[Review] Falls The Shadow by Stefanie Gaither

ABOUT 

Title: Falls The Shadow

Author: Stefanie Gaither

Publisher: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers

Release Date: September 16th 2014 

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Source: e-ARC from publisher via Edelweiss

Synopsis:
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?

I received an e-ARC via Simon & Schuster for Young Readers via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This fact in no shape or form affects my review. Except for the existence of the review itself. I received no compensation for this review in any way.This is my honest opinion of the work.

The first time I ever heard of FALLS THE SHADOW, was actually from my Writer's Craft teacher, my senior year. She was teaching us about query letters and she showed us an example of Stefanie Gaither's query letter and it definitely grabbed our attention with the premise for this novel. I had already started blogging at that time and since my laptop was open, I instantly added it to my Goodreads TBR pile.

Surprisingly, I've only ever read about a handful of books on clones, and this one does it so fantastically. I don't know what I was expecting, but FALLS THE SHADOW definitely gave me more than I expected.

Catelyn is the kind of character that I find the most interesting. She's the mayor's daughter and so she's constantly in the public eye. Her mother has taught her to ignore the others and to depend only on herself. To appear impenetrable and like a statue to the public. She puts on a facade for others and she likes to blend into the background. The only time that she doesn't mind being in the spotlight is when she's on stage. She's a drama kid and she can sing too. She's also a bit of a whiz with computers. I like that it adds complexity for her to be a drama kid&Computer whiz, but I feel like it's a little too convenient for her to be a computer whiz.

I certainly didn't expect that out of Jaxon. I thought he was simply going to be her sidekick on her journey to find her sister. I like that he's more than I expected. I feel like the book would have been just as good without the awkward romance/sexual tension between Jaxon and Catelyn.

 I enjoyed Violet's character too especially since she's a clone. She has a little bit of that "unsung hero" quality to her despite her dangerous tendencies.She was definitely my favorite character among the cast, other than Jaxon's sidekick/brother. Jaxon's brother is snarky and hilarious.

I don't think there's any plans for a sequel to this right now. I was surprised that this book is a standalone, because books like these tend to be drawn out into a trilogy. I can appreciate the effort it took to condense the world and story into a standalone without sacrificing any of the back story or complexity of the world.

There were some really beautiful lines in this book and I think I would have found more had I been analyzing it ore deeply. I just find it harder to concentrate with e-books than real books. I guess I'll just have to re-read it when I purchase it. I definitely want a copy for myself and see what more I can squeeze out of it.

FALLS THE SHADOW is a fun ride with a main character that you can root for. I love clone stories and I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing what Stefanie Gaither puts out next.

Happy Reading!