itibaren Çökekli, 55550 Çökekli/Ayvacık/Samsun, Turska itibaren Çökekli, 55550 Çökekli/Ayvacık/Samsun, Turska

Liked it even though it scared me half to death and I slept with the lights on!

Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me Falling Under opens with a scene of mystery as a burning man falls through the sky and down onto Theia's front lawn. She is helpless as the nameless man dies, his parting words cryptic as he tells her that it was "worth the fall". Immediately afterwards we are thrust into Theia's everyday life where we see that she is controlled by her strict father who seems unloving and cold. We are then introduced to her friends, Amelia and Donny, who I absolutely adore. Amelia is a shy girl who enjoys delving into the world of magic while Donny is sarcastic, confident and downright hilarious. Their characters are very well developed and I wouldn't mind reading an entire book just about them, to be honest! Every night that Theia goes to sleep, she is mentally transported to another world where a handsome man wearing suits with coattails awaits her, along with his group of featureless skeletons. He seduces and pushes her away at the same time and she is shocked when he appears at her school, staring right at her. From the beginning, Theia is intrigued by him, not at all scared at what he could possibly be. It is a slow process but she eventually realises that the man haunting her dreams and real life thoughts are one and the same. We easily fall victim to Haden's sly seduction, even though we can see that he is manipulative and toys with people around him. He uses girls as puppets in order to seduce Theia or make her jealous, and he is possessive when he misinterprets her interactions with other men. Theia falls quickly and the two play the game of one step forward, two steps back. Just when you think Haden will give into his feelings for Theia, he becomes frustratingly rational and we are forced to continue waiting. This eventually builds up a mountain of tension and their first kiss - or all of them really - is magnificent and explosive. Hayes has the ability to write wonderfully steamy scenes as well as those very romantic ones. So don't think that Haden's always a jerk! He's actually very sweet at times and we see his innocent boyishness - his human side - make an appearance. A few times in the novel there are moments of "Stay away from me. I'm too dangerous" and "No, I really love you!" but the positives by far outweigh the minor negatives. Towards the end of the novel, Haden becomes the narrator and everything is quite literally the other way around. Because of this experience, they grow as characters and have very different identities to those they had at the beginning. Falling Under is utterly captivating as we are never sure what to expect next. The pace is good, the twists are exciting, the climax nerve-wracking and the conclusion jaw-dropping. Can we have the sequel now?