Falling Under review

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

3 out of 5

It's been this way with a lot of YA books lately, but I just don't really know how I feel about this book. There were parts that I liked, parts that I didn't and things that seemed dropped or unfinished.

Theia is a 17 year old girl who lives with her very strict father. She also moved 4 years ago from England. We know this because the characters tell us and she occasionally throws in a word like "bloke." Personally, I didn't think adding her British heritage made any impact in the story or added to Theia as a character. Anyway, despite the fact that she's allowed to go places after school and have friends, her father doesn't want her to do anything because it might kill her like it did her mother. Thing is, you find out early on that Theia's mother died in childbirth... so the only reckless thing she did was to get pregnant.

One night, Theia sees a burning man falling from the sky and landing on the ground outside her window. She sees him disappear, but after that, her dreams lead her to a guy, Haden. Later, she sees him at school. As is the standard in YA books, she's immediately obsessed with him and he with her. Of course, it's dangerous for him to want her so he does that whole push-pull thing and is generally an asshole.

But Theia keeps throwing herself at him, long after any self-respecting girl would have decided he wasn't worth the effort. Her persistence pays off and she is awarded with her first kiss and some information.

Spoilers ahead

Haden reveals that he is a half-demon and has come to the human world to kidnap a human girl to be his demon bride. It was going to be Theia, but now Haden loves her and can't do it. Honestly, I'm a little glad about the demon reveal. After I started reading and the guy fell from the sky, I was afraid it was going to be fallen angels. Anyway, Haden leaves and Theia is so depressed... until she's sucked into hell, or Under, by Haden's mother who just wants her to marry Haden and have his demon baby.

From here, the books becomes a little bit of a mess. Theia is cool with staying in hell as Haden's wife, but her friends and a cross-dressing psychic pull her back from hell. They then decide that it's an awesome idea to summon Haden the demon. But they only summon the demon part, so Haden's soul is still in hell. Theia gets sucked back into hell, Haden's soul gets brought back and Theia takes a blood oath not to try to escape hell. If this was the end of the book, I would have given it a lower score.

What I did like about this books was (most of) the end- less than 100 pages. The book is now being told from Haden's POV. He's human now that his demon was exorcised from his body, but he has no memory of Theia. Despite that, it's love at first sight when he is pulled Under while he's asleep. Now Theia is the part demon who is warning him away, but wants to be with him. Haden and Theia's friends are desperate to get her back. Haden figures out how to get his own demon back so he can go Under and kidnap Theia- thus getting around her oath not to try to escape. They get back, but now Theia is worried about the demon in her.

I enjoyed Haden's part of the book much better than most of the rest of it. Theia's friends were a lot more tolerable and I liked Gabe and the psychic (I forgot the name). It would have been so much better, though, if the next book had been from his point of view, still as a human, and they were still trying to get Theia back. It all happened so easily and it was a letdown. It definitely should have taken more than the last 50 or so pages to happen.

I hated that Haden called Theia "lamb." I've never been a fan of calling someone "sweetheart" or "baby," but "lamb" is just so stupid. It was annoying enough that it deserved a mention.

I also have one super huge problem with this book, though. Theia's father is apparently so controlling that she can't even pick out her own clothes or decorate her room, yet she has more freedom than most. There was also almost nothing mentioned about her father after she disappears Under- just Theia asking how he is and Haden being like "Oh yeah, he's pretty distraught." They should have talked about him and his reaction more. I just kept thinking, "What about Theia's dad?" It was so completely ignored in the end that it should not have been part of the book in the first place. I don't really think it added anything because the feelings of having no control and not being loved could have been done without such an extreme start.