Name: Falling Like Leaves
ISBN: 9781665975193

Misty Wilson

Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han in this autumnal teen rom-com about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town who must confront her future and her old flame while the town prepares for an annual fall festival.

Ellis has a lot of expectations for her senior year, but moving from Manhattan to Bramble Falls, Connecticut is not one of them. Yet in the wake of her parents' separation, that's exactly where she and her mother are headed.

Bramble Falls might be charming, but it's also full of distractions. Like local barista Cooper Barnett, Ellis's one-time best friend—and first kiss—who has not only majorly glowed up but wants nothing to do with Ellis.

Then there's the Falling Leaves Festival, a month-long tourist attraction run by Ellis's aunt—celebrating everything autumn. The festival seems nice and all, but Ellis doesn't have time to be roped into her aunt's enthusiastic planning. Dragged to each event, she can't stop bumping into Cooper, the one person she's hoping to avoid.

But the longer she stays in Bramble Falls, the harder it is to pretend she's not falling for this town and the people in it. As her return to Manhattan gets pushed further and further out, Ellis is forced to confront exactly what she wants for her future—and what that means for her present.

Falling Like Leaves

thank you simonteen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

it’s only time that i get to reviewing this book, just two months past when i actually read it (oops, life truly does that sometimes). to me, this book was the perfect fall book. the atmosphere truly felt like a scene out of gilmore girls, which i know was how it was pitched and i full heartedly agree on the comparison. bramble falls was the perfect quaint town where the community gets together to host fall themed activities. it’s their tourist season, which is exactly what it’s like to live in new england during that time of year. 

to me, i loved following ellis and seeing her grow as a character throughout the book. i tend to love the main characters that are more polarizing because they’re headstrong and honestly a bit stubborn in their ways. and while ellis is definitely that throughout most of the book, she realizes that a lot of it is due to her people-pleasing need with her father. we start the story with her mom telling her they’re moving states for her senior year to separate from her father for a bit. while we don’t learn why exactly until much later, we see ellis go from being outwardly annoyed and upset with her mom to growing to see how much this has helped her mom grow back into her own person. and, eventually, once she learns the rest of the reasons, it forces herself to look inward and grow. she goes from dropping everything for her father, to learning how to be more reliable for those she cares about. to me, her story was so endearing. 

while a lot of her growth was from her second change relationship with cooper, it was also from her growth with her mom, aunt, and cousin, sloane. the family dynamic was a great portion of story line aside from the romance, and it was truly my favorite part of falling like leaves. ellis was able to reconnect with her cousin, growing their friendship as she adjusts to this new lifestyle. and they had the most beautiful friendship. they were always the one they would confide in with little judgement. i feel like i don’t get to see that type of family dynamic too much in ya books so i really enjoyed getting to see this and for it to be so prominent. so now i’m counting the days for sloane’s book to publish next year (2026). 

ash (smokedshelves)

thank you simonteen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

it’s only time that i get to reviewing this book, just two months past when i actually read it (oops, life truly does that sometimes). to me, this book was the perfect fall book. the atmosphere truly felt like a scene out of gilmore girls, which i know was how it was pitched and i full heartedly agree on the comparison. bramble falls was the perfect quaint town where the community gets together to host fall themed activities. it’s their tourist season, which is exactly what it’s like to live in new england during that time of year. 

 

to me, i loved following ellis and seeing her grow as a character throughout the book. i tend to love the main characters that are more polarizing because they’re headstrong and honestly a bit stubborn in their ways. and while ellis is definitely that throughout most of the book, she realizes that a lot of it is due to her people-pleasing need with her father. we start the story with her mom telling her they’re moving states for her senior year to separate from her father for a bit. while we don’t learn why exactly until much later, we see ellis go from being outwardly annoyed and upset with her mom to growing to see how much this has helped her mom grow back into her own person. and, eventually, once she learns the rest of the reasons, it forces herself to look inward and grow. she goes from dropping everything for her father, to learning how to be more reliable for those she cares about. to me, her story was so endearing. 

 

while a lot of her growth was from her second change relationship with cooper, it was also from her growth with her mom, aunt, and cousin, sloane. the family dynamic was a great portion of story line aside from the romance, and it was truly my favorite part of falling like leaves. ellis was able to reconnect with her cousin, growing their friendship as she adjusts to this new lifestyle. and they had the most beautiful friendship. they were always the one they would confide in with little judgement. i feel like i don’t get to see that type of family dynamic too much in ya books so i really enjoyed getting to see this and for it to be so prominent. so now i’m counting the days for sloane’s book to publish next year (2026). 