Once Upon a Twilight!: Blog Tour: Falling Into Place | Amy Zhang | Music Playlist

Welcome to our stop on Falling Into Place tour for Amy Zhang. This tour is hosted by Me, My Shelf and I.

Falling Into Place
Author: Amy Zhang
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Released: September 9th 2014

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

Music Playlist

Night Terrors by Wild Sweet Orange: I love Wild Sweet Orange’s sound—acoustic and a bit scratchy, which is what I always imagined my main character, Liz, would have liked. This came on my Pandora station as I was looking for songs, so it was great to find a new band and add to the playlist. Early on in the novel, Liz is listening to a song called Ocean Eyes, and I think it would have sounded a lot like Night Terrors.

Favorite lines: And oh, does God have a sound? / Like a little girl crying out / from the attic of her house / Where she hid herself for days / But everything’s a metaphor.

Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine: Iron & Wine is one of my favorite bands—a lot of their songs are on the playlist for my current manuscript, too. This song reminded me of the love interest in Falling, Liam. Heights and flying are also recurring symbols, so this song was perfect.

Favorite lines: They will see us waving from such great heights / Come down now, they’ll say / But everything looks perfect from far away

Broadripple is Burning by Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s: this was another band that I found while I was searching for songs for Falling, and I’m so glad I found it. It doesn’t have much to do with the novel itself, and I really can’t explain why I love it so much, but God, I love it. The tone just fits.

Favorite lines: There was love inside the basement/ where that woman used to lie/ In a sleeping bag we shared upon / The floor every night / And darling I’m drunk / And everything that I have loved has turned to stone / So pack your bags and come back home.

The Freshmen by Jay Brannan: Classic, right? If I could pick a theme song for Falling Into Place, this would be it—or at least one of them. It fits every story line and theme almost perfectly.

Favorite Lines: For the life of me I cannot remember / What made us think that we were wide and we’d never compromise / For the life of me, I cannot believe we’d ever die for these sins…

Fear by OneRepublic: This has always been one of those songs I could listen to over and over again just for the lyrics. It really helped me get into the mindset of the narrator—no spoilers, but I think it really fits the sense of nostalgia of the book.

Favorite Lines: When we were children we’d play / Out in the streets just dipped in fate / When we were children we’d say / That we don’t know the meaning of fear

Skinny Love by Bon Iver: I. Love. Bon. Iver. And unfortunately, I think Skinny Love reflects a lot of high school relationships, and certainly the destructive ones that Liz was in.

Favorite Lines: Tell my love to wreck it all / Cut out all the ropes and let me fall/ … / And I told you to be patient / And I told you to be fine / And I told you to be balanced / And I told you to be kind/

When You Break by Bear’s Den: this song is just heartbreaking. I think it reflects Liz’s attitude toward herself. One of the things that made writing Falling into Place so difficult was the degree of self-loathing she felt for herself, and I think this song really captures that.

Favorite lines: All of their words are trying to drown you / And you break, it’s too late for you to fall apart / And the blame that you claim is all your own fault / … / So tell me another beautiful lie / Tell me everything I want to hear / Won’t you lay here by my side?

Somewhere Only We Know by Keane: Falling into Place is kind of split between now and then scenes, and if The Freshmen is the perfect song for Liz’s high school life, then this song is perfect for Liz’s childhood. Also, it’s by Keane, and Keane is perfect in every way. I listened to a lot of their other songs while writing Falling, too, including Sovereign Light Café, Hamburg Song, and Can’t Stop Now.

Favorite Lines: Is this the place we used to love? / Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of? / Oh simple thing, where have you gone? / I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.

Bloom by The Paper Kites: This was another one of those nostalgic songs that helped me into the mindset of Liz’s earlier years. And the music video is freaking gorgeous.

Favorite Lines: Can I take it to a morning / Where the fields are painted gold / And the trees are filled with memories / Of feelings never told? / When the evening pulls the sun down / And the day is almost through / Oh, the whole world is sleeping / But my world is you.

Waste by Foster the People: I don’t know that this song is on here for a particular reason—I just really like Foster the People. Haha!

Favorite Lines: The truth cuts us and pulls us back up / And separates the things that look the same / You can fight it off, you can fight it off, you can.

Stay Alive by Jose Gonzalez: No spoilers, but the “stay alive” is very central in the book, so this song was a given. I think the tone and lyrics of this fit really well with the emotions in Liz’s story as everyone around her prays for her to stay alive.

Favorite Lines: I will stay with you tonight / Hold you close ‘til the morning light / In the morning watch a new day rise / We’ll do whatever just to stay alive.

Haunt by Bastille: Dan Smith’s voice. HIS VOICE. Gah. That is all.

Favorite Lines: The terrifying rarity of truth / As you turn to your mind / And your thoughts they rewind / To old happenings and things that are done / You can’t find what’s passed / Make that happiness last / Seeing from those eyes what you become

New Slang by The Shins: I’m going to be totally honest and admit that I don’t get this song, but it’s been one of my favourites since, like, eighth grade. It was on the first playlist I ever made for Falling, back when it was still a short story, and it was on my last one.

Favorite lines: I’m looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find / without a trust or flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?

Entertainment by Phoenix: This song always reminded me of being in high school—putting on an act, being the entertainment. I always thought that Liz was probably more introverted than anyone would ever have guessed—I think if she were to be honest with herself, she’d realize that she doesn’t mind being alone, maybe even prefers it.

Favorite lines: Entertainment / Show them what you do with me / When everyone here knows better / What I once refused to be / Is everything they long together / I’d rather be alone

The Business of Lending Wings from amyzhang68 on 8tracks Radio.

Amy Zhang used to have lots of imaginary friends. When people told her to grow up, she turned her imaginary friends into characters and started telling their stories. When she isn’t writing, she can be found playing piano, hitting balls on the tennis court, or struggling through her weekly existential crisis. She lives in Wisconsin with her family.