The Upside of Falling by Alex Light follows two main characters Brett and Becca. Brett is the cool kid in school with a megawatt smile and a high social status to back it up. Becca, on the other hand, does not have a high social status at school and is more of an outcast. Instead of coming to school early to watch the boys play football like most girls, she comes to school early to read romance books, where she can get the best experience of a relationship, but without the risk of heartbreak. One day, Becca gets into an argument with her former best friend and lies to her saying that she has a boyfriend. Brett overhears this and decides he could use a fake girlfriend to impress his father, so he swoops in to cover for Becca, saying that he is her boyfriend. They then create a pact to fake a date, since it will benefit both of them, but neither of them expect the relationship to slowly start to become real. 

This book does have a very familiar and predictable plot, but I still enjoyed it a lot. One thing I liked about the book was that it addressed many relatable issues in both of the main characters' lives which helped to develop and understand them and their decisions which was really nice. It also allowed me, as the reader, to feel empathetic towards them and understand them better which was great because I felt for them more, and it made me feel like I knew them more personally.

I also loved that this book was a light, fluffy, and easy read. I sped through this book and it was super fun to read and was a very cute romance book, even though it was a bit predictable. It was also a very upbeat book, which I loved, and didn’t drag on with unnecessary information, which was great. This does lead me to mention that in some areas it did lack some details. For example, the main characters' friends were mentioned multiple times, but could have been developed way more and could have been shown in more scenes which would have added to the story in certain places. The book also had a tendency to tell us, the reader, what happened instead of expanding on the details of a certain moment or event, so I do think the book could have been improved and made more gripping with more details. 

Another thing I did love about this book was how it switched first person point of view between Becca and Brett. Many relationship books have a tendency to only have one character's point of view, which sometimes makes the story one sided and doesn't give you all the necessary feelings of both sides of the relationship, which is why I loved that this book had the point of view of both main characters. It helped me, as the reader, get the feel of both characters and understand them and their lives and perspectives better. 

Overall, I loved this book and would definitely read it again and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick and cute romance read to indulge in.

Check out The Upside of Falling  from the Newport Beach Public Library.