Fall From India Place by Samantha Young (On Dublin Street #4)
Released: June 3, 2014
Contemporary Romance
Penguin
Reviewed by Mandi
Oh this book – *bangs head on the table for a few minutes* Okay, I’m ready now.
I’ve really enjoyed the books in this series and up until this book, I’ve really liked that this author has stayed with this core group of friends and revisits the other couples in each book so we can continue to get a glimpse at their lives. That being said, I need a family/friend tree moving forward. There are so many couples now with kids running around and some siblings, some are half-siblings, some are just best friends – I can’t keep straight who is who anymore. And there are a lot of people who show up in this book. Hannah is our heroine and she is the younger sister to Ellie (who is married to Adam. Ellie’s half-brother is Braden from On Dublin Street). In the previous book, we had a hint that Hannah was going through something serious with a boy, so I was eager to get her book and find out just what the details were. Unfortunately, that eagerness quickly turned to annoyance when I started to learn more about Hannah.
When Hannah was in high school she had a crush on a boy named Marco. Marco is from Chicago but had a bad family situation, so he came to Scotland to live with his aunt and uncle. His uncle doesn’t treat him much better, but he does get some love from his aunt. Hannah has a crush on Marco for some time and one day when she is getting harassed walking home from school, Marco comes to her rescue. They start spending a lot of time together. A little ways into the future, Hannah and Marco meet up at a party and Hannah loses her virginity to him (this is told in flashbacks in the book). Right after the naughty sexin’ Hannah blurts out that she loves him, Marco freaks and leaves. And by leaves I mean – he ends up back in Chicago and Hannah doesn’t hear from him for many years. There is also something else secretive that Hannah holds onto from this time that leaves her depressed and angered but she won’t share it with anyone.
Anyway – years later, Marco is back in Scotland (Hannah doesn’t know this) and they see each other at a wedding. Marco wants her back and Hannah doesn’t trust him and is still hurt he left all those years ago. And this is where I wanted to reach into my Kindle to strangle Hannah. She will NOT let the past go. Will. Not. She is ticked off that Marco left, she is ticked off that he came back to Scotland and didn’t tell her, she is just ticked off at life in general. Because of events with Marco, she hasn’t even dated for five years. Girl needs to get an attitude adjustment. Yes, she lost her virginity and was embarrassed shortly after, but grow up. Move on with your life. Shit happens, people react stupidly when you are a teenager. Now as an adult, you can’t drag all that back up constantly. And the secret thing that I mentioned that happened to Hannah that she hasn’t told anyone – saw it coming. And girlfriend needs to let that go too.
And Marco has a secret from the time they were apart too – and when Hannah discovers this, I liked her even less. Goodness this girl.
So Hannah kind of put a big old damper on this story, which is a shame because I really do enjoy this series. I hear Cole’s book is next and I like him a lot. I didn’t even talk much about Marco in this review. He is much more likable – but it was hard to keep my focus on him when this is told in Hannah’s point of view and I was yelling at her from inside my head most of the book.
Rating: C
Goodreads l Author Website l Series Guide
Previous Samantha Young Reviews
I am right there with you. The story was wonderful in all aspects except Hannah. I didn’t mind Hannah’s residual anger as much as I was dismayed by how ugly, spiteful, and unfair she was to Marco and others. She certainly placed a large damper on my enjoyment.
Yeah. This one did not work for me at all. Hannah was annoying and dramatic. But I feel like her situation would have changed anyone. Yet, she just came off as annoying and dramatic. And Marco. Well in another book he would have been a swoon-worthy hero. Here? A fake romance hero. He was so madly in love with Hannah. Why? The girl he liked so much was a child. She tells him that girl is gone. This new Hannah is not a happy woman. That’s sad, but it’s fact. So why is he so in love? Why fight so hard for her? The only reason I could see was that he was written that way. For me to really enjoy a book, I have to love and care about the characters. But these characters were so one-dimensional. I never clicked. And OMG the family. Holy cow! Did EVERYONE have to be in EVERY scene? Who could keep up? Who wants to? Ugh. I was so disappointed. I’m not even sure I want to read Cole’s book to be honest. He reminds me a lot of Cam, but I don’t want to constantly have to refer to my notes to keep all these dang people straight.
“So why is he so in love? Why fight so hard for her?”
Good questions. I didn’t get that either. AND if he was sooo in love with her, why did he stay away for so long. It was all forced conflict. Didn’t play out well at all.
Srsly – I can’t keep straight who is who anymore!
Yes! 1D is exactly right. I could not even buy into the heat, which is something Young has certainly something excelled in previously. I mean, Jamaica? Whoa Nelly!
Young Hannah was also manipulative. I didn’t like how she kind of manipulated him into sleeping by constantly saying she would return to the party with all the drugs etc. Marco already admitted his secret that he used to mingle in such crowd in Chicago, so he was afraid Hannah would get into trouble. But she just used the fact and then when he stopped twice telling her to leave she seduces him. Give him a break. Marco isn’t a great guy after the stunt he pulled but Hannah shouldn’t have been surprised. After all he ran away after kissing her and ignored her for a month. She should’ve learned from that. And really for always being so cool, smart, intelligent you would expect her to think about herself and get on pill right away. Or shouldn’t totally have seduced him until she was pretty sure about him and had a condom on hand. Rest I didn’t bother to read because i disliked both of them at that time. She should’ve learnt from all the examples she had around her. Especially her sister.
This sounds awful. I have pretty much lost my patience with any hero or heroine who suffers one broken heart and then uses that to avoid love and be a major PitA for until “the one” comes along and smacks them out of it. Someone close to them should have just smacked them in the first place, and saved us all the angst.
I don’t really get it, has anyone, EVER, had their heart broken (just once mind you) and then just totally given up on love? Especially a teen? You whine and cry for a while, and then you move on!
Well that really sucks that the main character dragged the book down. I really liked the first book in this series and want to read more but maybe I shall have to skip this book.
Thanks for the great review. Sorry the book didn’t work for you.
Don’t let this one deter you. The first three are amazing. Just skip this one. I can’t imagine it contains anything you need to understand the next one.
Yes – first three are really good! Hopefully this is the only dud.
I agree. I was really disappointed in this book. I was so excited to finally get Hannah and Marco’s story but after reading it a part of me wished I hadn’t read it. Hannah annoyed me so much through the whole book. I kept hoping she would grow up but she never really did.
I liked seeing the characters from other books and didn’t have a hard time remembering who was who but I just couldn’t believe that in a family as close as they were supposed to be that not one person was able to get Hannah to deal with what happened and move on. Yes she was stubborn and is apparently great at keeping a secret but you would think after five years they would have done something to get through to her. Especially with all the stuff that Joss, Jo, and Nate had in their pasts that they overcame.
Yep – her pain and the way she held it inside didn’t come across very believably. And like you said, with the others all having so many issues, it would have been addressed before then
I really liked the first book & have the next two in my TBR. Maybe I will skip this one. I had read another review in which the reviewer felt the same way you did.
Definitely read the other two. The 3rd is especially good. And smoking hot.
What a bummer. I hope my disappointment with this installment doesn’t color my reading of Cole’s story. I hate that I am not left with that same feeling of impatience for the next book that I previously had when finishing these. What a bummer.
I’ve come to love Cole over the course of this series, so I hope his book is good!