I liked the premise but the follow-through wasn't all that great. The characters felt kind of like caricatures: the outsider, the perfect guy, the wiseass... The romance was way too instant to be believable. (And why do all of these sorts of stories need a romance anyway?) The book was basically a summer popcorn flick; one that I feel like I've seen a few times before. In the end I found it kind of bland and generic. ( )

Falls the Shadow is an action filled clone book. I think with the popularity of clones (Orphan Black, anyone?) this will move fairly well at my library. It has a cool sister relationship that gives the storyline a little depth. The romance was a little much for me, in that I didn’t feel like there was much chance for a real build. It’s just “Oh yeah, he’s always been there, and says he always will be. So I guess I should believe him.” I did like it better than The Haven, there was more science and world building, so I felt like I knew more about what was happening.
( )

-sigh- I hate it when a book with an awesome premise (and a spectacular cover) ends up being a huge letdown.

Let me count the ways this book disappointed me.

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Firstly, the first third of the book is boring. Nothing of interest really happens -- and that is a significant chunk of the story for nothing to happen in. One third. All we get out of that third is some barely-there world-building, A LOT of info-dumped backstory, and a few minor plot points that do little to draw the reader into the story.

Secondly, the protagonist (who narrates in first person) is one of the flattest YA protagonists I have ever seen. The narration feels the need to reassert the protagonist's "wallflower" nature, where she's invisible to everyone around her, but we never actually see that aspect of her personality in play. In fact, all we see is her acting in complete defiance of her self-assessment. So apparently she doesn't know herself very well -- which isn't entirely unexpected for a teenager -- but considering she's the one narrating, I couldn't help but roll my eyes every time she mentioned being "invisible."

And to make matters worse, she had basically no personality. All I learned about her in the first third of the book was that she was supposed to be the "good, quiet kid" and that she had a crush on some boy. That's it. The rest of her narration just dumps out various backstory elements and talks on and on about her clone sister.

Third -- the plot. I struggled to find one, as mentioned. The first third of the book is basically a drawn-out precursor to the actual action of the story, apparently there for no other reason than to conveniently info-dump all the information the reader needs to (vaguely) appraise the setting. And if that wasn't bad enough, when the story finally does pick up, it does so TOO fast. All of sudden (literally all of sudden, as in the span of a few pages), there's a vast, world-changing conspiracy in the works and the protagonist is (of course) put in the awkward position of having to participate with the two battling forces involved in this conspiracy.

And instead of there being any real mystery regarding this conspiracy, all of it is spelled out in a long monologue by one character while the protagonist...sits there and does nothing. From that point on, there's a fair amount of action, but the overall plot of the story didn't impress me. I didn't find anything in it to be particularly fresh and new, and the book frequently fell back on the same YA stereotypes and tropes that have long been depressingly overused.

An interesting premise, for sure, but the execution didn't reach beyond the boundaries of fairly stereotypical YA. That plus the boring beginning plus the bland protagonist plus the info-dumping and...this was not a particularly enjoyable read.

Rating

2/5

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... Disclosure

I received a free ebook copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Cate's sister was ill and died. But Violet was immediately replaced by her clone. Cate noticed a difference and spent her life defending her sister and knowing there was a clone at the Huxley lab just waiting to replace her in case anything should happen.
The anti-clone forces and the Huxley supporters are heading toward a conflict, and Cate and her new boyfriend Jaxon find themselves right in the middle.
Much in the world building remains a riddle. There are some good action sequences, despite things playing out fairly predictably. ( )

When her sister Violet dies, Cate's wealthy family brings home Violet's clone who fits in perfectly until Cate uncovers something sinister about the cloning movement. ( )