Review : Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Falls the Shadow
Author : Stefanie Gaither
Publication Date : September 16th 2014
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble 

When Cate Benson was a kid, her sister, Violet, died. Two hours after the funeral, Cate’s family picked up Violet’s replacement. Like nothing had happened. Because Cate’s parents are among those who decided to give their children a sort of immortality—by cloning them at birth—which means this new Violet has the same smile. The same perfect face. Thanks to advancements in mind-uploading technology, she even has all of the same memories as the girl she replaced.

She also might have murdered the most popular girl in school.

At least, that’s what the paparazzi and the anti-cloning protestors want everyone to think: that clones are violent, unpredictable monsters. Cate is used to hearing all that. She’s used to defending her sister, too. But Violet has vanished, and when Cate sets out to find her, she ends up in the line of fire instead. Because Cate is getting dangerously close to secrets that will rock the foundation of everything she thought was true.

In a thrilling debut, Stefanie Gaither takes readers on a nail-biting ride through a future that looks frighteningly similar to our own time and asks: how far are you willing to go to keep your family together?

 Personal Thoughts 

Falls the Shadow was one of those books that initially started out with a cool and unique concept, only to get watered down and to turn into a same old story line that has repeatedly been used in the YA sci-fi genre. In the end, I was left feeling confused to how I felt about the book. By no means did I hate the story, but I also didn't particularly love it. If I had to choose just one word to describe the book, it would be unmemorable.

I was impressed by the idea of a book with clones. Cate's parents cloned her and her sister so if ever something happened to either of them, they would have their replacement. When you think about it, it was a really messed up situation and I would probably resent my parents if they did that. When Cate's sister Violet passes away, her family brings home her replacement, and things are good for a while until a girl is murdered and Violet was the last person to see her. Falls the Shadow was exciting from the get-go, but there was something missing from the book to make it shine out from the other books in the genre. By the end of the book, I felt very much underwhelmed by it mostly because it turned into this story about this girl being chased around by two corporations who wanted to use her. At one point, I was honestly just flipping the pages to be done with the book. There were no twists and turns to make me gasp out loud. There were no moments where the book made me hide under my covers in fear. It was all very lack-luster for me.

Cate as a protagonist was decent, but once again, she never really stood out to me. I read this book a few weeks ago and I honestly can't remember anything about her. She just blended for me with all those typical YA heroines who are secretly badass. One thing I do remember though was that Cate was a difficult character to emotionally connect with. Her love interest, Jax, while sweet, was pretty flat for me and I disliked how he basically manipulated her in the beginning. It just ruined my perspective of their relationship. Anyways, Falls the Shadow wasn't very romance-centric, so in the end, it didn't matter to me. My biggest problem with Falls the Shadow though was my unanswered questions. As far as I can tell, this is a stand-alone, and I'm a bit surprised by that because the world-building was very basic and not well-developed. It had foundations, but nothing too solid. I only had a vague understanding of everything. Then there were important questions relating to the CCA, the corporation behind Cate and Violet, Cate's parents that were never answered by the end. Most of all though, my head can't seem to grasp what the purpose of the plot even was.

My review does make it sound like I pretty much hated Falls the Shadow. but I promise you I didn't. It was an entertaining read, one that I would recommend to readers who are looking for more of a mindless read, but should you race to your local bookshop on release date? I don't think it's worth it.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 2/5
Writing : 3/5

**Overall Rating : 2.5-3/5**

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for the e-ARC of Rites of Passage.