Friday

Fallen - Lauren Kate



What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours? 17-year-old Lucinda falls in love with a gorgeous, intelligent boy, Daniel, at her new school, the grim, foreboding Sword & Cross . . . only to find out that Daniel is a fallen angel, and that they have spent lifetimes finding and losing one another as good & evil forces plot to keep them apart. SOME ANGELS ARE DESTINED TO FALL...

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I liked it. It's an ok book. I can see why it's compared to Twilight a lot though. It's got a girl and she in an unfamiliar setting and one she's not that keen on ....but she puts up with it because she likes a boy there ....but he doesn't like her much.... or does he? Then there's this other boy, who does like her and tells her the first boy is no good, and she sort of likes him.....but not as much as the first boy..... but maybe she sort of does.... and the 2 boys don't like each other so are pitted against each other to win her....and then there's these other characters who all close ranks on the first boy to protect his mystery.....

It's familiar and similar to counless other YA fiction on the shelves lately. But it's still ok. I'd say give it a go. Just know what you're getting into.

My only problem with the book is this - I'd have given it 5 stars but for one reason. If only the first 300 pages had been condensed into around 50 and then the rest of the story could have continued from page 300 as usual, then it would have been great. I liked the first chapter and then it all...went.... sort...of.....drawn..... out....longer..... than...... it ...... needed...... to......

The back story could have been summarised in well less than 300 pages. I think that's why the ending is so unsatisfying. After such a long drawn out story about not much we get to the REALLY good stuff that we're looking for and it was all crammed into a chapter or 3 at the end and if I'm honest, it was a bit GetItAllOverAsFastAsPossibleBecauseItsRanOnForLongEnoughAlready.

It can make the transition from YA to adult and mostly it's an easy read but don't expect to be raving about it to your friends next day because for all it's a good story, it's just ok, it's not fantastic.

Having said that, I'll be reading the next one 'Torment' when it comes out and hoping that it's all story with no drag factor.



2 comments:

Ashley said...

When I first read this, I felt similar to how you do, but maybe a little more positive. I liked her writing style, and thought the language, while long and drawn out, and possibly directionless, was very pretty to read.

However... Then I read Torment, and I can no longer think of why I liked Fallen, because Torment left such a bad taste in my mouth. Ugh... Now the love triangle has all points male, with Luce in the center, no one tells Luce ANYTHING, even stuff that could kill her if she doesn't know, because it might kill her if she DOES know etc...

Sigh. I hope you end up liking it better than I did.

Silver Thistle said...

Funny you should comment on this one today of all days. I read this over a year ago but as little as ONE HOUR ago I ordered Torment from the library online catalog. Spooky.

I've ordered it on cd though, so I can do other stuff while I 'read' it because I'm not overly hopeful that I'll be happy to spend a week with the paperback.

Even less inclined now that I've read your comment, lol. Ah well, I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes... I'll let you know :D