Book Review: FAULT LINE by Christa Desir

***UPDATE: Author Interview and signed HC Giveaway of FAULT LINE by Christa Desir here***








Fault Line by Christa Desir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found myself turning page after page and looked up only to find the train had left the station and I was along for the ride. Only, this isn't the kind of train ride you'd want to willingly take. But the truth is, it's a reality all too common in today's world, for teens, and for those who've gone through the kind of trauma at the center of Ben and Ani's relationship. Sure, they could have been happy. At first, they had it all: perfect couple, bright futures, supportive families, friends who had their backs.

Their story is what drew me onto the train in the first place.

Then, it happened. The thing that unraveled it all, and left every painful nerve ending open and raw and exposed to the harsh reality of this thing, and what it can do to the survivor and those she or he cares about. Sure, they tried to move on, they tried to make it through, and they both were willing to sacrifice all the broken pieces of themselves to try to glue together what remained.

At just over 200 pages, this reads very fast. Each chapter is rampant with cloying emotion, gut-twisting tension, and charged words. Ben and Ani will have you falling in love, cheering for them as a couple, and wondering once the fault occurs, whether they'll ever be the same again. It also had me asking the question (found on the front cover), who do you blame?

Christa Desir has written an amazingly powerful, and brief story that unflinchingly and honestly faces a tough issue, grips it by the throat, and shines light for the reader to see it in all it's horrible reality. As each character tries their best to reach out and help, it becomes increasingly complicated and further and further from the place it had been not so long ago.

Part of this is due to the need for secrecy, for Ben and Ani to stubbornly try to fix this problem themselves. As time goes on, and attempts fail to resolve the problem, it becomes clear that this is far bigger than either Ben or Ani had bargained for. Neither of them have it within themselves to fix. It's not that easy. This isn't a fairy tale or a Disney movie. Happily ever after doesn't even come close.

As the spiraling shitstorm reaches its zenith, the reader wonders if anyone will escape the wrath of the storm. This raises a question: Is there a right way and a wrong way to deal with trauma and its aftereffects?

Once the lighter's flicked on, can anyone avoid the burn? Read it and find out.

Highly recommended. Bravely written, with poignant and thoughtful prose as beautiful as poetry.


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