Review: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Falling Under
By: Gwen Hayes
Published by: NAL Trade
Publication date: March 1, 2011
336 pages
Young Adult
I bought this book

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.


Wow!! Falling Under was unlike anything I have ever read before. You know what I loved best about it?? The dangerous boy ACTUALLY FELT DANGEROUS!! I get a little annoyed when books try to present a bad boy and he ends up being as harmless as a teddy bear. Definitely not the case here and I love that Hayes was willing to let Haden have a dark side.

You know what else I loved? The imagination and creativity that went into creating some truly eerie dreamscapes. The "Under" world was populated with nightmarish creatures and scenery. I've been waiting for a book like this, one that has the opportunity to create a richly detailed otherworld where anything goes and Falling Under definitely delivers.

I like the characters of Theia and Haden (and let me just say I adore the names in this book...Theia ~ Greek for Goddess, Haden ~ a play on Hades, Mara ~ nightmare) and while I thought their intense feelings for each other kinda came outta nowhere, I was still able to buy into their relationship. The supporting characters were some of my favorites of recent YA reads. There's sweet, naive and somewhat insecure Amelia along with her polar opposite Donatella, the brash, says-it-like-it-is, naughy, super confident girl. I absolutely adored these characters and their respective boys (Donnie's boy was amazing =)

I found Falling Under very hard to put down. I have a fondness for tales dark and goth and if you do as well, pick this one and fall under its spell.

By the way, I couldn't get the song 'Going Under" by Evanescence out of my mind while I was reading this one.....

I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through

Check out the book trailer, it's what actually convinced me to pick this one up (first time a trailer has done that.) I fell in love with the imagery and was so happy that it reflected the feel of the book so perfectly.