Falling Together audiobook

Original post at One More PageI've always dubbed March as a special month because of my birthday, and I take advantage of that by meeting up with as many people that I can, especially those that I haven't seen in a while. It's always the best excuse IMHO: "It's my birthday, let's meet up!" Of course, I often ended up treating the people to coffee, dessert or sometimes even dinner because of that fact, but I never really minded that. In the past month alone, I've been out almost every weekend and two to three times on week nights to meet up with my barkada (my closest friends), college roommates, thesis mates, book club friends, church community friends -- old friends, new friends, people from almost all stages of my life, I took the time to meet them this month. Sometimes I end up traveling farther than I want to, staying out and losing sleep and being so exhausted that I don't have time to read (or blog), but I think all of those times were worth it.This is one of the reasons why I chose Falling Togetherby Marisa de los Santos as my birthday read. Pen, Cat and Will met in college, and have been the best of friends ever since. Their friendship was so strong that even their romantic relationships took a back seat from their friendship, making them an almost impenetrable circle. But that was the past, and it's been six years since Pen has seen Cat and Will after they walked out of her life. She never stopped missing them, even if they had missed major milestones in her life such as the birth of her daughter, Augusta, or the death of her father. When Pen and Will receive an email from Cat asking them to meet at their college reunion, they couldn't refuse. But when they were faced with the unexpected at the reunion, Pen and Will set off to find their missing friend all across the world in a journey that really changed everything for them.I love Marisa de los Santos. I can't help but swoon over the way she writes -- there's a certain beauty and elegance in her writing that just makes everything...well, fall together for me. Falling Together is a pretty slow book, one that builds up slowly and flashes back on a lot of memories to tie up the numerous strings spread out around Pen, Will and Cat. Her characters come off feeling like they are also your friends and not just friends with each other, like you're a part of their circle. Pen is reminiscent of Cornelia in Love Walked In and Belong to Me with her observations and her small eccentricities, although I think I would choose to be with Cornelia over her because I find her more of a darling than Pen. Cat is sufficiently made into a mystery, and it made me wonder what her motivations were in doing what she did. Will is almost like Teo Sandoval in Marisa's first two books, but also not quite. Maybe the half-Filipino aspect of Teo made him more attractive to me than Will. Sometimes it feels like these characters are a little too whimsical, or maybe a little too different, or maybe even a little too perfect sounding, but Marisa includes little quirks that make them less of those a-little-too's.Speaking of Filipino, one of the main reasons why I was so excited to read this book was because a part of it was set in the Philippines. Marisa de los Santos has Filipino roots and I can't help but feel so proud about how she described the Philippines and the Filipinos in this book. Here's an example:Maybe it was the food or the muted light or the ceiling fan's slow, hypnotic paddling of the air or maybe it was simply that every journey -- and Pen had come to see herself as a person distinctly on a journey [...] -- has its land of the lotus eaters, its drowsy slowdown in momentum. There would be time to winnow out the reasons later, but as she sat in the living room of the house in which Cat's father had grown up, surrounded by someone else's family -- Cat's family, the one she had flown across the world to find -- with a plate of food on a tray in front of her, all Pen knew was that she wanted, with her heart, to become a part of the place, to unpack her bags, hunker down, and stay. (p. 284)And something about the food:But there was nothing "nothing special" about it: great piled tangles of noodles rife with bits of vegetables, meat and shrimp; a concoction of eggplant, okra, green beans, squash and bitter melon called pinakbet; banana blossom salad; whole fish, crispy and gleaming with sauce; thin egg rolls called lumpia that Pen could have eaten like popcorn; and, glory of glories, down the center of its own special table, a roasted suckling pig, burnt orange, glistening, dizzyingly fragrant. Pen had a momentary qualm at seeing it whole ... but once dismantled, the sublime combination of hard, crackly skin and nearly white, meltingly tender meat caused such rapture in her mouth that she gave hearty thanks to God that she was not a vegetarian. (p. 286-287)That last paragraph made me hungry.The second time, more prepared, she stayed long enough to understand that the coral reef off Balicasag Island packed more gorgeousness per square centimeter than any other place she had ever been. At the same time that it was exactly like something she had seen on a nature show, it was like nothing she had seen on a nature show because everything -- from the imperious butterfly fish trailing their scarves to the brown undulating ribbons that Pen assumed were eels (but might not have been; it frustrated her not to know) to the neon blue coruscations, so penny-small ad quick that they might have been tricks of light -- each thing, every individual scrap of embodied beauty, was palpably, unmistakably, alive.So were Pen and Augusta, alive and in the thick of it. Pen had expected to look down and see fish, and she did, but when she looked to her side, there they were, too, suspended next to her face or flowing by in iridescent streams, and, when Will swam over to take Augusta to see an anemone clownfish and Pen dove downward, the fish were above her as well. (p. 303)I'm not being biased here, but that last paragraph is absolutely true. I almost squealed with delight when I found out where exactly they were heading in the Philippines because I was just there a month ago. So much beauty, and it's just one island. :)A word of warning, though -- if you're expecting them to head to the Philippines early on, well...they won't. I had to adjust my expectations with that because I thought that the characters would spend a longer time in my home country but the travel happened at the last third of the book. But even so I'm not really complaining, and it's not really a wild goose chase for their friend all across the world. When I got to the end, I felt like even if I was made to wait for the part I wanted to read the most, the timing was pretty right and I was so invested in the characters and the story that I want them to find their answers in the place I called home.I was perfectly, perfectly charmed with this book. Again, I may be pretty biased about it because so far, I've loved every book that Marisa de los Santos wrote. Even if I can't relate to it much (by that I mean nothing like that has ever really happened in my life), there's something in her books that makes me feel that she wrote it just for me -- or someone like me who craves for this kind of life fiction. For this kind of story that talks about love and friendship and family and the ties that bind, and all of those things falling together in one complicated and beautiful mess.I'm not sure if Falling Together is for everyone, but if you've ever read and liked Marisa de los Santos' other books, then you will probably like this. Just how much is another thing, but as far as I am concerned, Falling Together is the perfect birthday read. And I am definitely keeping this one on my shelf. :)

