Scan barcode
A review by readingems
Fallen by Lauren Kate
3.0
I was drawn to read this book from the beautiful cover and its prominence on YA bookshelves. The book is about Luce, a girl who is sent to a youth reform school following an unfortunate incident at her last school. Luce is soon taken under her wing by several of the other pupils and two potential love interests spark her interest, although she can’t shake the feeling that one of them, Daniel she already knows.
For me, this book was OK, and if anything I was a little disappointed that it seemed to draw out the story until the last 100 pages, by which point, I was kind of in a hurry to get to the end of it so I can make a start on my ‘to-read’ bookshelf! However, these last pages really saved the book and triggered my interest in reading the follow up, Torment.
My problem with this book, is that I felt we were introduced to lots of different characters, Molly, Gabbe, Cam, Daniel, Penn but with little context and impact on the story until the end, so I felt little affinity with the characters and felt their relationships were very superficial. I felt that I should have connected with Penn more that I did, as the book is written from Luce’s point of view, more reference could have been made to the importance of their friendship. For me, Luce felt that Penn was ‘safe’ in this strange new environment and that was what she was clinging to.
My next issue with the book was that it took over 300 pages to make any reference to angels within the book. I had guessed or assumed from the title, front cover and blurb that the book was about angels, so was frustrated that it took soooo long to make reference to for me, an obvious plot line in the story.
I liked the general story line of the book, but left wanting more than I got from the book. I wanted more interaction between the characters, especially key people such as Arianne, Gabbe, Cam and Daniel. As it is told from only Luce’s POV I felt it lacked depth of relationships between the key players which would have helped bring the end of the book together with more clarity. I also liked learning about the history of angels but things were only hinted at rather than clarified, and as I was under the impression the books were about angels, I was expecting and wanted more on this realm.
Kate left us with several unanswered questions which should motivate me to read the next book in the series, Torment, but I don’t think the book was face paced or detailed enough for me to rush out and get it, which is a shame! A promising story line, but it lacked depth and scope to really hold my interest.
For me, this book was OK, and if anything I was a little disappointed that it seemed to draw out the story until the last 100 pages, by which point, I was kind of in a hurry to get to the end of it so I can make a start on my ‘to-read’ bookshelf! However, these last pages really saved the book and triggered my interest in reading the follow up, Torment.
My problem with this book, is that I felt we were introduced to lots of different characters, Molly, Gabbe, Cam, Daniel, Penn but with little context and impact on the story until the end, so I felt little affinity with the characters and felt their relationships were very superficial. I felt that I should have connected with Penn more that I did, as the book is written from Luce’s point of view, more reference could have been made to the importance of their friendship. For me, Luce felt that Penn was ‘safe’ in this strange new environment and that was what she was clinging to.
My next issue with the book was that it took over 300 pages to make any reference to angels within the book. I had guessed or assumed from the title, front cover and blurb that the book was about angels, so was frustrated that it took soooo long to make reference to for me, an obvious plot line in the story.
I liked the general story line of the book, but left wanting more than I got from the book. I wanted more interaction between the characters, especially key people such as Arianne, Gabbe, Cam and Daniel. As it is told from only Luce’s POV I felt it lacked depth of relationships between the key players which would have helped bring the end of the book together with more clarity. I also liked learning about the history of angels but things were only hinted at rather than clarified, and as I was under the impression the books were about angels, I was expecting and wanted more on this realm.
Kate left us with several unanswered questions which should motivate me to read the next book in the series, Torment, but I don’t think the book was face paced or detailed enough for me to rush out and get it, which is a shame! A promising story line, but it lacked depth and scope to really hold my interest.