Downcast (Olympus Falling, #1) by Cait Reynolds

 

 

Downcast (Olympus Falling, #1) ****5 Stars!****

Reviewed by Author Holly Newhouse for Eternal Book Reviews

 

Book Description: 

 

What would you do when faced with an impossible truth? Written with heart and passion, Downcast by Cait Reynolds is ripe with twists you never saw coming and love that defies the odds in this intense new Paranormal Romance retelling one of mythology’s greatest love stories.

It’s the start of Stephanie Starr’s senior year of high school, but sadly, this is no life of the prom queen. Stuck at the bottom of the high school social totem pole, Stephanie is forced by her domineering mother to wear lumpy linen dresses and eat organic tofu for lunch in a world of mini-skirts and pizza.

What Stephanie doesn’t anticipate is gorgeous and cocky Haley Smith who breaks social convention and pursues her with a determination that is both terrifying and flattering. Afraid that Haley is simply trying to set her up for massive humiliation, Stephanie does her best to push him away. But the more attention he pays to her, the more she runs, and the more everyone else begins to notice.

Instead of a loving family to support her as the mean girls make their play, Stephanie’s mother begins to unravel mentally, her possessiveness of Stephanie spiraling to new and frightening extremes. Stephanie is forced to grow up, find herself, and learn the truth about her past in order to save her mother, her friends, and her town. When the truth is revealed, nothing can prepare her for the outrageous reality of her existence…and nothing can save her from her fate. Except Haley.

 

Book Review:

 

     This book had me completely hooked from page one! It took me on a suspenseful, emotional, on the edge of my seat, roller coaster ride until the very end and still left me wanting more, more, more! I am praying and hoping there will be a book two coming out! I am going to be ever so patiently biting my nails as I wait until this absolutely amazing and brilliant author writes more books for me to read with my beloved characters: Stephanie, Haley, Zack, Helen and Morris. I want to visit Darbyfield High School just to see these amazing and complex characters in action! I may be a middle-aged woman, but I am in love with Haley and the others and never guessed there was more than met the eye until the very end.

 

     Author Cait Reynolds is one of my new favorite authors! She has a gift for writing that is out of this world! The storyline is complex and engaging. The plot is well developed, only giving this reviewer just enough details to make me wonder, become frustrated with the wanting to know more and finally, determined to read a bit more, and more, and more. Then, when I think I have it all figured out, I find out I really don't! The many twists and turns I never saw coming and kept me with my hands gripping the edge of my seat and constantly guessing. 

 

     It is easy for this reviewer to tell that Author Cait Reynolds put a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication into the creation and crafting of this truly majestic story! The character development, for example, proceeds at just the right pace. The scenes and settings are given the perfect amount of description and still highly engage the reader's imagination and at the same time, is not too much as to be telling instead of showing. Author Cait Reynolds manages this fine line for authors flawlessly and I highly commend her for it. the dialogue is refreshing, engaging, and very realistic. This author also brilliantly writes the story in the first person point of view which is a true accomplishment as not many can write this way and have it turn out as wonderful as Author Reynolds has.

 

     Overall, Author Reynolds has created a suspenseful, suck-you-right-in and hold-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of story that every reader delights in that is as profound as it is entertaining. Once you begin reading, be prepared for this story to haunt your waking thoughts as well as your nightly dreams as it calls you right back to it until you have read it in it's entirely. I can speak from experience as I thought I could get away with reading a few chapters a night and cherish such a great story. I was wrong and ended up only getting to the middle before I had to finish reading the second half straight through, unable to put it down for a second!

 

      This is a truly magnificent blend of realism, paranormal, mythology, romance and laughter-provoking. Author Cait Reynolds, I applaud your amazing writing ability! You are a true master at weaving a breathtaking story. If I had to have one downside or complaint, it is that this book has not been made into a fantastic movie yet! Thank you deeply to this author for her truly beautiful abilities that she has shared with the world! This book deserves a rating of twenty plus stars, not a mere five!

 

Downcast (Olympus Falling, #1)

Cait Reynolds

Booktrope Editions (May 11, 2015)

274pp. $3.99 Kindle and $16.95 Paperback

http://www.amazon.com/Downcast-Olympus-Falling-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00WAKSJL0/

 

******Disclosure of Material Connection****** I received a free copy of this book from the author, Cait Reynolds. I was not required to provide a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16CFR, Part 255.