4 out of 4 stars
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Crumbling Walls, the first book in the Jack and Emily series by Laura Strandt, is not your typical Young Adult book. It deals with much more sensitive subjects and the characters struggle with a lot of demons throughout the story. This break from the norm, even though there is a teen romance behind it all, makes the book intense and difficult to put down. Almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger that leaves you asking questions and desiring answers.
The Callaghan family, consisting of happily married Elizabeth and Will and their clan of 6 sons, has recently moved to Cavendish, Pennsylvania. During an extended bike ride, the Callaghan’s second oldest son, Jack, rides past a teen girl on her porch and tries to find the courage to say something to her. When his feeble attempt at getting her attention leaves him embarrassed, their next meeting begins the start of his relationship with Emily.
As the story progresses, Jack and Emily start to get closer, but it seems that she is hiding some things from him. Even with the walls she built keeping him at a distance, they begin to get more comfortable with each other. However, things begin to change during one visit to the Callaghan household that sends Emily into a panic. This panic will eventually set the crumbling of her walls into motion.
Emily’s lies begin to unravel and it brings out the secrets of others as well as testing their resolve and forcing them to accept the darker side of reality. The book takes you on a whirlwind of a trip with more pieces of the puzzle falling into place the closer you get to the end.
Reading the blurb for the book promises you a love story with lies and secrets mixed in and the book delivers that and so much more. The story is relentless with its bursts of clues into Emily’s past and the events that are unfolding with her and the other characters. Because of this the book is hard to put down and every chapter adds more layers to the story. I always appreciate stories with secrets, which this book covers, and complexity, which I was pleasantly surprised to find in this Young Adult book. The author does a fantastic job holding the reader’s attention by introducing new twists and developing the relationship between Jack and Emily at the right time. I finished over half of the book in one day because I wouldn’t be able to put it down after ending a chapter. I felt that the only one thing that could be worked on would be that at some points in the story it was not exactly clear which character was talking or what a chain of events was leading up to the part you were reading.
Overall I would give Crumbling Walls a 4 out of 4, it is definitely worth a read. It has the simplicity of a Young Adult romance but at the same time it tackles deeper issues and does so in a way that hooks you from the beginning. At times it might be hard to connect with both characters in a romance, but in this book you really pull for Jack and Emily. I feel this book can interest many readers despite their preferences. It is more than just a romance and has some positive moments that help lighten up the dark themes of the story. Crumbling Walls is the first book of the series, and I will gladly be finishing the series if the other books promise to be this riveting.
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Crumbling Walls
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