only the beginning of an upheaval that will change her life: Her plans, her goals, her relationship with each of her parents.
When her mother shows up at her dorm room, homeless, elderly dog in tow, Veronica is pushed nearly to the breaki More...

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Oct 10, 2010

Lindsay rated it:

Not really sure what drew me to this book, I think I just like reading about people who are having breakdowns and their life is just going downhill to make me realize that my life isn't that bad. How sad that I need a novel to remind me of that. It's just a reminder that no matter how bad things look, they can always be worse.
This book is about Veronica who is a pre-med student in college and is having a bit of a breakdown. And things only get worse when her parents get a divorce and her More...

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Dec 25, 2009

Tensy rated it:

Moriarty is a local Kansas writer and I like that she sets her novels in the area where I live. She certainly understands the pulse of campus life and her protagonist, Veronica, deals not only with the pressures of college, but those of her disintegrating family. At one point in the novel she explains, "I was still screwing up. I couldn't stop. It was like I was in free fall." We have all had those moments when a series of events go so badly that the rug is literally pulled out from un More...

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Jun 29, 2011

Georgiana rated it:

Precipitando nell'abisso

Diario di una trascurabile Catastrofe è un romanzo di formazione: attraverso tutta la serie di eventi che precipitano a gran velocità e la fanno andare sempre più a fondo, Veronica analizzerà il suo rapporto con gli altri, i suoi desideri, le sue paure, e soprattutto i suoi limiti, e cercherà di risalire dall’abisso seguendo il consiglio di sua madre: «Talvolta devi solo limitare le perdite e andare avanti».

Questo libro mi ha spesso lasciata in uno sta More...

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Jan 01, 2011

Shannon rated it:

This is my first novel by Moriarty, and I have to say, I truly enjoyed reading about Veronica's tribulations. Someone commented that these were unimaginative, and I can understand that observation, however while I was reading it, my attention was drawn more to the conflicts that ensued, both internal and external. I found myself empathizing with the heroine, as she struggled to come to terms with the demise of her plan to become a doctor, as she took on the role as the reluctant moderator betwee More...

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Jul 21, 2011

Yuko86 rated it:

Purtroppo la vita ti pone spesso di fronte a situazioni per cui non sei affatto preparata. E’ appunto questo ciò che accade a Veronica, studentessa del college felicemente fidanzata con Tim, figlia adorata. Il mondo le crolla addosso quando i suoi genitori decidono di divorziare e tutto comincia improvvisamente ad andare a rotoli: gli esami non vanno, la sua relazione va in crisi, il suo lavoro viene messo in forse. Non è facile reagire, e basta un piccolo passo falso per combinare un disastro. More...

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Oct 22, 2009

Cindy rated it:

Center of Everything is one of my favorite books - so I had high hopes for While I'm Falling. The story revolves around a college aged young woman whose parents get divorced and she is put in the middle. I went to the University of Kansas (the setting of this book) and enjoyed the descriptions of the buildings and the dorms - it brought back good memories. I also related quite a bit to her college experience (aka - I started off as pre-med too!) However, I was really upset with the main char More...

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Sep 10, 2009

Kathy rated it:

In the 80's, there was a movie called "After Hours" with Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette in which the lead characters went from one uncomfortable situation to another in the course of one night. I remember feeling very anxious watching the movie. As I read this novel, the same kind of feeling came over me - I wanted to take the main character Veronica and shake her for her idiotic decisions. Veronica is a college student who, while living through her parents' divorce, suffers th More...

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Sep 20, 2009

Becky rated it:

This book is just okay. It's a little boring at times, and even when it's not boring, I had to force myself to keep turning the pages. It's written well and really does put life in perspective, but there wasn't much drawing me in. I guess I didn't feel a connection to Veronica. I think that if I had, I would have cared more about what was going to happen to her.

Something about this book that bothered me was that the author would be moving forward in the story and tumble upon a certai More...

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Aug 02, 2009

Sara rated it:

If you’ve read The Rest of Her Life, you already know that Laura Moriarty has such an easy command of language that not a lot needs to happen in her books for them to seem gripping. While I’m Falling is no exception. To over simplify, a college student, Veronica, struggles with a pre-med course load and her parents divorced resulting from her mother’s indiscretion. Veronica makes one bad choice after another over the course of a pretty crappy weekend. Her mom, Natalie, is reeling from the fi More...