Many of us had incredibly intense friendships when we were in college and felt that those friends would remain the most important people we knew beyond college - it didn't always work out that way. Pen, Cat and Will were an inseparable trio until a few years after college, when they separate. Cat goes off to get married to a man neither Pen nor Will like (or liked back in college), and Will and Penn discover that without Cat they don't quite know how to be friends.Just before their 10th reunion, Will and Pen get an e-mail from Cat, asking them to meet her at the reunion. They go, but Cat never appears. Instead, Cat's husband Jason is there, looking for Cat. In the intervening years, all three have changed yet their bond is still such that of course Will and Pen will join in the search. The exploration of those intense friendships, the ways in which the change, the nature of love and what is truly important is wonderful, the occasional delving into soap opera dropped this from a five to a four.ARC provided by publisher.

Three college friends. Friends and family. Friends who are your family. Insightful writing capturing deep emotions of loss, love, heartbreak and rejoicing. Often when I read a description saying a book is about loss, friendship, love lost and found, I sort of roll my eyes and think.....oh, one of "those" books. This is one of those books but it really is about all those things and more. An excellent book about relationships and feelings - expressed so much better than I ever could.de los Santos displays a real skill in describing the emotions of loss (of a parent), love (of a child), loneliness, yearning, friendship, and love (romantic), that I was swept away in the prose. It’s almost poetic at times. To be honest, sometimes it is a bit long winded and overdone, but mostly I am in awe at the insight and clarity with which she is able to present all that range of emotion.The book has a very tidy, Hollywood-happy-ending, which I expected, but I loved. The book is not a complex plot or filled with a large cast of characters, but the three main ones are fully developed and likable (even with their flaws - Will was maybe a little too perfect, but the 2 women were flawed but lovable characters). It is a very readable, thoroughly enjoyable book.Highly recommended.

First of all, thank you to HarperCollins and GoodReads for this book. I had not ever read Marisa de los Santos and if this book had not come for free, I might not have ever picked up her books. That would have been a shame.I am not sure why I had not read de los Santos. This book was my kind of book. I thoroughly enjoyed this.Cat, Will and Pen met the first week of college and were inseparable for more than four years. Their friendship would color the rest of their lives. But six years ago, Cat went off to get married leaving Will and Pen on their own. Without Cat the relationship did not work out. Now it is time for their college reunion and Cat contacts Pen and Will for help. Of course they show up, but as the reader might expect not everything is as it appears. There are a lot of life lessons to be learned by Pen, Will, some other people and even Cat. Since de los Santos is a good and interesting writer, this reader was glad to go along for the ride.WorldCat has Psychological Fiction as one of the subject headings for this book and in another place it is referred to as Domestic Fiction. I would not have picked either term myself, but they both fit. And both terms describe why I like the book. It is psychological - the emotional and mental states of the characters are important. But this novel is also domestic - in my mind these characters have a home life that could be taking place next door to my home. They seem real.Pen and Will are people I could spend some time with. It was harder to get to know Cat, but that was the nature of the book. I was glad to have over 300 pages to spend with these characters.I recommend this book to folks who loved their college days, to people who have strong feelings about love and to those who like their fiction to be realistic.

Will, Cat and Pen are the best of friends in college, secure in the fact that their threesome is perfect and complete. After graduation their lives begin to change and, largely due to Cat marrying a man Will and Pen don't like, the friendship ends. 10 years later Pen is struggling with single motherhood and the sudden death of her dad when she gets an urgent email from Cat requesting her presence at their 10 yr reunion. But when she and Will arrive they find Cat's belligerent and forlorn husband. What follows is a journey to find Cat and see if their friendship can be healed.As always, Marisa de los Santos comes through with beautiful, intense, real characters who you will care about desperately. The problems they wrestle with, Pen's aversion to change, Will's anger issues, and Cat's inability to find her place in the world all touch a chord and resonate. The adventure of the trip adds some spice to the story and the lush descriptions of the Philippines and the people they meet there made reading this book feel like taking a vacation. Falling Together is a heart-warming, feel-good story that will make you reexamine your closest relationships.

