Review: In Review: London Falling (International School #2) by Chanel Cleeton
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2014
I was a huge fan of Chanel Cleeton's I See London when I first read it a few months ago. I loved the diversity and I have a thing for boarding school or traveling abroad books. But what I loved most of all was watching the shift in dynamic of the relationship between Maggie and Samir. I was hopelessly addicted to these characters and their story and my heart about broke at the end. Things were left so up in the air that I was desperate to get my hands on the sequel so I could find out what happens next.And y'all, I was not disappointed in the least. London Falling was fantastic. If I'm honest, I enjoyed it even more than I See London. I don't want to say too much for the fear of spoilers, but what I will say is this – if you loved Maggie and Samir as I did, you want this book now. It's a beautiful continuation of their story and has all the emotion and heart that I loved about I See London. Was it all happy good times? No, of course not. It was realistic. There were painful moments, just like you would expect from characters who were dealing with the things they were. There were a lot of outside factors, particularly family, causing stress for our leading couple, but despite all the emotions it put me through, it was never TOO much. It wasn't overwhelmingly angsty or painful. Sure, I cried. But come on, did you expect me not to?Both Maggie and Samir really come into their own in London Falling, continuing the development started in I See London. They're living in the present, enjoying every minute they have together, but they're also looking towards the future and trying to figure out how they fit in each other's lives past Samir's graduation. There's a lot of reflection and tough decisions have to be made. I was completely enthralled with their story and the journey they were taking. With each day that ticked by, bringing them closer to Samir's graduation, my heart broke a little more because of the uncertainty of where it would leave them.London Falling is everything I love about new adult contemporary books. The characters were fantastic and complex. Even the secondary characters wiggled their way into my heart. There was humor and sexy times, and a TON of feels. I was so invested in these characters, I couldn't put the book down, yet I didn't want to finish because that meant I had to give them up. I still keep thinking about this book and Maggie and Samir weeks after finishing. Their story was brought to a solid close, but I still hold out hope that we'll get more of these fantastic characters in the future, even if it's just a glance into both of their lives as secondary characters in another pair's story.Chanel has something special here. If you're not reading this, you should be.I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.