After the unexpected death of her parents, seventeen-year-old Elizabeth is left with several mysteries to solve. As if adjusting to her new life wasn’t bad enough, she begins to have nightmares about creatures in the woods and a boy, by the name of Tristan, who comes to her as an angel and saves her from what he calls, the Hounds of Hell. When a new student enrolls at her high school, she is left with more unanswered questions when she discovers the newly enrolled heartthrob is none other than the boy in her dreams. She fights to keep her emotions stable as she watches all the other girls swoon over him, including her best friend. But when mysterious dead bodies start turning up around her school, she is forced to question if Tristan is the boy of her dreams or if he’s the nightmare.
Blurb and cover image from Goodreads
Okay, so it’s common sense that writer=reader. Hence, I feel it is perfectly acceptable for me to publicly gush over books I have read. If anyone disagrees, that means they hate puppies! =)
I read this book as part of the IndieReadAThon hosted by the blog My Pathway To Books and I enjoyed reading it immensely. The romantic elements were not overwhelming like in some stories, but they were there and the impending danger is never forgotten. I thought this book was a delightful mix of mythology and legend, blended together seamlessly in a lovely, whimsical yet gothic tale.
So why only 4 stars? I think this book had a few rough details that could’ve been easily smoothed out. There were some story elements that I thought should’ve been explained or made clear sooner. There were also a couple of typos and formatting issues, but those really didn’t bother me. I think the issues were minor and I still highly recommend this book.
Just a note to you guys, Falling Slowly ends in a tormenting cliffhanger, so if you don’t want that, I suggest you wait for the next book comes out to read it.
The plot:
I thought the plot was very original. The idea of a girl whose blood drives all supernatural creatures mad was something I found to be very fascinating. The plot moves smoothly and swiftly and I never felt that it was lagging or slowly down.
The characters:
I adored Lizzy. She was the right balance of vulnerable and headstrong and I really cared about her. I also found the relationship between her and her sister to be very touching. I did wonder why she kept hanging out with her “best friend” Elle, but at the same time it was good to have a “wild” character in the mix. Lizzy and her sister are considered to be the hottest girls in school by everyone in their high school, but they aren’t sluts and aren’t the stereotypical “popular girls” either.
Dorian, our prevalent baddie, appears mainly in dreams and illusions until the end. But that doesn’t make him any less frightening or downright creepy. He is an evil Nephilim, bent on securing Lizzy’s blood for his family so that they can use it to rule the other supernatural beings. I thought he was a completely sufficient antagonist and I watched for him in the pages as if he were after me! One of Dorian’s brothers, Chase, also becomes quite important to the ending, but I’ll refrain from spoilers.
Since I mentioned the romance, I should probably mention the love interest, right? Tristan is a Grigori or pureblood angel. Lizzy is his soulmate which is probably self-explanatory. If Lizzy were to die, the loss would drive Tristan mad, turn him forever to evil, and would result in him going to Hell. He was a sweet, likable character that, despite how gentle he could be, was completely capable of turning lethal in an instant. I grew quite fond of him and I am now quite concerned as to what will happen with him and Lizzy.
In closing, I enjoyed this book greatly. Even though there were a few rough points, I certainly recommend it to fans of clean paranormal romance and urban fantasy.
To Ms. Ray: I will be watching for that sequel!
Inkspelled Faery 
Really cool cover, and I do like the premise of this. Will have to check it out. Thanks for sharing.
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You should definitely go check it out! =)
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This looks too good to ignore! And the cover is so pretty 🙂 I love a good paranormal mystery!
Ana @ BookSpark
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The cover is gorgeous, isn’t it? And like I said, I’m counting down to the sequel! =)
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Has the second book been released or will it be I Carnt find any information about it anywhere thanks x
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It seems I am not alone in my pain. I have been waiting for the sequel to this book for two years or thereabouts, but the author seems to have vaporized. If you’d like, we can join forces to spam her social media, though. 🙂
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