Queen B’s Decree: Falling Like Leaves really embodied the feeling of fall. Cozy, filled with a found family feel, making you want to drink apple cider at a pumpkin patch.
The drama and the angst really transported me back to my teenage years, back when something (relatively) minor felt like it would ruin my life. Ellis is devastated when her parents separate and she’s moved to her aunt’s small town and away from the big city, her internship, and her demanding yet absent father. She’s so focused on doing whatever she can to make her dad proud or care for her…that she misses the forest for the trees.
Her friendships that she creates are the highlight of this story. Her cousin, her classmates, and especially her one-time best friend and first kiss, Cooper. The back and forth with her and Coop felt so realistic to that time frame of my life—even if it made me roll my eyes as a current grown up.
The narrator, Rebekkah Ross, did a fantastic job and I think I enjoyed this more purely due to the performance. And now I’m hooked for more in the series.
Book: Falling Like Leaves by Misty Wilson
Series: Bramble Falls #1
Genre: YA
Plot Devices/Tropes: forced proximity