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Mar 18, 2010

Peggy rated it:

An excellent book about a college junior pre med major whose life goes awry. Veronica is a resident assistant in a dorm at college. Her life takes a downward spiral when her parents decide to get a divorce, her semester classes are over her head, she takes a housesitting job that goes wrong when a group of friends have a party there, her mom loses her apartment because she won't do some thing about the dog she isn't supposed to have there, and her dad gets a new girl friend. Complicated life More...

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Nov 30, 2009

Brittany rated it:

This is the story of a college student coping with her own coming of age and at the same time dealing with her parents divorce. It is a story of falling and failing. She makes mistakes and gets herself into some interesting predicaments. At the same time, her parents deal with the stress of divorce in healthy and unhealthy ways. Laura Moriarty writes well and creates interesting characters. Each character had distinct and realistic personalities and tactics for dealing with this stressful p More...

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Nov 03, 2009

Nicole rated it:

I hated giving this book only two stars because Laura Moriarty's other two books were so good. This one, however, was kind of a drag. The main character makes some pretty dumb choices, with very little reason given. Without knowing why she did what she did nor finding her very likable, it was hard to read about her continual downward spiral. Also, the main book ended abruptly, with a "happily ever after" epilogue that took place a year later. It would have been nice to see what ha More...

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Jan 05, 2010

Su rated it:

I thought this was a very enjoyable story. The main character of Veronica is beset by so many problems that one can't help but feel her pain. She is in her freshman year of college when her parents decide to divorce, and as quite often happens, she is stuck in the middle of them. Plus her life at college is anything by fun. She has a pre-med major, mostly to please her parents, but finds the class load unbearable. Everything that happens to her, all of the troubles that come her way, are ve More...

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Oct 23, 2009

Nette rated it:

I had to read this book in one evening because I had miscalculated when it was due back at the library, and luckily it was a quick read. A nicely done mother/daughter story, enjoyable if not memorable. But what's up with this woman's book covers? This one: one half of a girl with her red hair blowing in wind, snow and dead grass behind her. "The Center of Everything": one half of the face of a pretty redhead lying on grass. "The Rest of Her Life": the back of the hea More...

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Jul 26, 2010

Jessica rated it:

This book was a random pick from the library.

This book was about life and all the surprises it can hold. It was sad in many parts, but lives move on. Family dogs dieing always get me though. There were a few parts that really made me think. Another thing is that we are all human; we all share so many emotions, tragedies, celebrations, etc.

"It was my first inkling of how foolish it was to judge harshly and to discount fate, and to truly believe I was one kind of g More...

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May 25, 2010

April rated it:

This is the third Laura Moriarty book I've read. I liked it much better than her second, but not as well as her first, The Center of Everything. This one takes place in Kansas City and Lawrence (KU), which added a fun aspect to reading it. It's about a daughter who is dealing with the pressures of college and her parents' divorce when her mom and family dog show up, homeless, at her dorm room. A lot of themes are explored including what mom's often sacrifice in raising their children, and how do More...

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Oct 03, 2009

Barb rated it:

We heard this author read at Watermark Books in Wichita a couple weeks ago and the selection she was reading was so exciting that the lady across from me was actually biting her nails! But really it's just a sweet family story about changes. With a very strong message that all women should work, no matter what their circumstances. The author mentioned that she'd read the book "The Feminine Mistake" that was all about that. Good, good author! Have enjoyed all 3 of her books and hea More...

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Oct 06, 2009

Clare rated it:

This book explores the effects of a family's disintegration on the various members, especially the college-age daughter. The author has a real feel for how the main character is affected by the changes in the family, the ways in which she acts and reacts, and how a family can dissolve, and yet remain connected.

This book seemed realistic. At times I found it hard to see the daughter's suffering when her parents split. I feared that she too might disintegrate. The ways in which she More...

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Dec 15, 2009

Kerry rated it:

Listened to the audio and really enjoyed both the story and the reader. It was a well thought out story of how a family survives divorce and no longer being the family they were. Told primarily from the view point of the youngest daughter who is a college student at the University of Kansas. Her travails in trying to remain true to both her parents, help her mother who is in financial problems and find her own way while trying to decide who she wants to be, vs. who others think she should be a More...

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Sep 04, 2009

Karen rated it:

I enjoyed this book very much. A young woman is away at college, struggling with her pre-med classes, when she finds out her parents are divorcing. The perspectives are different, sometimes first person, sometimes third and that of a different characters. Usually this is confusing, but it all worked.

It was interesting to me to see all of the different POV's of the people affected by the divorce--both spouses, the children. The author made some good points about how women can More...

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