Falling

by Sharon Dogar, George Fiddes (Illustrator)

Neesha is afraid - haunted by the fragments of a nightmare about a girl falling, far away and a long time ago.

Just when the echoes in her head threaten to overwhelm her, a boy unexpectedly comes to her rescue.

Handsome and talented, Sammy finds himself strangely drawn to Neesha - but it's only when they come together, that they begin to realise why.

Are they falling in love or being pulled into the past - fated to replay a love affair that ended in blood?



Cover illustration © Georgina Hounsome

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Mental Health, Magic

344 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2009

About the author

Sharon Dogar is a social worker who counsels troubled teens.

Waves is her first novel. The poignant coming-of-age story about a family dealing with the accident of their daughter, it took a while for Sharon to get started. "But then I had ‘the moment,' " she explains. "That moment when a character just arrives in your mind and begs to be written - whether you want to do it or not. I remember it was lunchtime. I walked into the sitting room and had a thought: I was by the sea. And in that moment, I saw a boy with his back to me; he was in the kitchen of a beach house, looking at something on the wall. Looking at it with utter intensity and absorption. I knew straight away his name was Hal. I walked back into my own kitchen and wrote the prologue, immediately and completely, exactly as it remained in the final manuscript. And then I had to write a story to go with it!"

Sharon Dogar lives with her husband and three children in Oxford, England.

Reviews

[Emily Diver · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first ever goodreads review so I'm not really sure what I'm doing but here goes


I didn't enjoy this book. From the blurb it seemed really intriguing and like some kind of mystery. I noticed it in Waterstone's a while ago and planned to buy it as soon as I could.
However, I was very disappointed. The main character was annoying, as were most of the others. The author didn't seem very in touch with 'teen slang' and her portrayal of the teenage characters, particularly the generic bitchy group of girls, wasn't very realistic or accurate. The book is narrated by Neesh, the female protagonist, and a lot of the narrative often goes off into some kind of boring, philosophical musing about life and love which would get very pretentious and annoying.
The basic plot revolves around Neesh, who is an Indian girl living in England who has the power to see colours and 'energies' above people's heads. This lets her see people's emotions, feelings, etc and also she has powers to heal people. She is neglected by her mother who rejects her because of her 'witch' powers and bullied by her unpleasant brother. However, Sammy, who is described as being popular, good-looking and talented, is in love with Neesh despite her not appearing to the reader to have any appeal whatsoever, because she has become a selective mute who refuses to take her coat off as a result of her Dad leaving. Sammy's grandfather once met and fell in love with Neesh's great aunt, also a witch, in Kashmir, and the book revolves around the reveal of how their relationship ended 'in blood' and how Neesh and Sammy can prevent the same thing happening to them. Also some boy from their school is running around after them with a knife that can talk to him.
It took me a long time to get through this book because in all honesty I just found it extremely boring, weird and a bit stupid at times. Particularly the ending which is very sudden;

*spoiler alert*

Neesh and Sammy are meant to have been arrested for attempted murder, yet suddenly they're on a boat together being all happy with no explanation of what happened to their criminal charges. And then the book ends with Neesh being all philosophical and annoying again, and frankly, I was happy that it had ended.



Overall, I'd give the book 2 out of 5 stars. While not an enjoyable read in my opinion, I did however find some of the scenes towards the end of the book when the action picked up quite gripping, despite the unsatisfying and sudden ending. Also, the cover art is very pretty, which is one of the things that made me pick it up in the first place.

[Lore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story. I loved every page. I founnd myself hooked on the story of Neesha and Sammy. Its pure magic. The way the whole tale unfolds is thrillign and full of suspense that woun't let you down.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This book was absolutely amazing. It was so powerful and engaging. Sharon Dogar's descriptions made the story come alive on the page, even the horrible events, and there were a few, were told so intricately and brilliantly that it was uncomfortable to read at times.

Some of the themes that the novel was based around were ones that aren't usually prominent in YA books. Sharon Dogar didn't flinch away from the harsh reality of the difference in cultures and how people live. It was eye-opening and something that didn't fit in with my view of how the world is now, maybe fifty years ago, but not now.

