Cover Image: The Falling

The Falling

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Member Reviews

I was SO excited to receive the ARC of The Falling! Thank you so much Wattpad Books Publishing & NetGalley for the advance copy!

In 2020, I was introduced to the After series, and my love for Anna Todd. Her books got me back into reading after a long hiatus. I moved on to The Brightest Stars series and once again, I was in love! Anna Todd decided to rewrite the story, after feeling like a part of herself was missing in her work.

I waited soo long for this book and it did not disappoint! I love Karina and Kael! This version shares so much depth, compared to the original novel. The original is amazing, but the rework is so much better!I also loved how many details Anna shared about Army life.

I do wish there were more intimate parts between Karina and Kael. They connect emotionally, but the physical aspect was lacking in my opinion. I also felt like the ending was a little rushed. I know there will be more novels to continue the series, but I was left wanting just a little more.

I highly recommend The Falling! I can’t wait to read more of Kael and Karina! I think Kael may be another fav book boyfriend! 🤍

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3.5 - 3.9 Stars

FOREWORD

I have read this book in 2018 when Anna first released it. I liked it, but it was a bit boring and silly. But I really wanted to read the next books because I hate not finishing things - and I loved Kael. But then she never released the next two books in the series - due to depression or anxiety or stress or fear-of-not-having-written-the-story-she-wanted or whatever personal reasons. Which is totally understandable, but still sucks for readers. So I was happy to see that the series was getting a new look and here we go. I will leave my old review in here ↓ for you to read, since I don't think much will have changed in the story. But I will write a new one once I'm done reading!

What I already don't like much is the cover. The old one was soo pretty with the stars and stuff. The new one looks like Scully and Mulder are about to drive down that road. So weird. There are no aliens and dark country roads in this story.
And I also am still very worried that Anna won't have books 2+3 done yet and we'll have to wait another few years - which I would hate! I hate that so much. If I were an author - I would write all the books in my trilogy and then I would release the first one. Not a second sooner!

Okay. I'm back now after finishing the book.
Anna says that she changed a lot and that 30k new words were written... I didn't really see that. Could be because I was fast-forwarding a lot. I sometimes just couldn't read all the thoughts and inner monologue passages, so I only read the conversations. The book is still way too slow and full of nothing. It's just ... nothing and that repeats itself constantly. Walking to work. Everyday. Telling us every few pages that she has to be at work at 11 am. Walking back home. Talking about her house. Talking with Elodie - which is also stupid. What is she doing there? I like her but she doesn't need to be in the book like that. Talking with Kael. Falling for him. Not wanting to fall. Worrying about the brother. Not seeing that he has bigger problems. Daddy issues. Et etera.
The idea is there. It could be so great. This young, brave, smart, strong twenty year old girl with her dream job and her own house and maybe doing some fun HGTV stuff, building a great life. Meeting this hot, silent, mystery army guy. But nothing happens. And it's all so immature with her constant sorrys and daddy issues. Just don't go to the tuesday dinners. Why did she buy a house in his town anyway? Ugh. It's all so therapy-session-worthy-ish.
I don't know. I love Kael. But Karina really needs lots of therapy and time to grow up some more. She's not ready for that happily ever after yet. And that's why we get three books. And I hate that. First I hate waiting - which is just horrible with my bookalzheimers. And then I just wish that Anna would've put this whole story into one huge book or maybe a duet. But three books? Ugh. What has to happen to our darlings until they get that happy end?
Three books is just too much.
If a book doesn't have one scene where I say awww or where I laugh about things ... I don't know. I want to love this, but I just can't. Maybe once I'm done with all books I will be in love with everything and everyone.
Also - now that I think about. We get this prologue and then the book ends without getting back to that at all. That is weird. Yes, we get more books, but shouldn't a prologue of one book be finished in that book too?? I think so. Hm.

Okidoki - that was it. Now follows my old review - which is a lot more positive. But my reading likes and dislikes have changed a lot in four years. LOL!

Don't let me scare you away from reading this book - it's still a great Anna Todd romance - we just have to wait a while for that happy end!


MY OLD REVIEW FOR THE BRIGHTEST STARS 2018:

After a chapter in 2019, we go back to 2017. Karina is 20 years old. She's just left home - her dad and new step-mom's place - a little while ago, and now she's more or less happily living her life and working at a massage place.

Enter Kael. He's just back from Afghanistan today and he needs a massage real bad. Not that he said any of that to Karina. He's not what you might call a talker.☺

But he's a buddy of Karina's roomie's husband - so he's staying at their place for the night ...

The new guy in her life is unfortunately not the only exciting thing Karina has to deal with. Her family is a tiny little bit challenging too .... and Kael's military past and present also have to be dealt with.

