Even Angels Fall by F.L. Darbyshire

'After suffering an unthinkable loss, Abbey Miller and her family move to Leeds to rebuild their lives and start again, but the pain and grief that Abbey carries with her is impossible to escape. As she finds herself becoming increasingly isolated from her family, she develops a firm friendship with Lucy, Nathan and Liam, who introduce her to a brand new and exciting world, far removed from all of her problems. But will her new friends bring her the light hearted relief she has longed for? Or will she find herself getting drawn deep into their dangerous and intoxicating world?'

I have received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you know me or my blog at all you will know, I am a total sucker for beautiful covers, and I must admit this one wouldn't have interested me on the shelf of a book store. Which is a shame because reading the blurb this certainly is a book for me. 

Abby has suffered a huge loss, about a year ago her twin brother has passed away. Now she finds herself in a new house with her mother and her brother. Leaving her old home and her father behind, who divorced from their mother after their loss.

Abby feels very let down by her family, she feels all alone in her grief. And now she has to deal with a new school too. Very soon it becomes apparent that the author is not exaggerating in any way. This feels very real, in every sense. The experience of first day at a new school, the way the family deals with their loss and even the way Abby starts making friends. It's all so very real. 

While Abby slowly makes friends and feels like she finally belongs, it becomes apparent that this new world she is now part of is very different to what she is used to. First it's just a case of skipping classes and hanging around, then drinking and sneaking out of the house, but it soon becomes something even more serious. 

I love the way the author deals with this. Only slowly does Abby become drawn into her new world and it makes it so much more believable. The author achieved, without glorifieing anything, very likeable characters. So much so that I kept forgetting that what they are doing is wrong and illegal. Which in return made it so easy to understand why Abby does what she does. She keeps battling with herself, knowing that some of hers and her friends choices are not right. And its amazing to see how some small wrong choices slowly change your whole life.

But it's not just her new friends and thrills that she feels drawn too but also Alex. A very handsome, older and dangerous boy. From the first sight Abby is completely mesmerised by him. But is Alex bad news and no good for her? Alex is the sort of guy that all our mothers warn us about and at the same time he is the guy most girls dream about. While he has his hands in many illegal things, he is very caring and loving when it comes to his friends.

This book is about loss, it's about a family, it's about the need to belong, about things that are so wrong and feel so right, friendship, drugs, love and so much more. Its about loosing yourself and finding yourself.  I could probably talk about it for some time. 

All the way through the book, you know this can't end well, but you really want it too. It's a powerful and heartbreaking message. 

Purely because I have had a busy week this book has taken me a while. But when ever I could I have picked it up, wanting to know what's going on next. Which for me is very important in a book. There is so many ways this story could end and I was for ever wondering, hoping. 

It's an very eye opening book in many ways. It's about the choices you make and the consequences. 

This author has an amazing talent in story telling. The actual writing took some getting used to for me, it was almost to factual for me. In some parts it reminded me a little of Martina Cole.

There is a fine balance between showing us the fun side of Abby's new life and the hard reality. This has been a powerful read and I am so glad I have picked it up, it's one of those stories that will stick with me for some time.