Author: Rachel Clarke
Genre: Fictional/Disability (M.E.)
Author Website
Book Goodreads Page
Overall Rating: 4/5
Falling Through the World is a fictional story of a teenage girl’s plummet into M.E. While this book is fictional, it is greatly influenced by the author’s own experience of living with M.E. Personally I feel that this is a book for friends, family and carers of those with M.E. as it gives a clear picture of what it is like to be struck down for no apparent reason, and then have to continue trying to live any kind of life. As someone with M.E., I found certain parts (particularly towards the beginning) of the novel physically difficult and distressing to read as it brought up some of my own memories; therefore I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone suffering from a Chronic Disability (other than if they wish to read it to advise friends and family of how their own experiences relate to it) as I feel that it could cause unnecessary pain and depression.
As a reader I felt that the prologue was unnecessary as it
didn’t add anything to the story, and in fact made me less interested in reading
on. Instead, I believe it would have
benefited from an introduction forewarning readers that not only is the case of
Sarah (the main character) extremely severe, but that everyone reacts
differently, with different symptoms (not all of which are mentioned in the
book), to M.E. and I would strongly suggest that any friends or family of
sufferers are advised of this.
There are not many fictional stories about M.E. and this
book highlights one of the reasons why not – it is impossible to create an
enticing plot about becoming ill, possibly with little hope of recovering. Any story of this kind is going to be
completely character-driven and unfortunately I felt that this is where the
book fell flat. Sarah is an average
teenager, who has an average life, with an average family and average
friends. The problem is that she is a
generalization of a ‘typical teenager’ and therefore it is difficult to have
any feelings towards or about her. I
think this story would definitely have benefited from a little bit more of an
introduction, showing what Sarah is actually like – what her hopes and dreams
are, what she thinks about - as this
would give the reader some attachment to her and therefore would become more
involved in the emotions of what happens to her.
This was true of all the characters, and even to some extent
the symptoms of M.E. As there is no ‘average’
set of symptoms I found this a bit frustrating as I know I will have to explain
this to each person I advise to read it; it is something that should have been
included in the introduction. However, I
do believe that the emotions that Sarah feels such as loneliness, anger,
frustration and guilt, are likely to have been felt at some point with anyone
with a chronic disability.
For those of us who need to know these emotions are normal,
and for those wishing to understand how M.E. or any chronic disability effects
the sufferer emotionally, I would definitely point towards this book.
Overall I felt that, while this isn’t the best-told story, it is a great start towards showing what living with M.E. is like, for those who cannot understand it. As I’ve mentioned, there are very few novels or stories about M.E., but reading books like this one gives me hope that there will be more on the way.
[I received a free copy of this book with no obligations. I chose to review it here as I felt it would be of use and interest to my readers. All opinions are my own.]
Other fictional books about M.E. that I recommend:
Verity Red's Diary: A Story of Surviving M. E by Maria Mann
The State of Me by Nasim Marie Jafry
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