What will happen with Karina & Kael?
WILL THERE BE A HAPPILY EVER AFTER???
BUY THE BOOK TO FIND OUT!
Even though you won't yet find out - book #2 won't be with us until ???! ☹

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I remember way back when Anna posted the first Chapter on Wattpad - I read it, even though I hate Wattpad. But I just had to read it after all her teasing about it. And I remember loving it!

I didn't read any more on Wattpad, I stayed strong and now I finally have the book!

AND I LOVED IT!

It has this slow and sad and heartbreaking mood throughout. But we also see some adorable smiley moments from Karina and Kael. I just adored those two. I had to keep on reading just to see Kael smile! LOL!

It takes Karina ages until she even gets a word out of Kael. He's a silent thinker. But he doesn't mind her talking. Non stop. Adorable.

But of course we just know that there's a lot of baggage behind Kael's silence. He doesn't talk about 'work' - about the war. And he doesn't share much about anything else. And we just want to know allll the things about him.

I loved Kael and Karina's conversations. She talks, he listens ... and I think that they're both falling in love a little bit more with every word she says and he doesn't.

It's all really sweet ... but also very heartbreaking, because we know by reading the first chapter, that there won't be a happy end for those two anytime soon. The past. Family. Secrets. Military. War. Heartbreak? No idea what will happen - but I just know that it won't be easy for them or us ....

__________

If I had to complain about a little thing... I'm writing this while still reading the book - I'm only halfway through it now. And I have no idea how it will end... BUT. What I do know is that there will be three books in this series!!!!! And NOWHERE on amazon or goodreads, does it say so. I only know because the german publisher already has all three books/covers up on their website and on amazon ... Book 2 will be out 2020 and book 3 in 2021. WHAT?? I will be so mad if there will be a cliffhanger and nobody told us about this being a series! I'm still living with the problably very false hope that the three german books are just one book cut into three shorter parts.

Back now after finishing - and yup. Cliffy. Not a realllly bad one - nobody got shot or anything, but it's so not finished. And I'm tempted to almost call it borderline criminal what Anna and the publisher did. Not telling people they're not buying a standalone, but book #1 in a trilogy? Not nice at all, because I wouldn't have bought the book if I had known. I'm one of those readers who has to read a series once all books are out. (#Booksalzheimers!) That's obviously why they did it, to make more money. Not ok! I know Anna is busy with the movies and all that - but then just DON'T do another series yet if you know you won't be able to deliver the sequels on time.

Another tiny little thing. The writing. While very beautiful at times. Sometimes it's very confuzzling. Anna jumps through the days so weirdly. Something happens and then Karina's walking home and tells about what happened last night and suddenly it's a while later and she's telling us about another thing. I was really confused at times.
And sometimes I didn't know who was talking.

And the slowness of the whole book - the relationship.... it was a bit too slow and uneventful for my tastes. It all just blubbers along so slowly and silently. Like lying in the sun next to a little creek with a bit of a slow John Mayer song softly playing in the background. I know, I'm weird.
Nothing happens almost all through the book, not even a kiss, and then suddenly they're dating and lying in bed? And it all happens within a week. It's so very weird. Which is making more sense, now that I know there will be three books about K+K.

And then the thing, the secret, the 'lying'? I didn't think it was all that bad? Karina mega-exaggerated about the whole thing. But...they're all only 20 years old. So they're allowed to react immature.

Maybe another editor should've gone over the book again. There were some things that a really good editor would've changed.

BUT - still - even though this book and the people responsible made me mad in the end - I still loved Kael and Karina so very much! And I can't wait to read the second book - even though I might have to read this one again to remember what happened - I HATE THAT! ☺

► THE BRIGHTEST STARS was such a heartbreakingly beautiful & funny & moving & mysterious & exciting & adorable military & coming-of-age love story dramance! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Kael - this one is MINE!!

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"Thinking for yourself is better than being blindly led"

A slow-burn second chance romance book that is based on the military, which is kind of rare and it intrigued me.

Karina's life has been hard due to his father's occupation, hence the avoidance of anything related to the military, but after meeting Kael her views and opinions about military life changed. The attraction they had is undeniable and it finally led to something but after knowing that Kael decided to do her feelings are messed up.

The setting is rare and fresh to me, so I was curious about it and the mystery that involves Kael but it became somewhat dragging and makes it hard to finish, but I like that Kael really did his best to help those people who are close to him.

I read the After series and I love the character development that happened in that book so I hope that this series will have that too.

Ps. I really hope it gets better on the next books like what I felt in After Series

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“i’m not even sure what it is, it just feels so good. and i’m a selfish fuck who wanted to keep getting this feeling from you…”

WOW I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! i honestly didn’t know what to expect when i started it but oh my gosh i’m so glad i did😭 the tension, the slowburn, the characters oh my goodness i loved everything about it!!

karina has such a special place in my heart. she has gone through a lot in her life but she’s really such a warrior. she’s always there for ones she loves and is such an admirable character. i want to give her the biggest hug!!

and kael oh my goodness i love him so much!! he also always wants the best for everyone and does whatever he can to help others. he has made some mistakes but he really does always have everyone’s best interest at heart! i really wish he did open up more and we knew more about him though!

