After She Falls Book Review

In After She Falls, she’s always had that fire in her. She just needs to find it again.

About After She Falls

Strong-willed Adri Rivera nearly achieved her goal of being a professional mixed martial artist, but then she fell in love with a man who knocked all the fight out of her. When their abusive, tumultuous relationship finally comes to a head, Adri flees with their young daughter to her small hometown in the mountains of Pennsylvania. There, she must face the people she left behind and put her broken life back together again.

A hardened Max Lyons can’t believe Adri is back in town after abruptly cutting him and everyone else off years ago. Despite the distance that grew between them, he feels compelled to help her regain her independence and offers her a job at his gym. But regaining each other’s trust is another matter, made even more complicated by the lingering spark between them. As Adri dares to pursue her dream again, she trains for a big tournament with Max’s help, but they’ll both have to confront their own doubts in order to rise victorious.

My Thoughts

After She Falls is an amazing tale of strength, healing and growth as Adri leaves her abusive husband in order to salvage a life for her and her daughter in the town she grew up in. She finds a lot of her healing back fighting – something her heart and mind never gave up on.

Adri is an incredible character who landed on hard times. At a very young age, she met and fell in love with a man who was not all he seemed to be. He pulled her away from her family, friends and everything she loved after she fell pregnant with their child. Adri did everything she could to keep her family together, until enough was enough. She flees their home with their daughter and returns to her hometown and the man who raised and loved her. While she wants to move on with her life, when she comes in contact with an old friend (and flame) and martial arts – she knows the only way to move forward is to complete all of the things that she had left undone. This is true for not only her martial arts but also her relationships.

While this novel could be triggering for some individuals, I do feel it has a very strong message for readers. While her husband did everything he could to control Adri and make her feel no sense of control or worth, once she left him Adri learned how strong she truly was. She learns to let go of her past, things she could not change or control and move forward. She learns to not only love herself but she learns to love and trust in others again. She also finds her strength in competing, allowing herself to dream big and train hard. After She Falls is a powerful story of faith, strength and courage.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Carmen Schober is a debut novelist, wife, full-time mother to two daughters, avid boxer, and Rocky enthusiast. A graduate of Kansas State University, where she earned a master’s degree in English literature and creative writing, she currently lives in Manhattan, Kansas. She has published sports fiction in Witness magazine and Hobart Pulp, and she regularly blogs about faith, family, and fighting. Learn more at www.carmenschober.com.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.