Review: Falling Under- Gwen Hayes

I received this via the Goodreads First Reads program

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.

Although this book will probably be loved by a lot of people who enjoy the current scary-love-interest trend in YA fiction, for that precise reason, it wasn't for me. Haden was the cliche boy who was scary yet alluring, and overall I didn't feel a connection to him. There were a few choice scenes where I liked him- for example, in one scene where he takes Theia 'stumping'- but the shifts in his personality were too sudden to make him feel realistic to me.  


I felt that the fact that Theia was English really made no difference to the story whatsoever- I didn't really see her as behaving in 'strange English ways', although to be fair they might not stick out to me because I spend a lot of time in the UK. I think there's a trend in fiction to believe that being from England automatically makes you more sophisticated, and so characters who are meant to be very sophisticated are made British. This is definitely nowhere near true. In my opinion, Theia could have easily been an American from a similar background without making a difference to the story. 


On the plus side, I thought that Gwen Hayes came up with a superb combination of metaphysical/holistic ideas and classic demon mythology- and the scenes that were meant to be scary genuinely freaked me out! There were also a few hilarious and quirky characters, such as a cross dressing teenage psychic. The positives were enough that I'll definitely keep an eye out for future books she writes.


Overall: Falling Under was an enjoyable read, but disappointing the romance department.

lale

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