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A review by readbyroad
Torment by Lauren Kate
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I unfortunately enjoyed this one less than the first one.
The main reason for this was that the plot was Luce and Daniel cycling through the same motions over and over again (Luce and Daniel reunite and kiss, Daniel says "look I can't tell you anything but you need to stay here to stay safe," Luce goes "ugh who is he to tell me what to do when he won't tell me anything" and then leaves anyways and has a near-death experience, then repeat). I found this to be an annoying move by Luce the first time; by the fourth time I was verbally telling the book that she was (respectfully) stupid.
We also learned very little about anything plot-related during this book other than that Luce can apparently travel through the shadows and that Daniel gets more hot when he kills somebody (objectively, not subjectively, although I'm sure Luce would agree). In general, my feelings about this book are "could've been an email;" they definitely could've compressed the things she learnt in this book into book 1 if they tried.
Another thing I didn't appreciate in general during this book was the entirely new cast of characters, some of whom bore a strong resemblance to others we'd met before (e.g. Shelby and Arrianne) or to each other (the only thing that I can strongly say differentiates Jasmine and Dawn is that Dawn apparently looks a lot like Luce and assumably that's not the case for Jasmine). The exception to this rule was Stephen (and to a lesser extent, Francesca, although the most interesting thing about her was her relationship about Stephen). Does it say something about me being too old to read this book that I was lowkey more attracted to Stephen during this book than Daniel? Also, on the note of Stephen and Francesca, why do they present as middle-aged when the other angels/demons (Cam, Arrianne, Daniel) present as older teenagers? Presumably they are all old af, so not sure why Stephen and Francesca get to look like real adults while the others are forced to be eternal adolescents.
Again, giving a 3.5 for this one because despite the lack of meaningful plot described above, the concept continued to still be very compelling; like book 1, I also read this one in one night. Again, I borrowed all 4 books on libby because none had a wait time so now I'm invested. Stay tuned for my thoughts on books 3 and 4.
Edit: adjusted down to a 3.0 after looking at some of my scores for other books (like a 3.75 for Wintersong, ouch harsh) and realizing I had done those books a bit dirty by ranking this one similarly.
The main reason for this was that the plot was Luce and Daniel cycling through the same motions over and over again (Luce and Daniel reunite and kiss, Daniel says "look I can't tell you anything but you need to stay here to stay safe," Luce goes "ugh who is he to tell me what to do when he won't tell me anything" and then leaves anyways and has a near-death experience, then repeat). I found this to be an annoying move by Luce the first time; by the fourth time I was verbally telling the book that she was (respectfully) stupid.
We also learned very little about anything plot-related during this book other than that Luce can apparently travel through the shadows and that Daniel gets more hot when he kills somebody (objectively, not subjectively, although I'm sure Luce would agree). In general, my feelings about this book are "could've been an email;" they definitely could've compressed the things she learnt in this book into book 1 if they tried.
Another thing I didn't appreciate in general during this book was the entirely new cast of characters, some of whom bore a strong resemblance to others we'd met before (e.g. Shelby and Arrianne) or to each other (the only thing that I can strongly say differentiates Jasmine and Dawn is that Dawn apparently looks a lot like Luce and assumably that's not the case for Jasmine). The exception to this rule was Stephen (and to a lesser extent, Francesca, although the most interesting thing about her was her relationship about Stephen). Does it say something about me being too old to read this book that I was lowkey more attracted to Stephen during this book than Daniel? Also, on the note of Stephen and Francesca, why do they present as middle-aged when the other angels/demons (Cam, Arrianne, Daniel) present as older teenagers? Presumably they are all old af, so not sure why Stephen and Francesca get to look like real adults while the others are forced to be eternal adolescents.
Again, giving a 3.5 for this one because despite the lack of meaningful plot described above, the concept continued to still be very compelling; like book 1, I also read this one in one night. Again, I borrowed all 4 books on libby because none had a wait time so now I'm invested. Stay tuned for my thoughts on books 3 and 4.
Edit: adjusted down to a 3.0 after looking at some of my scores for other books (like a 3.75 for Wintersong, ouch harsh) and realizing I had done those books a bit dirty by ranking this one similarly.