See my interview with Sharon here:
http://solittletimeforbooks.blogspot....

[Amy :) the girl who waited · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has one of the most amazing covers ever!!!!!
I enjoyed it, was a bit confusing at times but otherwise good =]
A good nights entertainment, although i might not read it again

[aileenlucia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book = headache

A really dark story and a good idea for a book but it's written so complicated and in a weird way that I almost gave up reading. All I thought while reading this, was WHEN IS THIS BOOK GOING TO END??? or when is this going to get better but that only happened towards the end. It got a little more action-packed and it had a good ending. But this was a very unenjoyable read!

[Jia wei · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is much complicated compared to Waves. Neesha is a Pakistani and Sammy is of English background. Both was never meant to be together. Neesha was mocked by people even her own mother.

They said she's like her grand-aunt,Farida who was a daa'in(a witch or healer)And there was the creepy character, Kefin who was always with a knife which he took from his dead father. He hated Neesha's family for living in his Nan's house. Neesha and Sammy were attracted to each other the same way Neesh's grand-aunt and Sammy's grandfather, Jake did. Kefin was stalking Neesh, trying to murder her.

Neesh and Sammy was repeating the same things which had happened once with Farida and Jake. But the love between them ended differently. The love between them seem so strong and they spark a difficult relationship. Sammy is like Neesh's guide and her support. It's a different and exposed kinf of romantic.

[Janet Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an awesome book. It's a teenage love story, written from different people's point of views. It was interesting to see how different characters felt in different situations. At some points, I even got goosebumps! It was a very interesting book, and I would recommend you to read it!

[Iffzaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely an amazing book, loved all the emotions and the action! The best book I have read by far.Really emotional story and will have you gripped to the very last second!

[Ela Lothlórien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I've always felt like theres so much potential in Synesthesia in books and this is the first one I've read that really takes that concept and runs with it. The book is told from three separate narratives, which leads to a few "Rashomon" moments which are always my jam. The voices of the main characters are incredibly unique, and its so interesting to see how each characters unique mental state, as well as their incredibly different upbringings, colour the way they see the world and the story thats happening around them.

Theres also the idea that stories, like trauma, can repeat over and over, and whether or not you can ever end that cycle. I won't spoil too much, but Sammy and Neesh's families are more involved than the beginning lets on, and their own story could be seen as a culmination, a way of making right a violent past, and how the knowledge of their own past can help them with Kef's own cycle of abuse within his family. It's also set against an all-too-real backdrop of both personal and systematic racism, the objectification of women, and the aversion to anyone seen as "other"

Reading this book in 2018 makes me realise just how ahead of its time it was in terms of ideas. I was very surprised to see that it was written nearly ten years ago.

[Lorna · Rating 1 out of 5]

With the cover and the blurb I thought it would be a nice romantic book with a thrilling twist… how wrong I was.

One of the few books I’ve actually given up on half way through, I really disliked everything about the story.

Neesh, the main character, was incredibly annoying. She refused to speak, and was the sort of character who was casually walking home and just decided to hug a tree. Um… what? There’s kooky and interesting, then there’s unnecessarily weird. I get that she channels the voices of dead people and has visions and blah blah blah, but why does she need to hug a tree?!

I think the author had a very unrealistic view of young people and the sort of conversations they have. When there were groups of girls talking, they all took went round in a circle and took turns to make a comment, none of which had any feeling behind at all. It seemed like these scenes were just put in for the sake of it, with a couple of swearwords and racist terms thrown in to make it seem edgy.

I think the need to include gritty incidents was an ongoing issue with the book, as Dogar couldn’t possibly go into as much detail and explore them as fully as she could have . If she had stuck to one dramatic theme (stabbing, suicide, rape, racism, abuse from Neesh’s mother, bullying, murder, mental illness) rather than try and cram them all in, it would have been a lot more effective.

That brings me on to my next point. How unrealistic is this book?! And not even the magic bit and the visions, but the ‘everyday’ bits. Someone threatens to rape someone, then stabs someone else, and nobody bats an eyelid. Someone murders their father and nobody notices. A mother keeps her child from school and abuses her, resulting in some pretty obvious signs of neglect, and nobody says anything. How would people miss this? Goodness, if someone is stabbed in my area it’s in the newspapers for the next ten weeks and it’s all everyone can talk about, but in Falling it’s like nobody even notices.

