Book Review: How to Fall (Jess Tennant Mysteries #1) by Jane Casey

I don’t really read many YA Mystery/Thriller novels. In fact, I’ve read very few mysteries at all. All of the ones that I have read before (Six Months Later, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Paper Towns), I’ve loved. But for some reason, when searching for books to read, this genre is at the bottom of my preferred list. I didn’t even realize that How to Fall was the beginning of a mystery series when I requested it; I thought it was some kind of paranormal romance novel. However, once I started reading I was pleasantly surprised to find that was it not a paranormal romance but an interesting, edge-of-your-seat young adult mystery.

And boy was it interesting.

How to Fall begins when 16-year-old Jess Tennant’s mother decides they are going to spend the summer in the tiny town that she grew up in. Jess has no idea what to expect as she’s never been to Devon or met any of her relatives. Her mom left before Jess was born and has never been back. Soon after arriving, Jess realizes that their visit is going to be pretty awkward since she looks exactly like her cousin Freya who died tragically when she fell off a cliff a year ago.  The entire town is staring at her as if they’ve seen a ghost, and no one seems to know for sure whether Freya’s death was an accident, suicide, or something much worse.

Jess decides that it’s up to her to figure out what happened to the cousin she never knew. While getting to know her aunt and the rest of Freya’s family, Jess also begins piecing together secrets that Freya had kept before she died. The more she learns, the more suspicious her cousin’s death begins to look.

The entire mystery of Freya’s death was very interesting to watch Jess uncover. She is a funny main character who often lets her curiosity overrule any sense of propriety she may have. Sometimes hilariously so. It was great watching her get to know her cousins, who were both very interesting characters. I also enjoyed watching Will and Jess get close to one another. Will is a mysterious love interest, one whose intentions are difficult to see clearly. He seemed afraid of his father almost to the point where I wondered whether there was some sort of abuse involved. Their story is one that I hope will be explored further in the next books in the series.

Speaking of Will’s father, Dan, he was definitely the creepiest character in this novel. I hated him and spent a good deal of the novel convinced he was involved in Freya’s death somehow. I won’t give too much away, but I am sure that Dan’s character is one that we will see more of in the rest of the series, and I am sure that more bad will come from him than good.

All in all I really enjoyed the novel. I read it quickly because I just couldn’t wait to get to the ending and find out how Freya had died. I was surprised with the ending, and though there were parts of it that I didn’t love, overall I thought it was a good one. I was also happy to learn that Jess and her mother would be staying in Devon, leading to sequels (Yay!).

I can’t wait to read the rest of the Jess Tennent series, which seems like it will be a bit like Veronica Mars in England, and I would suggest that anyone looking for a good YA mystery read How to Fall.

Rating: 8/10

How to Fall by Jane Casey will be available on August 26, 2014

Book Info: 

• Publisher: St. Martins Griffin (August 26, 2014)

• Length: 352, Hardcover

• Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller

• Source: Netgalley