If I Fall, If I Die

"Will has never been to the outside, at least not since he can remember. And he has certainly never gotten to know anyone other than his mother, a fiercely loving yet wildly eccentric agoraphobe who drowns in panic at the thought of opening the front door. Their little world comprises only the rooms in their home, each named for various exotic locales and filled with Will's art projects. Soon the confines of his world close in on Will. Despite his mother's protestations, Will ventures outside clad in a protective helmet and braces himself for danger. He eventually meets and befriends Jonah, a quiet boy who introduces Will to skateboarding." If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie

I loved the premise of this book. Seeing the world for the first time through a 12 year old's eyes (which is the age I finally settled on for Will, though it took quite awhile to realize how old this boy was) was interesting to say the least. 

Eating food only from a crockpot because mushy food was less likely to choke, changing light bulbs only if wearing a wet suit or dish gloves, wearing a helmet at all times. These habits that Will developed because of his mother's agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house) amused me. 

A lot seemed so out of character for the actual character of the book though. Would a boy, who had been sheltered inside his own for as long as he could remember, removed from all of society except for  delivery men all of a sudden step into the world with little to no fear? Immediately immerse himself in public school by choice? He didn't seem to have the fear that a child growing up in a household as described above almost most definitely would have. 

The "mystery" in the book seemed so disjointed and didn't make much sense even once it was revealed. By about the last six chapters I wasn't interested much in the book, nor the characters any longer. 

With that said, I did thoroughly enjoy the first half of the book. Christie's writing is vivid and fun. I just feel like he took a perfectly good dramatic fictional book and suddenly turned it into a mystery half way through, which I could have done without. 

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.