Falling Into You

I DNF-ed this book at 66%.
Unpopular opinion time.

If there is one thing, one thing, I ask of authors - it's not to use any kind of (even attempted) sexual assault just to bring hero and heroine together.

It's disrespectful and insulting.

This was an insta-heroine-dislike for me. Not sure why, but I could tell she'll test my tolerance limits from the very beginning. And she did, for all of 66% I read.

Nell, after being almost raped (which Colt stresses for some reason, like it matters that she was only almost raped), molests Colt in his sleep. I am not being nit-picky here. IF HE CAN'T CONSENT, IT'S NOT CONSENSUAL. They are not in a relationship. He never expressed desire to be touched like that in his sleep. She knows it's not okay. She show more still does it.

But that's okay, because he touched her while she was asleep, too. Thankfully, he had more self-restraint, but still.

I gave up in the middle of a sex scene. That almost never happens.

I have to raise a couple of points.

1. What's the point of getting to know Kyle's character while he was alive? He's gonna die anyways. It's in the blurb. I skimmed the beginning of this book because it was obvious the author was trying to make you like him and then rip your heart out.
Didn't work. I prepared myself for his death.
Would have been so much better if the book just started with the funeral.

2. Speaking of which - you're at your dead boyfriend's funeral, TWO (2) days after he died and you... feel zaps of electricity run through your arm, hand, body, whatever when said dead boyfriend's brother touches you.
Uncool.

3. Speaking of dead boyfriend's brother - you spent your whole life being THISCLOSE to your best-friend-now-dead-boyfriend, and you never met his brother? He left home when he was seventeen - which would make you twelve at the time... and you never met him, even though your families were apparently really tight? I call BS.
Also, makes for the worst kind of insta-love. He sees her at his brother's funeral, then he pines away after her for two years. Right.

Now, if I'm being honest, I love Jasinda Wilder. Wounded is one of my favorite reads of 2012! I just don't get this book. It had so much potential! It's a great story, but the execution... not so much.

I'm so disappointed. I need a good read, now. show less

So I get it, I get why everyone is going ga-ga over this book, the first half is just amazing. A sweet story about a girl named Nell and a boy named Kyle who grow up as next door neighbors, forever best friends, and eventually teenage lovers.

I fell in love with their story, I adored the entire concept of having all our firsts together and watching the couple fall in love and the journey into adulthood. Sadly while I knew a death was coming it was heartbreaking when it came. Obviously I knew the story was going to change drastically but I was hoping maybe somehow through Nell's grief we would get a new tender, more mature romance when the older brother Colton came into the picture. Going into part two kind of threw me for a loop and this show more is why..................

The girl Nell was in part one certainly did die with Kyle and she became an annoying exacerbated character for the duration, to the point that she was completely unrecognizable. The book centered around self mutilation (cutting) and self destruction (drinking) and more specifically A TON of sex, and not great sex if that makes sense. Colton and Nell's relationship in a nutshell is downright weird, and reading through the ever loving long 6 page sex romps wasn't sensual or even romantic, the scenes themselves resembled text book sex and raunchy descriptions that were more off-putting than enticing. Ill admit after 1,2,3 and 20 sex scenes later, I just skimmed them trying to connect to any type of emotion the characters had. Outside of what I loved in the first half I failed to connect to anything, the reactions were very over dramatic for both Nell and Colton and coping was nonexistent.

For part one I would give this 4/5 stars, for part two I would give this 2/5 stars and would only recommend this to serious romance readers who like graphic descriptions in the sex department. You will either love this or hate this, but for sure will find something to talk about when it comes to its tragic, doomed, self-loathing characters who find somewhat messed up happily ever afters. show less

I have read a few books by Jasinda before and they are quick erotic reads however, this was a really different side to her that I really enjoyed add to that the fact that this book has lived on my kindle for a year I am glad I spent my Sunday reading it.

Make sure to have a whole box of kleenex available when you read this.
This is the story of first love, and second chances when that love ends tragically.
Nell and Kyle's story isn't really what this book is about, although you need that to understand how Nell ends up in the dark and lonely place that she does when Colton (Kyle's Older brother) finds that he can not walk away from her. They seem to fix the broken pieces of eachother which I loved.
Kyle was the perfect boy, the golden child, show more and together He and Nell were always meant to be together. When his life ends in a tragic accident, Nell is frozen in time, unable to move past her guilt over his death or to grieve.
When she meets up with Colton 2 years after Kyle's death, Colton knows that he has to help her let go of her guilt and move on.
These two have been through so much that your heart just breaks for both of them, and you wonder how they're ever going to get it together.
I really like the way the author doesn't leave you hanging at the end of this story. It actually ends. It's not tied up all pretty, but this isn't that kind of story.
It's really hard not to fall for Colton. It's written from both Colton and Nell's POV, which is good because you get insight into where both the characters are coming from. All and all a great read I will be continuing with the story. show less

Instalove is rarely something I get behind in books but the story was compulsively readable. It was a bittersweet read because you know from the beginning that Kyle dies. His and Nell's relationship comprises more than 30% of the story though, and while I understand that it's because the author wants you to feel Nell's grief (obvs I'm assuming here, I don't actually know what the author intended) I thought that it made Nell and Colton slightly less effective. Also, the ending was super rushed and a little over the top. I like a little angst (I was a teenage goth, after all) but when I finished reading I felt overwhelmed.