I think this story had the potential to be good, if the characters were actually described in a lot more detail and not just skirted over. It was like paper cut-outs of people with speech bubbles coming out of their mouths, as that’s as much depth as the author went into with them all.

I was really disappointed, and it’s definitely not being put back onto the ‘keep’ shelf.

[Aaliya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up thinking it would be an engaging love story. Or at least, something mildly amusing.

Instead I got:

1. A wimpy heroine
2. A psychopathic teenager who happens to own a talking knife
3. A ridiculous attempt at explaining cultural differences

Honestly, though, let's begin with Neesha. Though she is the heroine of the book she has no spunk whatsoever and is one of the most uninspiring heroines I have ever encountered. Then of course, Sammy. Though he is not actively annoying, unlike the other characters, he is boring and his character has not been developed at all.

And the worst is yet to come. Kefin is a knife wielding murderer (who happens to be attending high school). He constantly tries to kill Neesha, which would make the plot interesting if the readers actually liked Neesha. His knife is a separate character altogether who can actually speak (and that too iRrItAtInG lower/upper case). Um, what?

As an Indian, I found this book offensive and inaccurate.

Overall impressions: Stretched out. Boring. Disturbing.

[V Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book nearly a decade ago, and I spent years trying to remember the title, only to find it today through extremely obscure Google searches. In brief, this book is so breathtakingly beautiful, and not just because I'm a sucker for a kindred spirits trope. Dogar manages to interweave complicated themes of ostracism, depression, love, tragedy, family and hope without ever straying into cliched territory. In brief, this book will imprint your heart and mind.

[Shreya Sinha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The crux of the novel is nice though it felt like the author was trying to drag the story a little bit to increase the number of pages. The story does keep you on toes at times and is an interesting read.

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. Witchcraft and racism.

Didn’t like the way knife spoke or the font used with different sized letters. Just confused my brain.

An interesting and illuminating read. But not totally up my street.

[Pratiti Majumder · Rating 5 out of 5]

all through the book i was in a trance unable to get out of Neesh. the Narration grips you hard and you are unable to let go.

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a love story between two teenagers, Neesh who is of Indian descent and Sammy who is British, and the obstacles they have to face not just as an interracial couple, but also because Neesh is "weird": she stopped talking altogether when her dad left her family, she always wears a coat even if it's warm and she always looks somewhere above people's heads instead of in their eyes.

Soon we discover that the reason why she is fixated just above people's heads is because she can see their auras and how they change colours according to their moods. She is believed to be a witch by her family and her mother takes advantage of her gift by inviting people over so Neesh can "heal" them and her mother can make money off of it. Her family just all round mistreat her, she has a bullying older brother who she has to cook for every day and I do think the book wants to show us the cultural differences where this girl is considered less than nothing, and being a "witch" she is not even good enough to marry off.

There is a strong attraction between Neesh and Sammy ever since they've been kids and as part of Neesh's "gift", she does see certain images that she can't quite make sense of, involving a lake, a houseboat and flowers. As the story progresses we find out that Sammy's grandfather and Neesh's great-aunt were in the same situation, and the fact they were in love brought dishonour to the girl who eventually killed herself.

Now this is where the story went a bit iffy because while we can accept that Neesh could be a reincarnation of her dead great-aunt and still hold some of her memories, Sammy's grandpa is still very much alive but he also has the occasional vision, even though this is not really highlighted too much in the book. Sammy's function is really to make Neesh come out of her shell and feel safe and loved, which she hasn't really been since her dad left home.

The story is narrated from multiple points of view, not just Neesh's and Sammy's but also Sammy's grandpa and a boy called Kefin who is a sort of young criminal who is going slowly mad after killing his father and keeping this hidden from everyone. Neesh is in contact with the ghost of Kefin's dead grandmother and a lot of conflict results from this, from Neesh speaking in the dead woman's voice and terrifying Kefin, to the ghost herself haunting Neesh because she wants Kefin to be saved and find himself again.

