Title and Author: Fallen by Lauren Kate
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: December 8, 2009
Paperback: 452 Pages
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Summary:
There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.
Review:
I had heard a lot about this book, both good and bad things, and I have to say it didn’t live up to my expectations.
After a horrible accident, Luce’s parents send her off to Sword & Cross, a reform school in Georgia. When Luce gets there she sees Daniel for the first, who seems to be just a little too familiar to her. Daniel is a bit erratic in his relationship with Luce, but she still feels inexplicably drawn to him.
There are about 200 pages in this book that I could have done without. I really liked the ending but I felt like the beginning and middle part of the book was a little bit boring.
I think my biggest problem with this book were the characters. I felt like they were forced. I couldn’t figure Luce out and I’m sure I would have liked her a lot more if she wasn’t so compelled to drool over Daniel every time she saw him.
The character of Daniel had some potential but was not very well developed. I couldn’t get a sense of who he was or what he liked.
The only character I thought was intriguing and interesting was Cam, especially towards the end of the book.
Luce and Daniel are supposed to be madly in love. Their love is supposed to be epic but there wasn't enough interaction between them for me to understand where they love came from. Why were they in love with each other? Why did Luce want to be with a guy who treated her badly at first? The fact Daniel was supposedly beautiful did not explain her infatuation.
One thing I felt Lauren Kate did well was describe Sword & Cross. That school was supposed to be a depressing place and the way it was described made you feel like it was indeed like that.
The end part of the book is great though, even if a little bit confusing. There are a lot of unanswered questions that were left like that on purpose.
All in all I can’t say I liked this book. It dragged on for a long while and only in the end was my interest spiked. The writing was good, though and so were the descriptions of the place but I felt this book could have been much better than it was.
Rating: Readable
Great review! I completely agree. I thought this book had so much potential, but it fell way short.
ReplyDeleteGreat review :). I too was unfortunately disappointed with this book. The ending was not enough to get me to read the sequel.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your honest review. I'm sorry to hear you didn't like this one, but you reasons are ones I've seen many other reviewers cite. I'm not in a rush to try this series, even though the covers are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this book didn't live up to all the hype. It was okay, but it didn't leave me rushing to read the sequel. I agree that the ending was muddled and somewhat confusing--which was a little frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I havent had a chance to pick up Fallen yet... and to be honest i'm a bit hesitant. Like you, i've heard both good and bad things about it. Lets see if i can do some justice this holiday break :)
ReplyDeleteDiana
@Alyssa
ReplyDeleteIt did, which was a pity.
@Sandy
ReplyDeleteI know. I read the sequel because I wanted to see if some questions were finally answered but they weren't and once again I was disappointed.
@Small Review
ReplyDeleteThe covers are beautiful but I was a little disappointed with the story.
@Carissa
ReplyDeleteI know. There were so many questions left without an answer!
@The Lovely Getaway
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people who liked the book so, who knows? You might like it as well! :)