I NEED THE NEXT BOOK ASAP I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!! you know a book is amazing when you NEED to know what happens next!!😭 i’m so excited and ready to know how they come back from what happened at the end!! anna todd you never fail to deliver!!

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Overall opinion: I liked this book. But I found it to be lacking just a little.

Brief storyline summary:
Military romance. Instant attraction. Slow to no burn passion

POV: main female character

Overall pace of the story:This felt like a slow pace. Anna does a fabulous job of building a world and the characters she writes. This book just felt like it was missing passion between the two characters.

Tropes: miss communication, mysterious past. Military romance.

Character Rating: 3 stars.

Sadness level: 1 star

Spice level:1 star

Descriptive spice scenes: none.

Om/Ow drama:

Triggers: none

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Struggled to connect and enjoy the book. It felt
A bit all over the place. I have loved The After series and went into this with happiness. It does not have to same feel as her previous works.

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I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I really like the author, Anna Todd, but I found it difficult to get into this book. It felt so disconnected with no real plot. It was just a month of their life with no real ending.
Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the opportunity to read an ARC.

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Wow. So much drama in such a short amount of time! I honestly struggled with how to rate this book. First of all, it took quite a few chapters for me to decide I liked Karina and start pulling for her. She comes off as insecure and super needy. However, I realized she’s been dealt a pretty crappy hand, and she’s really trying to get her stuff together. That’s hard to do when you’ve been crapped on your whole life. Literally everyone in her life has mistreated her or taken advantage of her or taken her for granted. I just makes me feel so bad for her and want more for her! Second, there is a LOT of drama. And these two do not communicate. They sink into their feelings and shut down. Both of them. Even as they’re opening up to each other, they still hold so much back. It’s painful to watch. And then shit hits the fan. And the book is over.

So with this being the first in the series and the way this one was written, I know there is a LOT more to the story. I’m pretty sure I would rate this book higher if I knew what happens next, but I really hate being left hanging at such a pivotal moment in the story. So for this one alone, I’m going middle-of-the-road, three stars. But still want to read the rest of the series!! If book two resolves some of the questions and feelings I have, I would probably go back and bump this one up to four stars.

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*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: July 5, 2022

After totally indulging in Todd’s After series, I jumped on the chance to read more from her—unfortunately it didn’t hook me in like her previous books.

Very insecure/timid female MC that sometimes makes it hard to read from her POV. I have a hard time with MC’s that complain/whine (she’s constantly talking about all the broken things in her house) without even trying to fix them (watch a YouTube video and try to be a little self-sufficient! Geez)

Very indulgent descriptions—I love when a world can be fully imagined, but I also realized that at 30% in, nothing had happened except one dinner and two massages—it was just an endless internal monologue. It felt like we were just coasting through one very long day. Not sure I’ll continue on with this series.

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The After series is one of my guilty pleasure romances.. it was so toxic and awful, but I was so invested in the drama and tension of it all. I expected The Falling to be equally engaging, so I was excited to receive an early copy from NetGalley.
Overall, the characters were really likable and I enjoyed the romance between Karina and Kael, but it felt uneventful overall. At first, I thought it would feel relatable because I’m also a military brat who avoided military guys and ended up marrying one because he was the one for me. But a lot of books that involve the military make it seem so dramatic like everyone is involved in top secret stuff or suffers from PTSD or older people with rank act like drill sergeants..
The drama with the young married couples and the way Karina’s roommate was ostracized was pretty much spot on, but exhausting to read about. I don’t want to revisit my early 20s when there was so much drama and fights and rumors flying.

I felt like not much happened in The Falling and the big betrayal that Karina just can’t forgive doesn’t feel like a big deal to me at all, especially given that the person involved is probably making the best decision since they were complete train-wrecks with no future, but that’s just my opinion.

Karina felt a lot like Tessa, someone who acts like they are mature, but are actually judgmental and childish a lot of times, quick to make assumptions about people.. but at least with After, we were caught up in all of Hardin’s bad decisions and didn’t notice it. Kael was pretty mature and didn’t do anything wrong or weird, so I felt like it stood out to me more.

There wasn’t much conflict in this one, so I feel somewhat disappointed. Still, I’m intrigued by what will happen, so I will still read this trilogy.

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I am a huge fan of The After Series by Anna Todd so I just knew I would love this book. I loved reading about Karina & Kael. The build up from their friendship to romance was gradual and fit the story extremely well. The mystery surrounding Kael and his hesitation to open up about certain subjects is something I hope to learn more about in the continuation of the series. The ending definitely has me wishing I immediately had the second book to read. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I had higher hopes for this than it gave me. Anna Todd has never done me wrong with a book but this I felt like it was drawing out and then fell flat.

