ARC Book Review: I Dreamed of Falling by Julia Dahl

Thank you to NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for the advanced reader copy!

In I Dreamed of Falling, Roman Grady leads a mundane life as a reporter for the local newspaper when his long-time girlfriend—and mother of his son—is found dead near a cliff edge. The police are quick to rule it an accident, but as Roman and his mother dig deeper into her life, unsettling secrets threaten to unravel their family.

The Good Stuff

The premise of the book promised intrigue and mystery, and Dahl definitely delivered on that front. Slowly, we discover the secrets of each character, as well as the victim’s life before her death, gradually closing in on her final moments. 

There are a lot of red herrings and new characters that throw suspicion, keeping you guessing the identity of the murderer until halfway through the book.

I liked the plot twist towards the end, but I think the execution lacked a bit of substance.

The Not So Good Stuff

Having read many thrillers and mystery books, I have to admit that this unfortunately wasn’t for me.

I think the book would have benefitted from a faster pace and, overall, more tension and suspense. The stakes were not described in a way that made me care about the characters. 

On top of that, I felt a bit let down by the reveal of the murderer. It was a brilliant idea to choose that particular character, but only the last few chapters really hinted at their involvement. The book lacked the appropriate breadcrumbs scattered along the way to give us the ‘AHA’ moment at the end.

Overall, I believe the book would have benefitted from another round of editing, where repetitive dialogue (describing events that happened in the previous chapter/scene) and unnecessary character interactions (that weren’t relevant to the plot) could have been cut.

Rating

⭑⭑⭒⭒⭒

Whilst this book wasn't for me, I believe casual readers who are looking for an easy-to-read novel with a bit of mystery and a plot twist will enjoy it.