I'll probably read the next book, which is about a different couple (thank god, I am so tired of these drawn out show more series, or worse yet, the same exact story from another p.o.v.). show less

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said?

It's amazing, completely and utterly amazing. I didn't anticipate this book being what it was, and was surprised at how much I loved it. It's heart-wrenching.. no wait that's not enough emotion.. it takes your heart out of your chest and stabs it 10 times then returns it. You're left a complete emotional mess. From there it just gets hot-holy-wtf, I want NEED a Colt! Falling Into You takes you on a journey from deep depression to swoony love and back again. Hang on and enjoy the ride!

Cover and Writing
I love the cover, it suits the book and material. Wilder's writing is great, this is the second book in which she's authored. Her writing draws you in and this book is no show more exception. She captures emotions like no other, and for that I am forever a fan. I also love the duel POV!!

Swoonworthy points: 9.5
This book though sad/depressing at times is so swoony. You get to fall in love twice! You get the first kiss TWICE!! The anticipation, the butterflies, the all over electricity twice!!! I love how steamy Colton is and how sweet Kyle was.

Overall thoughts
This book is definite re-read material, and I highly recommend it. If you are in need of an emotional book and want some passion added this is the one for you. Just keep a box of tissues handy, you'll need them. Hell, I can't even think about part of the book without crying (days later!) show less

I have had this e-book and audible book for years since Jasinda Wilder is one of my favorite authors, and it wasn't until I put it on during a drive to Mexico that I finally got around to reading - listening to it. It was very good, but I don't think I will be re-reading it. I was bummed out when I saw that the next book in the series isn't a continuation of the arc. However, if you have it on your shelves give it a read, you get caught up quickly and it keeps you interested, but it has a lot of heavy themes. Death, dying, grieving, lost love, repressing guilt. However, it still has some steam and it has very good character development.

Okay, I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I had read some of the more negative reviews of it, and didn't expect it to be any good, but I gave it a shot and found it to be rather enjoyable. Of course, it isn't perfect, but I was still rather impressed by it.

The tone of the story was rather dark. It was easy for the reader to feel the level of heartbreak that was described within the story. Wilder did a good job portraying just how heartbroken Nell was after Kyle's death. She managed to get across just how dark and painful and desperate these characters were, but also how they were still, after all of their sadness, able to hope that things could get better.

There were things that I wasn't very enthusiastic about or impressed by in show more this story. (I can be difficult to please, I know.) Anyway, there's this pet peeve that I have that I didn't really realize that I had until I read this novel. The pet peeve? Authors who write chapters that are longer than fifty pages. Maybe it's because I'm American and have watched so much television that it has caused my brain to not be able to handle that kind of strain or maybe it's the untreated ADD. I don't know what causes it, but my poor little messed up American brain just cannot handle fifty page chapters. I get why she had them go on that long, since the story is separated by time period, but it just felt like too much. Chapters and breaks in general don't just exist to separate different scenes, they also exist to give the reader a break and to help keep them “fresh” so that they will enjoy the story more. Without breaks, the reader can grow tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed by the story. With such a dark story, it was not only tiring not to have more frequent breaks, it also left me feeling a bit raw from all of the emotion.

Now, another issue that I had was Colton's gang background and urban/street dialect. It felt forced. It didn't seem natural at all. I think I know why she used those things to further the story, but I felt like Wilder didn't understand that sort of background or dialect enough to use it properly. It made the scenes where it was brought up seem very amateurish and possibly offensive to people who might be more familiar with gangs or growing up in an urban setting. It seemed to play to some stereotypes that many suburban whites have about cities.

Then there was the issue of Colton's father's career. He is a politician. He lives most of the time in Washington because of his career. He would not have kicked his learning disabled son out of his house and given up on him, no matter how much he might have truly disliked his son. Why? Well, if he did that, then he would expect his career to be over by the end of the day. He would be expecting a journalist to drop by his house the second that journalist heard anything about Mr. Calloway having an estranged son. Actually, he or she would talk to Colton first, then either try to get his father's side of the story or just go to press with whatever Colton said. His behavior is how the political game can be easily lost.

There is also the issue of the way that Nell's struggles with alcohol abuse and self-injury were written. As a person who is very familiar with cutting, the simple easy way that Nell seemed to stop cutting is not at all realistic. There are very few people who just stop harming themselves one day and don't start back. Self-injury is a more complex problem than that, and I get really annoyed when writers who have no experience with it write it in such an unrealistic way.

The book was very good for what it was: an independently published novel written and edited by non-professionals. The dialogue was remarkable for this kind of book, which is part of why, despite my annoyance at some of the issues, I rated it as a four. The ability to portray such angst is another reason. I believe that Jasinda Wilder may have studied at the Joss Whedon Academy for Killing All of Your Hopes and Dreams based on how many times I cried over how the two main characters were relentlessly tortured. The Joss Whedon part is a compliment. The relentless torture is a warning to anyone who goes into this thinking that it is a happy story. It's not. It's hopeful, but not happy. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and actually looked forward to the second book in the series after I finished. show less