47 pages • 1 hour read
Alex LightThe Upside of Falling
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Risk of Falling in Love
The Upside of Falling is about two teenagers who have actively avoided romantic relationships until their final year of high school. Brett believes having a girlfriend will only distract him from football and his life after high school, while Becca has allowed her parents’ divorce to give her a more cynical worldview about dating. Becca believes that love is “destructive” and “dangerous,” and instead of experiencing it for herself, she believes that “books [are] enough of an experience for [her]” (6) without any of the risk. However, as the novel progresses, Light uses Becca's journey to show that falling in love might come with risks, but the experience can be beautiful, enriching, and fulfilling to a person’s life.
After seeing her parents’ marriage fall apart, Becca swore off real-world love. However, she still wants to experience love, so rather than partaking in it herself, she dives into the world of romance novels. Becca explains that there are two types of love: real and fictional. She says that “the real kind [is] what [she] thought [her] parents had, pre-divorce,” and ever since her parents’ divorce, “the fictional kind [is] what [she has] preferred” (9). Becca believes that if she were to fall in love for real, she would wind up with a broken heart full of regrets. Becca believes in love but has decided it isn’t worth the risk. If her father can leave his wife and daughter without warning, then Becca will never be sure that her heart is safe in a relationship. When it comes to love, Becca believes that the odds are stacked against her, and she decides to keep her heart under lock and key.
However, everything changes when Becca agrees to enter a fake-dating relationship with the charming, handsome captain of the football team, Brett. Becca and Brett quickly go from strangers to friends, and Becca remarks that they “skipped the beginning awkward phase when you first meet someone and aren’t entirely sure if you can act like yourself around them” (78). As their friendship grows and they open up to each other, Becca realizes she is starting to develop feelings for Brett. She reminds herself that these feelings are “dangerous,” and she makes a concerted effort to “[push] them down, [close] all the windows, and shut them out” (119) before they can cause any permanent damage to her heart. Becca refers to her heart as a locked room or a fortress that must be secured, but despite her best efforts, she can’t ignore her feelings for Brett. Becca tells Brett that her feelings for him were never supposed to become real, and now that she is falling in love with Brett, “everything feels too real and it’s scaring [her]” (174). Becca feels like she is losing control of her heart, and when Brett breaks up with her in Chapter 15, Becca spirals into despair. She scolds herself for letting Brett in, but as she looks back on her time with Brett, she realizes how valuable their time together was. Brett and Becca supported and challenged each other, and they grew as individuals during their fake-dating relationship. By the end of the novel, Brett and Becca reunite and declare their love for one another, and despite everything they have been through, Becca doesn’t regret getting involved with Brett. She realizes that although falling in love comes with an inherent risk, the experience is worth the risk of getting hurt.
Self-Confidence as a Marker for Growth
When Jenny abandoned Becca in pursuit of popularity at the beginning of their sophomore year, Becca’s already-shaky self-confidence took a serious hit. Becca wasn’t like Jenny’s popular new friends, and on the heels of her father leaving her and severing their relationship, Becca began to question her self-worth. In The Upside of Falling, Becca learns that self-confidence can be difficult to rebuild, but with enough support and encouragement, a person can grow to feel comfortable in her own skin.
Becca is used to keeping to herself, and she “mastered the art [of avoiding people] in sophomore year” (30). For the past two years, Becca has eaten lunch alone and uses her reading habit to block people out. When Brett suddenly takes an interest in starting a fake-dating relationship with her, Becca is confused because she knows that Brett could have his pick of any girl in the school, and Becca doesn’t think she is particularly special. She doesn’t understand what Brett could possibly get out of this arrangement: “It wasn’t like his popularity status needed a boost. Come to think of it, it would probably take a steep hit” (30) if Brett associates with a nobody like Becca. Becca cannot see past her lack of popularity, and her low opinion of herself can be seen throughout her fake-dating arrangement with Brett. She tells him that she’s not used to all of the attention that he gets on a daily basis, and now that she is “dating” the most popular boy in school, Becca worries that people will judge her or think that she’s not good enough for Brett. She agrees to wear his jersey and attend his football games, but she tries to hide in the back of the bleachers so “no one [will] notice” (59) her presence.
Becca spends most of the novel trying to hide herself away, but her confidence begins to grow as she spends more time with Brett. Unlike Jenny, who looked right past Becca for the last two years, Brett listens to Becca, jokes around with her, and invests time in their friendship. Brett marvels at Becca’s academic skills, and although he doesn’t like the same books as her, he likes it when she reads to him. Brett thinks Becca is beautiful inside and out, and he sees her for who she really is—someone loyal, funny, kind, and worth sticking around for.
Family and Parental Expectations
Brett Wells has had a picture-perfect life. His parents (at a glance) are wealthy, happily married, and supportive of their son. On paper, Brett has it all. He’s popular, handsome, athletic, and well-liked, and according to Becca, everyone in his school wants to be him or date him. However, Brett’s life is anything but carefree. Although he is relatively happy, his life has been heavily shaped by his family’s expectations. Throughout the novel, Light uses Brett’s experiences with his family—and especially his father—to illustrate how easy it is for a person to fall in line with family expectations and forget to live for himself along the way.
When Brett’s mom got pregnant with him during her senior year, Brett’s father gave up a football scholarship to Ohio State to stay in Crestmont and help raise his infant son. All of Brett’s father’s dreams and ambitions were put on hold, and Brett is burdened with the responsibility of living up to his father’s expectations. For Brett, playing football and studying hard in school is a way for his father to “continue living from where he left off” (41) before he became a teen father. Brett indulges his father’s requests because he feels strangely indebted to him. Brett knows that his father gave up the life he wanted to become a dad, and Brett believes that he has to “[continue] the dream [his father] never had the chance to live out” (16). For years, Brett has gone along with whatever his dad wanted, and he has wrapped his identity up in his father’s dreams so extensively that he isn’t even sure if he likes football at all. For Brett, the goal isn’t to play football but to make his father proud, and it is this same goal that pushes him to enter into a fake relationship with Becca.
When Brett learns the truth about his father’s infidelity, he questions everything he knew about his father. Brett admits that he idolized his father, and he “never wanted to let him down” (22), but once he discovers that his father let him down, Brett “[can’t] figure out what parts of [him]self were really [him]” (188) and which parts were manufactured to appease his dad. Brett realizes that the life he has been living has been little more than his father’s second chance at success. After a lifetime of trying to live up to his father’s expectations, Brett decides that he needs a “fresh start” in life and a “clean slate to figure out who [he] [is] without [his father]” (189) influencing his direction in life.
