Divine Fall

Jamie has one friend, well, two if you count her horse.  After turning in a classmate for breaking the law, she has become a social outcast at school.  While at the stable where she boards her horse she encounters Dothan, a mysterious and aloof stablehand.  They keep crossing paths and eventually the two become friends and then more than friends.  But when Dothan betrays Jamie and explains why he is so withdrawn and why he is strangely strong and his touch is shocking, Jamie must decide who she will trust, Dothan or her grandfather.  The two men despise each other and Jamie is caught in the middle.  Ultimately, the men must learn to work together to save Jamie's life.

Fans of supernatural romance will enjoy this story.  The author's knowledge and love of horses is evident in the details.   YA readers will identify with the drama of high school and the difficult choices teens face.  The characters are well developed and the story is told in a well-written first person narrative.

She met him when she fell from her horse. Dothan was mysterious, distant, even rude, but there was a side of the new stable hand that was caring and gentle and that is the side caught Jamie’s attention. That and the fact that she was certain he was hiding something. Short on real friends, Jamie reaches out to the young man who reminds her of herself, alone in a world full of cruel strangers and great loss.

Dothan was a man on a mission and nothing would stop him from seeking revenge against the man responsible for killing his father. It won’t be a normal killing, Dothan is the only surviving Nephilim, part angel, part human and his target is one of the strongest archangels there is. He will need a special ancient book with the directions to enhance his strength. His father was all he had, and now he had nowhere to fit in, until Jamie, the girl he had intended to use as a tool to get what he needed.

Dark secrets are putting Jamie in mortal danger and it isn’t all Dothan’s fault, but he learns that he may feel more for this human girl than he feels for his plot to kill.

Kathryn Knight’s Divine Fall is a dark tale of suspense and the healing power of love. From the first page there is a feeling of “the rest of the story” being kept just out of reach. Like scraping layers of old paint off a wonderful treasure, each page uncovers more depth and continuously urges us to read on for more. Fabulous writing, focusing on the characters’ throughout, even the angels become more human and less mysterious.

I received this copy from Backlit PR in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Wildflowers Books (July 23, 2014)
Publication Date: July 23, 2014
Genre: YA Romantic Suspense
Print Length: 326 pages
Available from: Amazon |  Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

** Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

2.5 stars!!!

I really expected this book to blow me away but sadly it didn't. The story starts off with Jamie, a school outcast, who has lost her Mom. She meets Dothan, a Nephilim, who works as a stable hand at a barn where Jamie takes riding classes. The two start to form a relationship with each other but unbeknownst to Jamie, Dothan is planning on taking revenge and ultimately she gets sucked into a world of dark secrets. 

Well, the blurb and cover definitely looked interesting enough for me to delve into the story. At the start of the novel, I really liked Jamie's character. She came across as a bit snarky but I felt that because the author pushed the relationship to progress quickly, her character devolved after that. We then just get chapters filled with how Jamie wants to be with Dothan but can't. Plus, she constantly goes on about how hot he is. We get it. Honestly, I didn't find him that attractive and he came of as quite creepy at the beginning. I didn't find him swoon-worthy. Their relationship lacked chemistry because it was all insta-romance. 

As the story was centered around the relationship, I felt the main story line of Dothan's revenge and his backstory was somewhat sidelined. This part of the plot is thrown haphazardly in between chapters and picks up towards the end. The story would have definitely been better if this was the central storyline. I also didn't like the in depth information regarding horses. It brought nothing to the overall arc of the novel. The minor characters flit in and out of the novel. We have a villain but their character development was non-existent at best. The story lacks action and plot twists. There are minor revelations and the MC Jamie seems to just accept them willingly. She hardly blows up.

The only part of the novel I did like was about the bullying. I wish the author focused on this issue more and brought more awareness to it. But as I said, the book was more about romance. We do see Dothan and Jamie compromising and forgiving each other. Plus, they learn to open up to one another about things. But this made the story a little bland.

Overall, the story is enjoyable for a one time read or if you just want to pass the time. It had lots of potential but the delivery was just average. The author manages to tie up loose ends but it wasn't done in the most spectacular way. It was done just for the sake of it. If you are looking for a swoonworthy romance. This is definitely not it.

Divine Fall by Kathryn Knight was a read full of suspense, romance, and drama. It dealt cleverly with such real issues as - loss and bullying: making the characters seem more relatable; and also more likeable. The book held a young romantic couple, blinded by their love for each other, despite it complicating things dramatically. Dothan, the love interest, was a compelling character and the book offered a fun journey while unraveling his past full of endless secrets. The two main characters had such a realistic, honest love which made the book very intriguing despite the supernatural tone of the book. 
Knight created a world which has been overused in the world of YA and makes it all her own - a new outlook on the world. In the retrospect it was nothing like I've ever read before. Knight made her world easy to follow while revealing its rules and laws slowly throughout. 
Despite it not being the easiest relationship, I however felt the characters became romantically involved too quickly; mistakes were forgiven nearly straight away - making the relationship slightly unbelievable. Although, this could be due to it being their real 'first love'. I enjoyed the small attention to detail in the main character. For example her hobby in ridding was a firm ground to the book. Also was her habit of biting her nails - this was not dropped, giving extra personality to the character and making her seem more human in a book of angels. I massively preferred the second half of this book to the first. I think this is mainly because action began to pick up then and the supernatural world was revealed pretty late in to the book. 
Towards the end of the book all dots were crossed as everything fell in to place. Jamie, the protagonist, finally grew from being a timid social outcast - to someone who wants to stand up for herself and others. Conflict was solved as truths came out leaving a few small mystery a still to be uncovered. 
Overall I would rate this book 6/10 as although I felt the relationship was a bit oddly paced it was still an enjoyable, interesting read.

https://coyoteuglyswaggerbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/05/divine-fall-by-kathryn-knight/

DNF @ 58%
I honestly don't think this was a bad book, and if I didn't have such a large backlog of books that I'm excited about getting to, then I might have finished it. 

I received an advance review copy of this book that I have chosen to review.

I had mixed feelings of this book. While I love a good paranormal story and generally enjoyed the plot, Jamie and Dothan's chemistry sometimes felt a little forced and, while Dothan was sometimes awesome, he also had a super creepy streak. I did like how the story played out and how Dothan and Jamie's stories link but, overall, it sometimes just felt a little forced.