Review: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

From Goodreads:
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.

My Rating:

3 stars

Thoughts:

This book surprised me. I went into it expecting a run of the mill YA paranormal romance, with the dark and mysterious hero, and the heroine who just can’t seem to keep away from him. At certain points, it was just that, but at others it had just the right amount of originality. The first few chapters had me rolling my eyes and thinking “oh great, another book I’m not going to finish.” But I stuck with it, and I wasn’t disappointed. First off, I liked the fact that it wasn’t explicitly stated that Haden and Theia were soul mates. Lately, as soon as those two words come into play, it seems like the author doesn’t feel the need to add any chemistry between the main characters because they are “meant to be together”, and then poof! They’re in love. In Falling Under, Haden and Theia are sort of thrown into the same situation, but they still did their fair share of flirting, and got to know each other before being “in love”. Yes, the story was very clichéd at times, but the explanation for Haden and Theia’s “connection” was original (to me at least) and while I’m not going to say what it was, I will say that it was one of the high points of the story. Theia’s friends were a little too stereotypical at times, but I still liked them, nonetheless.

 I’m pretty sure that if I keep talking about this book I’m going to give too much away. So I’ll stop here and say that this book was a diamond in the rough. I know 3 stars seems kind of low if I'm saying I liked the book, but it was just the first half that made me hesitant give it a higher rating. It started out badly (an annoying heroine, clichés galore, etc.) but by the end of the book I was hooked, and I’m definitely going to read the sequel. If YA paranormal clichés make you want to scream and pull out your hair, you probably shouldn’t read Falling Under. BUT if you can get past them and want to read a good book with an interesting twist on the paranormal genre, then put Falling Under on your reading list.

Author's Site:

http://www.gwenhayes.com/