Review: Falling Under

Title: Falling Under
Author: Gwen Hayes
Date Released: March 1st, 2011 
Pages: 324
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Description:
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.

Review:
Theia Alderson has always lived a very sheltered life in her small town of Serendipity because her father believes that it would protect her from being hurt, and repeating what happened to her mother.  When she meets Haden, the mysterious boy of her dreams- literally- all of this changes and she's dragged into the chaos of Haden's (under)world.

Hayes weaves in the cliched, but nevertheless very romantic, relationship between Theia and Haden that develops over the course of the novel.  It's almost like an instant attraction between the two that Theia tries to deny, but ultimately can't.  However, as the two fall madly in love, things are revealed about Haden that will alter Theia's life.

However, the beginning of the novel was quite slow.  No, actually, it was very slow.  I contemplated over whether or not I should finish the book because it just sort of seemed like a lot of other books out there, and, well, it just seemed to lag on.  BUT!  Things really started picking up in the middle, and got really interesting.  There were a lot of twists that were unexpected, really making it captivating.  

Theia was a pretty likable character.  She wasn't that popular girl, despite her British accent.  Instead, people left her alone and her only friends were her best friends Donny and Ame.  When she started falling head over heels for Haden though, that's when she really started to change into a different person.  Haden, on the other hand, was sort of the opposite.  He was a confusing character because one moment who's absolutely charming and nice, and the next moment he's rude and mean, which might be his demon side, because he is half demon and half human, but still.  It was like he was... bipolar... or something.  I loved all of Theia's friends though, who were so supportive throughout.

Overall, I've got to say that Falling Under wasn't that bad.  There were some moments where I wanted to give up, but I kept pushing myself and that proved to be worth it because as I got closer to the end, it got a whole lot better.  I might read the next book, Dreaming Awake, because there are still a lot of things that I'm curious about :)  Especially what's going to happen to Theia and Haden.

Cover Review:
The cover really drew me into the book.  With the black roses in the background and the model, who I presume is Theia, really looking like she's "falling under"; it's perfect.  It basically conveys what the whole book is about, too.

Cleo :)

*Description and cover picture from goodreads.com
**Review copy purchased.