The Upside of Falling

Becca is a 17-year-old high school senior and one of the two main protagonists in The Upside of Falling. She is the only child of a single mother, and her parents divorced when she was 12 years old. Becca’s last name is a play on the word “heart”: a nod to her obsession with romance novels and her complicated relationship with love and romance. Although Becca can be stubborn and a self-proclaimed “pessimistic downer” (10), she is a loyal friend, and according to Brett, there is a “kindness” and “intelligence” about her, “like she [understands] more than she let[s] on” (78).

Becca is an avid reader, and her interests are mostly book-related. When she thinks about her life after high school, she states that “the only thing [she] really like[s] [is] reading” (85). Becca is especially passionate about romance novels; even though she refers to them as “unrealistic crap” (3), she can’t get enough of them. Becca is often characterized as always having her nose in a book, and her bedroom is full of her favorite love stories. In the real world, Becca scoffs at the idea of love, but deep down, she is a romantic soul who longs to feel all the thrill of falling in love without the risks.