When We Fall

When We Fall by Peter Giglio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When a friendless 13 year old boy named Ben befriends the 17 year old girl across the street, things seem to be going pretty good. Until, that is, they make a film together that has a deceased boy making a cameo appearance...

I got this from DarkFuse via Netgalley.

So why is it the best coming of age stories come from authors primarily known for horror? Stephen King had The Body. Joe Lansdale had The Bottoms. And now Peter Giglio has When We Fall.

When We Fall is the story of a 13 year old boy coming to grips with the death of his best friend, the death of his worst enemy, and his first love.

Ben is a 13 year old with a passion for making Super 8 movies. Aubrey is his babysitter turned best friend/love interest. When the film they shoot shows his dead worst enemy, things quickly fall apart.

This is a pretty short novella so I can't divulge too much of what happens. Lets just say there's nothing like a couple deaths to turn a boy into a man. I found Ben to be a very relatable 13 year old and his feelings for Aubrey were very well done. Giglio did a good job of reminding me what it was like to be a 13 year old boy. For a novella from a horror publisher, there wasn't a lot of horror in it apart from a surprising death late in the story.

So far, the DarkFuse novella series can do no wrong for me. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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