Review: Falling Under (and Contest)

Don't forget! March is my blogiversary month, which means lots of contests.

By Gwen Hayes
Available now from NAL (Penguin)
Review copy



First, I love the cover of this book. The photo and color scheme are somewhat typical, but the foil letters are fun and the material is soft. It's a nice book to hold in your hands and feel. (Yes, I'm shallow, that matters to me.)

FALLING UNDER has a lot in common with the TWILIGHT series. Girl meets guy who warns her that he's dangerous. Eventually, they get separated and the girl pines. It's a typical formula, but one that can be well done. FALLING UNDER is fun and romantic, and heroine Theia Alderson holds it all together.

Theia's rather sheltered and naïve, due to her father who is strict but rarely present. She starts having strange lucid dreams – and waking up with grass stains on her nightgown. Then the boy in her dreams shows up in school, drawn to her but refusing to touch her and trying to drive her away by hanging out with other girls. Pretty soon Theia decides that Haden Black's routine is kind of annoying and takes matters into her own hands. It's foolhardy but awesome. She keeps that kind of attitude throughout the book, most triumphantly when she decides to go after Haden instead of moping in his absence.

Short passages are in Haden's point of view. This is good because it rounds his character out some, but bad because I prefer Theia's diction. Luckily, as he spends more time around normal teenagers he becomes less flowery.

Theia has two good friends, Donny and Ame, who both have their own romantic plotlines. I liked that Theia remained involved with her friends and their lives. Gwen Hayes uses their beaus into the main plotline so that their story doesn't slow down the speed of the book. That’s good since FALLING UNDER is the kind of book you read in one rush before going to sleep.

If you're tired of teen romance paranormals, the FALLING UNDER probably won't be your thing. But if you enjoy that genre, FALLING UNDER is worth picking up.

You also have a chance to read FALLING UNDER for free, thanks to Penguin. One reader with a US or Canada address (no PO boxes) will receive a copy. Fill out the form below to enter. Contest ends 3/14.