Fallenwood by Leslie Soule

I feel a little bit bad about reviewing this book because from the first page I found myself annoyed with the book. There is honestly that much I can really say about Fallenwood except that maybe I would look at it in a much nicer light if I didn’t have a science degree and a fair amount of medical training.

I say this because, page one, the main character makes a huge fuss of her step-father dying in the space of a few months of being diagnosed with a disease. What did he die of? Was it cancer? Was it some other huge life threatening disease? No, it was diabetes. The big bad disease was one that millions of people live with every day, so from the beginning my opinion of this book swayed towards unimpressed. He seemed to get every single symptom possible with diabetes, including those that take years to develop, in the space of a few months.

Anyway, Fallenwood follows the life of Ash. A 23 year-old who is bored with life and still grieving over the loss of her step-father, who seemed to die of an unrealistically bad case of diabetes. During a rather distressing family gathering Ash runs into the local forest only to find she’s stepped through into another realm, Fallenwood. Here magic is rife and Ash discovers that her life may have a purpose once again.

Ash is an incredibly melancholy character and from the way she’s written I get the feeling that the author has been through the experience. The girl has a huge array of support characters, with the main characters and villains being rather well fleshed out characters. Particularly endearing is Ash’s guide through Fallenwood, Will. I did find myself wondering quite often why Ash never fell for Will instead of the man she does end up with.

The premise of the story is very good as well but the whole thing feels rushed. If it wasn’t for Leslie Soule filling the book with random chapters with the entire back story of even the least important character, the book would have been quite short. Soule does have a tendency of giving you the entire back history. It becomes a bit of a chore to read at times but I found myself ploughing though them just to get to the main storyline.

I have read much better books and I have read worse. I wouldn’t recommend this book, however. If you must read it prepare for a lot of back and forth in the storyline, as well as a lot of unnecessary information.

5/10 The premise of the story is very good as well but the whole thing feels rushed.