Love triangles. We love them, we hate them. Falling Under has one, and it's a doozy. Mara Foster is a troubled artist, making a career of producing stock paintings of geometric designs to decorate peoples' offices. She used to paint other things, but other things awaken her emotions, and she's decided that her emotions are better off stifled. Mara is riddled with fears and anxieties that plague her whenever she dares to leave the safe confines of her house. Her parents' acrimonious divorce left a profound mark on her that leaves her terrified to love, so when she meets Hugo and dares to imagine a normal life with a normal guy, it threatens to undo her. Soon, she's painting for real and all that real painting is bringing the demons of her past close to the surface. She flees instead to Erik, the bad boy with baggage, the one she has plenty in common with, including a desire to eschew love for sex that will chase those demons away for a night.

Younge-Ullman, according to the author bio, is also a playwright and it shows. Falling Under is filled with fast flowing, excellent dialogue. Mara's past is brought to light in the immediacy of second person narration and easily draws readers' sympathies. There's a plot twist that actually surprises and supporting characters that fill out Mara's story while being their own people. I even liked the love triangle. It was so believable and viable that even I couldn't choose a guy for Mara. ( )

This is Danielle Younge-Ullman's first book apparently. I seem to be at odds with other LibraryThing reviewers in only giving this two stars, and I suppose I can see where they're coming from, but to me this degenerated into pure unredeemed romance as it went on. Actually, as I look back on the beginning, the romantic element was pretty strong right from the start, but it seemed to have a sharper edge that I hoped would carry it through. It didn't. ( )

I don't even know how to describe this novel, other than I've never experienced anything like it. Mara is truly a unique character and it was easy to understand her emotional state. I hated her mother, if you want to call her that. Though the father was an alcoholic, and a poor excuse for a parent, he still had something to offer.

Mara went through a very troubled childhood. She was essentially alone with no guidance other than her negative mother who rarely had a nice thing to say, let alone encourage her and love her unconditionally as a parent should.

If you're looking for a truly unique story with an emotionally scared heroine, I recommend Falling Under.

I only wish there were a sequel. It would be nice to see how Mara handles adulthood and relationships, and does she sort out her issues? ( )

From my blog

A remarkable dark story told in a beautiful lyrical way, I loved the combination. While reading I wondered how many people we encounter day to day with agoraphobia - extreme or irrational fear of crowded spaces or enclosed public places. Such a worry addiction, overactive mind that makes her paranoid, unbelievable concept. I really enjoyed this story, I found the writing lyrical, a prose style delicious to my ears, it flowed through my soul, very artistic.

I enjoyed Mara as the main character, she was three dimensional, had different moods, friends, lovers, past-present-future moments for all of them. For some I think this may be an execution problem as you never knew were the next chapter was going to go but it flowed wonderfully in my opinion, you didn't need to figure out what was going on. Mara used sex to get through the hard times, to take away the pain, how this all comes together at the end.... brilliant.

The best part was there is a major mystery twist thrown in, completely caught me off guard and put this novel in a class of its own, I don't know what genre to put it in. This would be a banned YA for sure, there is betrayal, sex, homosexuality, broken marriage, language, it has it all.

And the cover is so eye catching, a favourite of mine. I enjoyed the art story lines. Following the journey of a young art student to becoming a brilliant artist through the scary, losing her mind times also.

I recommend you try this one, really great read and a debut for the author. And the ending, the last sentence, wow. I love the idea that depending on the reader the person at the end is him or him and then you wonder what life would be like for them, brilliant. ( )

FALLING UNDER is amazing contemporary fiction, but to learn that it is a debut novel for Danielle Younge-Ullman makes it even more special. Younge-Ullman does a fantastic job of creating a broken heroine in Mara Foster. The author portrays Mara's dark world where she "literally" fears the world, everything in it, and herself, most of all. Younge-Ullman deftly introduces readers to Mara's past through effective narration, but not necessarily predictable flashbacks. No. This talented author just takes you there in first person present tense. I love that! I write in this technique as well and appreciate the dedication and intricacy of it. Younge-Ullman also utilizes first person past tense and second person for some of the flashback narration and effectively conveys Mara's pain so well this way. It's beautifully done.

Younge-Ullman keeps the story moving and readers guessing as to what has happened in Mara's past relationships, especially with Lucas, that make her so fearful. Readers will be intrigued with the introduction of Erik and the inexplicable tie in their relationship that makes them so dark and needy of one another. The subtext with her best friend Bernadette is also compelling. And, when Mara meets Hugo, it would appear he's set to be the ultimate hero and rescue her, since he appears to serve so well as the calm to the storm that is Mara. It is easy to discern Hugo's love for her early on, but Younge-Ullman avoids the predictable cliche of having Hugo be the one to save her. No. Younge-Ullman leads readers further into Mara's dark past and allows them to really feel her pain for themselves. Readers will come away enlightened as to why Mara's so bent on self-destruction and, perhaps, even comprehend how it could win out. I'll leave it at that.

This debut novel, Falling Under, is honest, heartbreaking, at times, yet so satisfying. The writing is amazing and so well done that it reads like a sheet of music.

Here's one of my favorite passages:
"I feel his eyes on me. He knows if I'm here, I've done everything I can to still the storm inside, to put all the demons back into their boxes and seal the lids. But sometimes they won't go. Sometimes my ears are full of screaming, and sometimes, like tonight, the voices are mine."

And this one:
"You haven't had his lips pressing onto yours, or heard the deep, low whimper that comes from the back of his throat when your lips move in response. You haven't had him hold your face in his hands and felt him shudder, and no painful, heated ache has rocketed down from your open lips to your tongue and fired along your nerve endings and made you feel like your body was on fire. But now you have. And the world is a different place. Locked together in a tangled embrace, you travel past desire, past time and age and circumstance, past, even, the barriers of body, to a place where you are together, linked in the deepest sense. And for a few timeless moments, you are not alone."

Danielle Younge-Ullman is a fantastic writer. And, all I can say is more, more, more!

Katherine Owen ( )