READING: Falling Under (Falling Under,#1) by Gwen Hayes

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Publication Date: March 1st 2011

Publisher: New American Library

Paperback, 324 pages

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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.

Falling Under is among those books,which started as being very promising and ended up being a bit of a disappointment...

Gwen Hayes's writing style is more than beautiful and lyrical...It's also dark and has a gothic feeling to it but it's beautiful nevertheless!I couldn't help but feel,especially at the beggining of this book,like I was hearing a very specific song by Iron Maiden while reading this book!Especially the scene with the macabre waltz just kept bringing to my mind Dance of Death by Iron Maiden...I don't know if the writer had something like that in mind,but the reference was there for me!And I loved that feeling.I loved that this story seemed darker and the fact that the characters were well built and not only the main ones.For once,I actually looked forward to reading more the scenes where Theia is with her friends rather than with her love interest Haden....It's not that the romance scenes didn't have a certain interest,it's just that I found really well written the other ones!Plus those that represent and analyze Theia's strange relationship with her father.

To sum it up,for the first half of this book,I was more than enjoyed that I picked up this specific title.

But unfortunatelly that feeling lasted only until Haden revealed his true nature to Theia,and soon after that,when he decides to leave her in peace,all the story took the downhill for me...Where should I start?From the fact that Theia after that point started reacting like a really spoiled child or from the other fact that she so easily decided to put everything and everyone aside to be with the love of her life?For the first half of the book Theia reacts more or less rational,although being overly restricted by her father,but still,her reactions to Haden's absence are a bit overstreched.Plus,whereas firstly she wasn't certain about her feelings to Haden,as soon as he tells her that he's leaving,all of the sudden she decides he means the world to her and she should abandon everything just to be with him...Not to mention that this decision of hers to be with Haden at his realm would ultimatelly drive her insane... So not healthy for a heroine to sacrifice her life for her teen crush...

In general,the second half of this book is not as good as the first,despite the fact that towards the ending my interest was again picked up,but I can't help but mention that this book,has a few similarities with the famous Twilight Saga...I know I should try to stop searching for similarities while reading a book,and in most cases I succeed in doing so,but not when those similarities are thrown directly in my face.From Haden's attempts to turn Theia away from him cause he's the bad guy...(really the fact that Theia herself makes sthe direct mention to sparkling vampires does't help the case) to the pet name Haden uses to address Theia, "lamb" (again,what's with the weird pet names like lamb or pussycat?) and all those references to soul and how Haden was afraid that Theia put in danger her soul by being with him,any originality I first found in this book,was immediately reduced...And it's sad cause clearly,Gwen Hayes,after thinking of creating such a creepy detailed world,could have avoided something like this,especially since we're talking about details here and not the main plot...

In conclusion,Falling Under,began as a quite pleasant read and turned by the end to something far less enjoyable and not original.It's not a book I really struggled to read,but not one I will read again... As for the sequel,should it get published I may give it a chance,but not that I'm dying to...