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A review by gmwells
When Shadows Follow by Callie Rae
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This novel was great! The storyline was exciting, and it's a good read. However... I did personally have some issues with this book.
I was super excited to read this book after I saw a book quote Reel from Callie advertising the release of the third in the series, "When Shadows Fall". I ordered the book on Amazon and got it in two days (thank you, Prime). I read the whole book in one day. It was definitely one of those books that you get sucked into!
This is where the "however" comes into play. Right off the bat, in the first chapter, there were formatting errors. I don't know if Callie has just never seen a copy of her book after publishing it (which is extremely easy to do through Amazon KDP Publishing) or what, but each paragraph was at a different indentation. It was extremely off-putting, and if I hadn't already committed myself to reading that book, I would've stopped right there.
Another thing is that, throughout the entire story, everyone is being way too dramatic. I get that it's high-schooler teens, but I was shaking my head at how ridiculous everyone was being. The general storyline was great, but I personally think that it should've been written better.
Also, I think that the whole "it's high school" aspect could've been written a little better as well. Callie has these kids acting as though they're in college. I have seen the high-school-teens-in-a-college-disguised-as-a-high-school thing before, and this wasn't the worst that it could've been, but for me (having just graduated from high school recently), it still seemed unrealistic. Trust me, practically no one in high school will be taking Calculus; only the math nerds take that class, and Fallon and Jesse don't seem like math nerds to me. Thankfully, the main setting wasn't the ginormous marble high school.
Finally, the characters seemed underdeveloped. Only the two main characters and Cason really had any sort of hidden side to them, and the main characters really only seemed to have that wall put up in order to create attraction between them in the first place.
A good thing that I will say about the story is that, after I got about halfway through the book, it was really amazing. I loved witnessing (most of) the inner battle of Fallon Blake against herself in the latter half. Not only that, but Jesse is a great guy. I also really love that Fallon was able to find her "safe place" with Jesse -- I understand that feeling completely. The general storyline is a typical YA smutty romance story with the bad-boy-meets-quiet-bad-ass dynamic, but Callie did a really good job of making it unique and making it her own.
Also, the cover and title are AWESOME! I'm totally inspired.
I will keep reading the series because I really liked this book once I got past all of those issues (really only noticeable in the first half). Stay tuned for my review of book 2.
I was super excited to read this book after I saw a book quote Reel from Callie advertising the release of the third in the series, "When Shadows Fall". I ordered the book on Amazon and got it in two days (thank you, Prime). I read the whole book in one day. It was definitely one of those books that you get sucked into!
This is where the "however" comes into play. Right off the bat, in the first chapter, there were formatting errors. I don't know if Callie has just never seen a copy of her book after publishing it (which is extremely easy to do through Amazon KDP Publishing) or what, but each paragraph was at a different indentation. It was extremely off-putting, and if I hadn't already committed myself to reading that book, I would've stopped right there.
Another thing is that, throughout the entire story, everyone is being way too dramatic. I get that it's high-schooler teens, but I was shaking my head at how ridiculous everyone was being. The general storyline was great, but I personally think that it should've been written better.
Also, I think that the whole "it's high school" aspect could've been written a little better as well. Callie has these kids acting as though they're in college. I have seen the high-school-teens-in-a-college-disguised-as-a-high-school thing before, and this wasn't the worst that it could've been, but for me (having just graduated from high school recently), it still seemed unrealistic. Trust me, practically no one in high school will be taking Calculus; only the math nerds take that class, and Fallon and Jesse don't seem like math nerds to me. Thankfully, the main setting wasn't the ginormous marble high school.
Finally, the characters seemed underdeveloped. Only the two main characters and Cason really had any sort of hidden side to them, and the main characters really only seemed to have that wall put up in order to create attraction between them in the first place.
A good thing that I will say about the story is that, after I got about halfway through the book, it was really amazing. I loved witnessing (most of) the inner battle of Fallon Blake against herself in the latter half. Not only that, but Jesse is a great guy. I also really love that Fallon was able to find her "safe place" with Jesse -- I understand that feeling completely. The general storyline is a typical YA smutty romance story with the bad-boy-meets-quiet-bad-ass dynamic, but Callie did a really good job of making it unique and making it her own.
Also, the cover and title are AWESOME! I'm totally inspired.
I will keep reading the series because I really liked this book once I got past all of those issues (really only noticeable in the first half). Stay tuned for my review of book 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol