Danielle Younge-Ullman’s FALLING UNDER debut by Deb Gail

It is with enormous pleasure and great honor that I kick off Danielle Younge-Ullman’s FALLING UNDER debut week at The Debutante Ball. I loved FALLING UNDER from the very first page when the book pulled me in and under and never let me go until the end. Danielle writes with the kind of surefootedness that made this reader unable to put the book down… I kid you not. She chooses second person for parts of it (a risky choice) that she manages masterfully. The voice she establishes in those chapters infuses the narrative with a haunting atmospheric tone. In alternating chapters she tells much of the story through dialogue (another risky choice that MORE THAN works)! Her ear pitch-perfect. The alternating stories of Mara now and Mara as a child layer this very original coming-of-age story beautifully. Each story of Mara as a child offering just enough details to tease the reader along, to give us just a little more information to understand how Mara ended up as confused and interesting as she is as an adult. Although Mara’s choices might make you squirm, they are real and honest and I love her (Mara) AND Danielle for having the courage to write so boldly.

I believe, with my whole heart, that Danielle Young-Ullman is a force to watch in the literary world. So I suggest that you not only buy FALLING UNDER immediately and devour it but that you get out to meet Danielle and get her autograph… and tell her I said so!