Now Kefin's part of the story was the weak link here I think. First of all it was narrated in third person as opposed to first, and as it progressed I think the author wanted to show how much deeper into madness he was descending, giving the knife his own personality and saying that basically the knife was controlling him. The Knife speaks in an exTreMelY anNoyiNg uppercase/lowercase alternation which is difficult to read and doesn't really add much to the narration. It's also not entirely clear if the knife is animated by some sort of ghostly power because it is mentioned that it is jabbing Kef in the back with no one holding it and that it was "hovering in front of his eyes" like it was a magic object. I think this made this particular side of the story jarring and it pushed suspension of disbelief a bit too far (I can understand visions and even healing, but saying that an object moved by itself because it's controlled by a ghost is a different kind of scenario, I think).

Lastly we come to the resolution of the story, which felt rushed and unsatisfying. We leave Sammy and Neesh being held by the police in separate cells and accused of having hurt Kef when instead he has actually injured himself with his knife before he is "freed" by remembering and admitting that his mother was killed by his father right in front of his eyes.
Sammy is dealing with a very unpleasant lawyer appointed by his family who seems to want to blame Neesh entirely and drive a rift between the two young lovebirds.

However we don't know how Sammy gets out, all we know is that he expresses the wish to spend some time alone with Neesh at his grandfather's house and Grandpa makes it happen. So basically a family who had their daughter nearly enslaved for the entirety of the book change their mind after a one-page dialogue with this man. Talk about powers of persuasion.
There is also an epilogue with Sammy and Neesh being together and happy on the houseboat but no mention is ever made again of the fact that they had been accused by the police and although it's pretty clear that Kef has "found himself again" and probably testified that they hadn't hurt him, this was a case where a bit of exposition wouldn't have gone amiss. It would also have been nice to know what happened to Kefin. If he had admitted to his father's murder (and his assault to a minor character) you would expect him to be either in a young offenders institution or a mental one.

All in all I thought this book could have done with some more revision.

[Shiny Ajit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[Luna's Little Library · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a long while to get caught up in the story, part of the problem was that there are four different voices telling you two stories, taking place at different times, in different countries.

My other problem is that I don’t think this story works as a modern tale. That’s not because I don’t think what happens couldn’t happen now but it’s that the characters just seem so out of place. There are swear words/slang but they don’t fit, they feel put there to remind the reader that this is now not then.

A few instances that made no sense to me, if Sammy is in Neesha’s class then surely he should be her age? In which case how could he be legally driving? There was nothing to suggest he’d been held back or Neesha had skipped. There were more of these and as a reader I shouldn’t be trying to work that out, I should be focusing on the story.

Sharon Dogar definitely has a unique style and if this had been set in another time or written as fantasy or urban fairytale I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whenever I find myself struggling with my reading I tend to pick up a Young Adult book to get myself going again - so maybe this book is better than I thought it was, and the problem was mine. This is a bit of a Romeo and Juliet story for modern times, a damaged young Kashmiri girl Neesh and her white boyfriend Sammy, set against a backdrop of racism and violence. Then there's the supernatural element - Neesh has synasthesia (sp?) and an ability to see and feel things. The story's told in three voices - Neesh, Sammy and the evil Kef (who talks to his knife in rather annoying alternating capital and lower case letters) - and sometimes cuts away to the grandfather's more moving story. This might be a good introduction for teens to problems of the modern world, but I'm afraid it left me a bit cold.