Another proof that Marisa de los Santos never disappoints! Positively the most grabbing book I have read in the last couple of years, and I am already itching for another one to come out (even though this one only launched last week). Marisa's gift of words is undeniable. She makes you see and feel what her characters see and feel, she makes you rejoice with them and mourn with them and laugh with them, she makes you believe in love and the beauty of the world all over again, especially if you're a bit like me and therefore a bit like Pen when it comes to thinking about love. If it's been a while since you've read something worthwhile, grab this book. Truly, truly beautiful, and that even if not everything comes out the way you'd expect. But then again, life doesn't exactly always come out the way we'd expect, either.

I loved the nostalgic feel of this book, and the fact that it was a friendship story first and a romance second. There were some dramatic moments that felt a bit over the top, but I'm glad I stuck it out. The audiobook narrator was very good. My rating is a 3.5 rounded up.

This week I read Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos. This is the second book of hers I have read. You can read my post about Belong to Me here.I tend to favor character-driven books. De los Santos's characters are so endearing, unique, and complex, yet the issues they face are universal. The three main characters in Falling Together meet the first day of college their freshman year. Penelope (Pen) Calloway, a tall, willowy beauty, leaves her English lecture in tears, not because of Beowulf's fate, but because her mascara is running down her face. She finds a pretty, fae-like girl named Cat having a seizure in the bathroom. Pen panics and grabs the first sweatshirt in the hallway and drags it into the ladies' room. The sweatshirt belongs to Will, and he takes charge of the situation and helps Cat. The three form a strong friendship that lasts throughout their college years.Six years after graduation, Pen is living with her brother, Jamie. She is still dismayed that Will and Cat separately walked out on her shortly after graduation, and so much has transpired in the interim. Her father has died, and Pen has a five year old daughter. Cat grieves for all she has lost, and she is stunned and elated when Cat sends an email requesting Pen's attendance at their college reunion. When Pen and Will arrive on campus, Cat is a no-show, but her obnoxious husband is there. He influences Pen and Will to travel across the world with him.The plot, partly told in flashback, builds to reveal why the best friends parted ways. To me, this story is personal and touching as friends come and go in and out of our lives. We graduate, move, marry, have children, change neighborhoods, churches, and play groups. But usually we do have what my friend Susan calls "touchstone friends." They are friends we had when we were young, and no matter what, no mater the distance, they are always there for us. That is why this novel moved me to tears. Pen, Cat, and Will should have remained touchstone friends, and I so badly yearned for a positive resolution while reading the book. I highly recommend Falling Together. Marisa de los Santos writes about relationships better than anyone. You will not be disappointed in her books. But be forewarned: you might be compelled to call, email, google, or Facebook stalk college friends you have not heard from in years! ;P

You know those books that have hardly any action, yet give you the best happy jitters of all? I don't think I can successfully put into words all I feel for Falling Together.No action? No problem. Pen's simile-filled language makes every moment burst with activity as she unravels the story of how three life-long college friends (Pen, Will, Cat) grow apart, and then come back together after a cryptic email from Cat. What Pen, Will, and Cat's husband learn sends them on a journey around the world in a search for Cat, a journey that will bring out shocking revelations and overwhelming emotions. This is not a mystery, no adventure (overall), not even much of a romance, but I guarantee you'll fall in love with these fabulously non-cliche characters. These characters are not perfect, believe me. They each have faults and quirks, but at the end of the day, they care deeply about each other and have highly intelligent conversations (that's important to me) and they're different. They're very, VERY unique.You should know: this is a slow book. The author takes her time describing each scene (beautifully, but slowly nonetheless). The backstory is revealed slowly through many flashbacks and memories. Unlike many fellow reviewers, I think the elaborate descriptions and loads of imagery are what makes this book such a pleasure to read. What could have been a mediocre plot (but with extraordinary characters) are made instead into a world that just comes to life in front of you, with the sentimental Pen at the center.I can't really say much in fear of spoiling something, but you have got to check out this gorgeous, poignant read and a great book club pick!

I haven't read a good chick lit book in a while & I loved this one. This author, whom I'd never read before, succeeded in writing a story about friendship & love & loss & life lessons without making it too dramatic or cheesy & over the top, and most importantly, the characters were all pretty likable. Even Jason who was sometimes like a grown up annoying boy made me smile & want to pat his head in sympathy for what he goes through. I liked the friendship between Pen, Cat & Will which is at the core of the story & what brings everything together. What One Day was supposed to do for me but didn't, this book did: gave me a sweet, romantic love story about old friends falling in love. I find so many so called love stories lacking because I find the characters either unlikable, annoying, cheesy or all of them combined & don't see why they love each other in the first place, you just have to believe they do despite them both being idiots. Pen & Will are wonderful together, and I felt the rightness of their connection & it was lovely & sweet & swoon worthy.