Review: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Title: Falling Under
Author: Gwen Hayes
Pages: 324 (ARC copy)
Publisher: New American Library
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.

My Thoughts: It all starts when Theia sees a burning man fall from the sky. After that she begins having strange and creepy dreams about a boy she's never seen before. Things become even weirder when she finds out he's the newest student in school. For some reason, he acts cold towards her, treating her the opposite of how he does in her dreams. She can't figure him out, and although she knows there's something not quite right about him, she can't stop herself from getting close to him.

I thought the first half of Falling Under was similar to what is seen in a lot of YA paranormals. There's the underconfident girl (Theia), who is drawn to the new, mysterious boy (Haden) at school. And even though the new boy seems to be interested in her as well, he's not exactly nice to her and tells her to stay away. But she can't and neither can he. Sound familiar? Well, I think that's why it was a bit of a struggle for me getting through the beginning of the book.

While the first half didn't stand out to me, I thought the last half of the story made up for it. Things started getting interesting the moment Haden revealed what he was and his purpose for being there. I don't believe I've read a YA paranormal with that type of paranormal creature. It explained why Haden treated Theia the way he did. The last part of the book wasn't quite perfect though. The entire book was a bit fast paced, and I was fine with that, but I would have liked to learn more about Haden's world near the end. Overall, I liked what we did get.

After finishing the book, there were some things I was left wondering about like Why was Theia immune to Haden's Lure? and How do Theia and Haden adjust? If there's a sequel, which I really hope there is, I will definitely check it out.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

ARC provided by Different Area Codes Book Tour.