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As much as I wanted to like this book I felt a little lackluster by my experience reading it. There really wasn’t any overarching plot to tie everything together it was just a lot of little things happening that culminated in broken hearts at the end.

I was underwhelmed by the relationship between Karina and Kael because I felt like they spent most of their time asking each other if they were okay. It’s good to be interested in your partners well being but I need more character bonding and I just didn’t feel that between the two of them. Karina was constantly apologizing (which is her character trait), but after a while it just became tedious. She is a woman who bought her own house, she doesn’t need to apologize for existing to everyone.

I expected more from the characters overall but having read The After Series I should have been prepared for most of the secondary characters to force the story into certain directions and the main characters to be influenced by that. It’s the way the author prefers to write her stories and I should have known that would probably be the case with this one as well.

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Wow! That was so good! I can’t wait to read the next of the series. Because I need more! I love Anna’s writing style!

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I started reading the Falling and soon realized that it felt very familiar. I believe that it was originally released several years ago with a different title. The present version has been majorly edited and enhanced since the original book. Hence, I find it a bit difficult to write this review. The story seemed to lag and I am not certain if this was because my familiarity with the original or if the story just didn't grab me.

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3.75 stars

The Falling was an ok read for me. I didn't expect it to end with a cliffhanger though so that was pretty disappointing for me. I also felt like there were lots of circles--back and forth of the same thing which is really hard to explain.

Kael is intriguing that's for sure. I do like Karina though. I did find myself vested in the story and quickly finished it, and I'll likely finish the sequel but this didn't wow me.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

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I loved this and can’t wait to find out what happens to them in the sequels. The book starts with a prologue, which I think makes this book so much more of a page turner. I can’t wait to find out what happens to create the moment in the prologue.

Katrina hates the military life after what it has done to her family, and she and her brother swore they would never be involved in it. She works as a massage therapist and meets Kael (who is in the military) who she almost instantly finds a connection with. They have so many obstacles that they run into.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

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3.5/5⭐️

The Falling follows Karina, an army brat who contemns that life, and Kael, a quiet soldier with many secrets. They meet and begin a flirtatious friendship but Karina soon learns how much is being kept from her.

“𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦—𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨—𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.”

I wasn’t obsessed with this book, but I was definitely intrigued. Karina and Kael were very interesting and I enjoyed this introduction to their characters but I’m more excited to see their development in the following books. The story was a bit slow going at first, and honestly not much happened until around the last third, but their budding relationship was gripping enough to keep me reading. I really liked how the prologue gave a glimpse into the present life of Karina and Kael and the rest of the story was a recount of their past. It presented so many questions for the reading experience and I’m very curious to see how their story leads up to the events at the start. The writing, at first, was the classic ‘wattpad’ style where every second of their life is accounted for and not much time passes in the story, but towards the second half the writing changed and flowed a lot better in my opinion.

The story was told through Karina’s POV and was very inner monologue heavy—Karina’s character seemed to have quite a bit of anxious tendencies so she thought a lot, about everything. Karina really struggled with a lot due to her childhood and strained family relationships and I’m interested to see how this impacts the rest of the series.
Kael was very closed off with Karina and we only got small moments of him opening up to her, so there’s still so much mystery surrounding him. I did like his character while reading though, especially when he was sweet to Karina, but I also felt very suspicious of him and I’m not too sure what to make of him just yet.

There was not so much romance in this as I had hoped but what we did get was cute. I liked the quiet way that Kael showed his affection towards her, and his love language was definitely acts of service with all the little things he would do for her without prompt. The ending did make their relationship feel confusing though and I’m questioning what was real and what his motivation was with pursuing Karina.

Overall, I did enjoy The Falling but it felt very much like a basic introduction to the trilogy. It holds a lot of potential though and I definitely will continue with the second book, The Burning.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of this novel, but I felt a bit lost at times because of the lack of character development and background. I felt the characters were missing a foundation that they could benefit from. I did like the structure of the book, by having the prologue be in the future set up the rest of the book. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

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Anna Todd's new trilogy has been getting a lot of press lately. Like her popular "After" series, The Falling brings readers into a romance full of uncertainty and risk. Karina works as a physical therapist on a military base. She has sworn she will not date soldiers after seeing the strain it put on her own parents' marriage. So when Kael, a complete stranger, shows up on her pt table, Karina is instantly on guard. She knows she shouldn't get too attached and yet she begins to look forward to his serendipitous visits. As the two become closer, she is filled with self-doubt: could someone like Kael really see himself with her?

This military drama provides the same relationship suspense Todd is known for. I look forward to reading the next two books in the series!

**I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

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