Under Falling Skies

I have never been more WRONG about my assumption of a book in my entire life.

Under Falling Skies was a “free for a day” book that popped up on my BookBub email, and after a quick read of the blurb and study of the cover, I expected this to be a “cute sci-fi adventure”. Laughs nervously. Dude. This was a weird mesh of “Five Nights at Freddie's” and “Among Us” (yes, I compare books to video games....it's a problem). I'm still glancing over my shoulder and squealing when the lights go out.

I don't want to spoil the entire plot, so I'm not going to talk about my reactions at all, but suffice it to say, this was a nail-biting adventure that had my attention completely. The plot moves very fast, but I was thankful for that because I never found myself speed-reading to get to the next exciting bit, there was just always something going on. Scout was a likeable main character and I really liked her and her dogs!

The issue I had with this book is more in line with logistics rather than actual storytelling. I really don't know what audience it is originally intended for. All of the information I can find online say “teen”, it looks like a “teen” book, and it's short like one would expect of a teen book (I, personally, guessed 13-14ish when I started it, maybe even mature 12s). But there is no way I would give this book to the younger spectrum of teen readers without a warning for horror elements and gore. Obviously, this is going to be widely dependent on individual readers (and parents/guardians), but I would say that this book fits better in the upper teen/YA category. But again, that is going to depend on individual readers. There is no cursing, however.

Overall, I liked the book–shock in all–but I'm having difficulty saying that I “loved” it. If you enjoy spooks and very mild horror elements, you may enjoy Under Falling Skies!

Content disclaimers: Horror & gore semi-detailed. D3aths are meant to horrify the reader and are described briefly but with detail. Two women are described as being “lovers”, however, there is no on-page romance.