Freefall by Joshua David Bellin

Freefall by Joshua David Bellin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the year 2151 Earth is ruled by the 1% of rich and elite that live in the Upperworld. Cam has been raised in Upperworld all of his life and is now training to join a mission to take citizens to a new planet now that Earth is dying out. The voyage will have the passengers sleeping through a 1000 year journey to a new pristine planet to colonize but those of the Lowerworld are not happy to be left behind.

At the forefront of the uprising in the Lowerworld is Sophie and when Cam sees her on a video feed he immediately is taken with her. Cam is so infatuated that he does whatever he can to get near Sophie but when gunshots ring out at the meeting Cam had attended he finds himself being whisked away with her and her guards and suddenly brought into the middle of the battle between the 1% and the other 99% that Cam had never known.

Freefall by Joshua David Bellin is a young adult science fiction read with a bit of a dystopian twist with the imminent downfall of the planet. The story is told by starting the reader off in the year 2151 with Cam and his friends preparing to leave Earth when Cam gets involved with Sophie and the rebellion. But every other chapter then jumps the 1000 years into the future to pick up with Cam after the journey to another planet. So while learning of Cam and Sophie in the past we find that he’d left her to go on the voyage but is now stranded.

Now Freefall did have a bit of a different vibe to it by giving the reader a glimpse at the past while progressing the story after having left Earth but I ended up disappointed in what the author did with the story in the past with Cam and Sophie. Not only was it instant attraction for Cam but I never felt his obsession was returned which put a damper on the future events for me. Instead of insta-love between them it felt a bit more obsession on one side and using on the other, somewhat a turn off.

But as much as the relationship aspect in the read fizzled out I still thought this was an alright read as far as the plot. There was enough action and suspense as the story unfolded that it kept my interest in wanting to know just what would happen in the future chapters to bring everyone to the point where they were. A bit of creativity there with what was going on salvaged my disappointment in the earlier years and held my interest to the end.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.