This Side of Falling
Soho Press · Hardcover · June 17, 2025
In a devastatingly honest coming-of-age debut, a Chinese American teen navigates grief in the wake of her first love’s death by suicide.
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- Who it’s for
- For a tense, emotionally candid read about grief, family image, and the stories people tell themselves.
- Genres
- Teen Suicide, Death & Grief for Teens, Mental Illness for Teens
- Published
- Soho Press, June 17, 2025
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Teen Suicide.
The Astonishing Color of AfterEmily X.R. Pan70% matchAlso shares Death & Grief for Teens and Mental Illness for Teens
The CartographersAmy Zhang69% matchAlso shares Mental Illness for Teens
Fall to PiecesVahini Naidoo67% matchAlso shares Death & Grief for Teens
Not About a BoyMyah Hollis67% matchAlso shares Death & Grief for Teens
The Last to Let GoAmber Smith67% match
Since We Last SpokeBrenda Rufener66% matchAlso shares Death & Grief for Teens
My Heart and Other Black HolesJasmine Warga65% matchAlso shares Mental Illness for Teens
A Breath Too LateRocky Callen65% matchAlso shares Mental Illness for Teens
For younger readers: Grief Girl
For older readers: Stay True, Upstate
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In a devastatingly honest coming-of-age debut, a Chinese American teen navigates grief in the wake of her first love’s death by suicide. Not real. The mantra seventeen-year-old Nina repeats to herself the morning after her almost-boyfriend, Ethan Travvers, jumped onto the tracks in front of a freight train. The two words that keep the truth just far enough away so the loss can’t touch her, grief can’t break her.
Continue reading
After all, there is the family image to uphold, especially when her dad’s startup begins to flounder. Maintaining the illusion of wholeness and success is everything to Nina’s mom and grandma. The pretense is working—until Nina’s all-star older sister, Carmen, is dismissed from college and abruptly returns home. Carmen’s arrival and strange behavior dig up buried memories, leading Nina to wonder if there is more to the story of Ethan than even she knew. The truth is not what she wants to believe: about Carmen, about Ethan, but mostly, about herself. Emotionally layered and unflinchingly honest, this novel will resonate with readers who love deeply affecting stories that tackle teen heartache in the vein of Kathleen Glasgow and Laura Nowlin.
Grief and Pretense
For a tense, emotionally candid read about grief, family image, and the stories people tell themselves.
Come here for
- Teen heartache shaped by grief and the pressure to keep a family image intact
Expect
- An emotionally layered coming-of-age read where buried memories complicate what seems true
Where it sits
| Teen Suicide | 83% |
|---|---|
| Death & Grief for Teens | 63% |
| Mental Illness for Teens | 56% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Asian American YA
- Death & Grief for Teens
- Teen Suicide
- Authors
- Eunice Chan
- Publisher
- Soho Press
- Published
- June 17, 2025
- Format
- Hardcover
- Reading lane
- Asian American YA