layawaydragon
Written on Oct 29, 2016
+The Ending
+Romance conclusion is sweet
+Climax was phenomenal
+Enjoyable, easy read
+Epilogue was cute
+Liked the characters
+Didn't see the important twists coming
The Bad & The Other
-Kate was annoying until late
-Push and pull romance was meh until later
-Didn't like the muddling paranormal
-Slow to get into
Fallen Star is a mish-mash of historical, mystery, family drama, and paranormal. Sounds great on paper and I've read other like this that made it work.
Sadly, I would've preferred the paranormal being left out, to be honest. The ghost aspect muddied the waters and was meant to amp up Kate's personal stakes. Instead of "OMG what is happening?" it fell flat and bogged down the novel.
I wish she could've found the clues herself instead of being handed to her via paranormal intervention. It made it hard to believe and connect. Plus it weakens Kate as protagonist.
Eventually, Kate gets her act together and she's much more proactive. It was very enjoyable to finally see her grow as a person. At this point, the story solidified as a murder mystery with a side-romance, casting away the paranormal unreliable narrator until nothing was left except a spiritual-believing young woman in control.
I was actively cheering for her and made it all worthwhile. If only it ended there and didn't cap it off with that epilogue...
I wish I could say it was a good thing, but the way it happened, I just rolled my eyes. How was that pulled off? Why not just deliver it like a normal person? *sigh*
Oh well. It was worth reading for Kate's progression and the twisty, satisfying climax. The epilogue was nice to catch up with them, but the mysterious appearance at the end was ridiculous.
Morse's other novel The Sweetheart Deal sounds narrower and focused in scope and genre: cute with a 1950s feminist romance. If you're looking for Something straightforward, I think that's worth a shot.
For something clean yet bloody and a great conclusion to a murder mystery, Fallen Star fits the bill. It'd probably also help to REMEMBER IT'S SET IN THE NINETEEN-SEVENTIES!
However, if a scatter-shot novel that jumps around with a work in progress protagonist doesn't sound worth it, trust your gut.