Book Review: Fall Out by C. G. Moore

Title: Fall OutAuthor: C. G. MoorePublisher: UCLAN PublishigRelease Date: 18th June 2020
Synopsis: I am Cal Adams what does that mean?Sixteen years old.Black hair.Blue eyes.Short.Gay.For Cal, coming out is explosive, but that is nothing compared to the fallout from his family, friends and foes. When events in Cal's life reach critical, he is shaken to his core. Can he rely on his loved ones to help avoid meltdown?

Review:  Fall Out was a gritty and relatable tale about one boys experiences coming out..but it's so much more than that! Books like this are important for the wider conversations they start and I want to read more queer fiction, I want to share more queer stories with the world. 

For Cal, coming out is explosive, but that is nothing compared to the fallout from his family, friends and foes. When events in Cal's life reach critical, he is shaken to his core. Can he rely on his loved ones to help avoid meltdown?" 

This book took me on a journey! I laughed, I cried, I shouted at the characters, I jarred with it and those are the signs of a good book. I won't lie, I found certain elements a bit stretched to the point where I couldn't connect with them but it created an explosive story. 

Fall out doesn't shy away from difficult subjects that gay teens face from; bulling to self acceptance, mental health and that destructive feeling of isolation and how you find your way through that. Though I'm definitely not as brave as Cal was with some of the things he did! This book definitely made me revisit a lot of the experiences I had at school and to an extent the experiences I wish I had. 

I was shipping Matt so hard, but it's only later after I reprocessed the book that you see why things go the way they go. You learn about everyone's pain and the walls we put up to protect that but it's breaking them down that makes us stronger. But I still wished they could have made it work. Matt had this pure soul, and he was a joyful character to read!

One thing that I kept coming back to was how we all exist in our own bubbles, and it's hard to see or feel the knock on effect our actions have on those around us. This is something I know I've struggled with over the years so the more you relive the book to more you see it and its mirror in life. Cal came up again this again and again, with his parents, his friends and his relationships and he pushed through...

"Live for You. Love you"