Fallen by Lauren Kate

Everything in Luce’s life has been off since the accident in the cabin. She’s always had to deal with the shadows and was on medication for a while because of them, but now she is being forced to attend a reform school, Sword & Cross. There, she is virtually cut off from everything she knows and cares about, her friends, her family, communication with the outside world. There are too many things in Luce’s life that she doesn’t know how to explain and being surrounded by other possibly crazy kids asking questions doesn’t make life any easier. She tries to assimilate, but all her efforts are distracted by a guy she’s never met before but swears she must know. She doesn’t know why she can’t stop thinking about him, why she’s so attracted to his mystery. But Luce has to be careful; though unaware, she is just a pawn in a battle of biblical proportions, fated to fall for the one she can’t have forever.

Perhaps it’s because I read this novel after the very similar Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, but Fallen was less dazzling than I hope it would be. I found the idea of an eternally doomed love story that continually repeats itself unique and fascinating, even if it’s slightly reminiscent of de la Cruz’s Blue Bloods series, but it just took way too long to get to that part of the story. Sure, there are hints at supernatural occurrences throughout the beginning and middle of the book, but Kate dances around the edge of the matter for much longer than necessary. My problem Fallen is one I’ve been finding in many new novels lately; they’re heavily advertised to be about something appealing and generally supernatural, but that part of the story is contained in a disappointingly short section at the end of the book, making the story seem just a prequel instead of the main tale. This structure is frustrating to me to say the least because it makes the story more drawn out and at time, less interesting. This doesn’t go to say that I didn’t enjoy reading Fallen; it was very romantic and mildly original in its take on angels, but I only wish it didn’t take as long to get to the good stuff.

Fallen may be enjoyed by fans of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, The Hollow by Jessica Verday, and the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz. I look forward to the continuation of Luce’s story in Torment, though I hope it will be better executed than this one.

Rating: 3.5

Review copy from Amazon Vine