Book Review of Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Title: Falling Under

Author: Gwen Hayes

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Release Date: March 1, 2011

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she’s seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.

And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia’s not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review: When I received this book I was in a YA slump.  I was starting to doubt my love for the young adult paranormal world, but this book completely destroyed those doubts.  That summary up there is a good teaser, but it does not even begin to cover what goes on in this book.  I feel myself getting ready to ramble because of my excitement, so I am going to try and break down the reasons behind my giddiness and not go on a tangent.

First up is our main character Theia, who is a run of the mill average human.  Best quality: she is not a whinny teenager.  Thank you Gwen!  When Theia has a problem she confides in her friends and tries to talk through her worries with them.  Not keep them pent up and pine and mope for three months.  Speaking of her friends, they are great girls.  They do not try to steal boys from each other, they look out for one another and they just have fun, their friendship feels genuine and it helps the reader to relate with the characters.  I also loved their nick names for the “popular” kids as well, they called them Sneeches.  As in the creatures that wear stars on their bellies from Dr. Suess, such a clever reference.

Haden is also another main focus of the story, of course.  I loved that every now and then Gwen would let us get into his head and hear what he was thinking.  I often wonder what is going on inside the mind of the mysterious characters in books, so getting a rare glimpse into his thoughts helped fit pieces together.  He is a real enigma and it definitely took me a while to figure him out.  I thought I had him pegged from chapter one, yeah, nope!  I was totally off base and it was fantastic!  I relished the fact that I did not have a clue what was going on with him.

I was also surprised by how much humor is laced throughout this book.  I found myself laughing out loud so many times.   The dialogue was witty and the characters made me chuckle right along with them.  I did not expect the book to be so funny, but it was a pleasant addition to the story.

Overall, Falling Under is a welcomed change in a genre that can sometimes be filled with mundane.  It completely blindsided me, in the best way possible, and I ate it all up in one night.  I cannot continue to say enough good things about this book, I can only hope Gwen has plans for a sequel so I can be lost in this world again.  I will leave you with a quote from the book said by Haden that I think sums things nicely, “Sometimes the answers are more questions.  Sometimes down is up.”

FTC:  I received this ARC  from Around the World Tours