~ Spoiler Free Book Review: “The Year We Fell Down” (The Ivy Years #1): Sarina Bowen ~

SYNOPSIS [GOODREADS]

The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else. What now?

She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead. Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league. Also, he’s taken. Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands. They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard. But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

REVIEW

I really like the stuff Sarina Bowen has co-written with Elle Kennedy, but I have never actually read any of Sarina Bowen’s works outside of this partnership. Well, I decided to change that recently. The Year We Fell Down was all in all a sweet, nice, and easy read. It had really good progression. Yet, I usually love NA sports romance, but there was just something about this I couldn’t connect with. I liked Corey and Adam; they both mature so much in this story. It’s great to see a handicapped female protagonist go through her rollercoaster of emotions and finding herself. I think that’s the best part of this story especially since it’s great diversity and I learned a lot of things I didn’t know before. However, I have never been a fan of cheating no matter how ‘okay’ the author tries to make it out to be. Also, I didn’t really feel the full-blown passion between Corey and Adam. They were great friends with a solid relationship helping each other through hard times, but I didn’t feel the love. I love the feeling of longing in a romance book and I think that was portrayed strongly and well in this. Additionally, I love the growth and backstory of our two main characters, but I wasn’t feeling their love all that much. Plus, I didn’t like the duo perspective all that much. I was confused as to when it was Corey and when it was Adam. In conclusion, there was some good and some not so good parts, so 2.8/5