Even if the Sky Falls by Mia Garcia

Alright, let me start off by saying that it’s been a while since I’ve written a review for a book that I didn’t really click with, and you all know that I really don’t like writing negative reviews, because an author works really hard on their books and they deserve to have great things said about what they’ve written.  So I’m going to make this review as positive as I can!

The book starts off with our main character, Julie, going to New Orleans to help with Habitat for Humanity – build houses and help out.  She figures with the mess that’s going on at home (which I won’t spoil, since we learn about it in snippets over the course of the novel), she needs to get out of the house and away from her parents, brother, and friends.  While there, she notices the Mardi Gras celebration going on, and decides that she needs some time to really enjoy her life – so she takes off to attend the celebration, dressing up and dancing and having a good of a time as she can before the leader of her group she abandoned comes looking for her.

“For a moment I close my eyes.  I want to let go and dance until my body breaks away into hundreds of little notes, floating above the crowd until I disappear.  Truly free.”

When Julie meets a boy she calls Miles, the two of them instantly decide to spend time together.  So Julie joins in with the group “Miles” is part of – hanging out with him and his friends and talking and enjoying the festivities.  However, when the group slowly gets disbanded for various reasons (girls, other parties, etc.), it comes down to just Miles and Julie, and the two of them enjoy what they can of the night, even though it starts to rain and it turns out the small storm they thought was approaching is a hurricane.

From then on, Julie and Miles do what they can to stay safe – getting snacks and spending the night in a hotel that is undergoing renovations and staying out of harm’s way – at least for the most part.  But then the unexpected happens and Julie must fight to find her way back to the boy she has started to fall in love with.

The entire premise for Even if the Sky Falls is absolutely beautiful.  Two strangers spending the night together in New Orleans on Mardi Gras with absolutely no baggage – no mention of the past, no phones, and they don’t even know each each others’ real names.  Partner that promise of a steamy, beautiful YA romance with that gorgeous cover with all the pretty swirlies and the couple kissing and it seems like the perfect summer read.  I wish I had fallen more in love with this book than I did.  The book takes place over a single night, which is nice – I often like books that span over a short time period, because it gives the author plenty of chances to pay attention to details and really make you love the characters.

The whole New Orleans setting was nicely written.  I don’t remember the last book I have read with that as the setting, but I really enjoyed reading all of the special details, like the way the buildings were constructed, how lively the Mardi Gras parade was, and even how good the food was.

However, I didn’t find myself able to connect to any of the characters in this book, and that was a real bummer for me.  Because the book is written to span over the course of a single night, I expected to be wowed by the personality of the two main characters, but I simply wasn’t.  I couldn’t connect to either of the main characters, and to be honest I had a hard time even keeping track of the supporting characters’ names, because they didn’t have much in the way of identifying traits or personalities.

I knew going into this that it was probably going to be slow paced, due to the short amount of time that goes by in the book, and I was okay with it – I tend to read a lot of books in one day, anyway, so I usually don’t mind this.  However, I was completely bored while reading the first 60% or so of this book, and I almost DNF’d it because I found if uninteresting.  Nothing much happens for the majority of it, except for the two main characters running around and trying to enjoy the celebration before the impending hurricane hits.  When the storm starts to pick up, things actually get interesting – the couple spend the night together in an empty hotel and share secrets, etc.  It’s kind of anti-climactic, but it does have the whole sweet romance going for it, so I was easily able to enjoy it a little more after that mark.

The writing is really pretty – the way things are described kind of makes you feel like you’re actually in New Orleans, but after a while, I found myself skimming over some of the more descriptive parts because while it was really nice, it didn’t add much to the story and got a little repetitive after a while.

All in all, if you’re looking for a summery read, this might be a good one to check out. It definitely would be a great read for a rainy summer night with a cup of tea (or lemonade, depending on your beverage of choice), but unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me.