[Sienna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't say this was a well-written story. It just.... I just couldn't read it without thinking of other things, and then completely lose my way (in terms of where i was on the page!!). Let's just say, never judge a book by its cover- A beautiful book cover- because the story was just not well written and a little jumbled up. It was also a little confusing on who was actually speaking, but not in terms of what was happening. I knew the plot, but I just could stop my mind from wandering elsewhere but the book. Maybe it's just I dont like reading in the third person, or whatever. I just... I cant say I liked this book at all. A little disappointing for the first Sharon Dogar book I've ever read. :(

[Cassidy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay I was feeling okay about this book. It was about judgement and how people see others. It was about how others react when you do something out of the ordinary, when you do something that they WOULDNT do. It was a good story and it was giving a good message but half way along the book around page 140 things started getting weird
Talking knives and Possession?? Did the boy love her or not? It started getting weird,confusing and altogether annoying. The ending was pretty good the epoligue and the last chaper were ok. I loved the start so im doing this

Part one of the book i give a 3
Part two of the book i give a 1.5
Last capter - epoligue of the book i give a 2
So On average that is about a 2.5
:)

[Elif Ozoral · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a girl called Neesha who sees nightmares about a girl falling. Then a boy appear in her life and changed that. My favorite sentence in that book which writen on the cover of the book "As her world falls in, can love save her?" At the beginning it took some time sor me to understand the book because there was four different voices in the book so it was hard to caught up the story but after a while I get used to that and the book got more interesting. It wasn't the best book that I have ever read but it worth my time. You could read this book and have e lot of fun. The only problem that I saw in that book was more than one voice.

[Aksheeya · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautiful books I've read. Its like my most favorite. For some reason, it makes me want to cry, every time I read it. There is just that weird element to it that pulls on my heart strings and builds a very real link to me. I love the narrative and how the author makes us see the many different POV of the different characters. I love the ending. It is just perfect and doesn't give you a fake happily-ever-after touch, while telling you that "what falls must always rise".It have read this book more times than I can ever count and is the best book I own.

[Pink Hummingbird ✨💕 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sharon Dogar narra los sentimientos y las sensaciones de cada uno de los personajes con gran habilidad, de manera que hace tremendamente fácil ponerte en la piel del personaje aunque no necesariamente te sientas identificado con ellos. La historia es narrada desde dos puntos de vista principalmente: Nesh y Sammy, aunque también hacen intervenciones periódicas Kef y Kashmir, el abuelo de Sammy, el cual nos ayudará a comprender los antecedentes de la historia de los protagonistas.

Check my review here: http://www.eltemplodelasmilpuertas.co...

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

V Slow and moody start but very well written. Love story with race angle. Neesh and Sammy play out their love story echoing that of Jake his grandfather and Neesh’s great aunt in Kashmir 30 odd years earlier - with a modern twist on racism and hate/fear/prejudice. The interplay of Kef (+interracial/teenage tension) and his family tragedy is very clever and adds tension.
I'd advise 14+ (racism, suicide, murder, violence and rape). Carnegie Longist 2010 - to be honest most students never got that far as the first 100 or so pages are very slow. It does require staying power!

[Shalini Nonis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just beautiful. Its simply beautiful, cover and all. The story is well-written and Dogar deals with difficult themes which are beautifully portrayed in all its uglinesss, horror and sadness. the characters are vivid and well-defined and the story is really great. I remember thinking this is by far the most romantic book that i've read so far; it wasn't too cheesy and not lacking either.

[Haimati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read and reread it so many times I couldn’t keep count of it!!! I forgot the title and have been searching for it in my free time for the past five years . All I can say u will never regret reading such a masterpiece woven intricately with the right mix of thrill romance and mystery! My goodness the tension ahh I’m going to reread it again”””””” so happy to have found it again
Thank you author for your hard work…

[Belinda Carvalho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, odd and mysterious...not a perfect novel but my favourite novel I've read for young adults so far..I like th eway it's a love stiry form a male/female perspective. I like the way it juxtaposes two different cultures, the oast and the present..I like the way there are a lot of flowers and flower images..

[Kadie D♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was a bit weird to me in the beginning, but became clearer through the story. I admit the meaning was quite well, but the way it was written was not that nice for me to read. It all got me to think of it as a bit draggy because there was much talk and little action. It was ok, but don't think I would want to read a next book written in this style.

[Nirupama · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very introverted kind of book,maybe because of the lead character Nushreela. The writer has amazingly portrayed about the life of a backward Pakistani girl. Though I am not a pakistani,I could very well relate to the characters. Worth to be read once. :) Way to go,Sharon Dogar! :D P.S: Don't read my review to get a summary of the book. I am not into spoilers!! :p