Friday, January 29, 2010

Fallen by Lauren Kate



I should have written this review a couple days ago, but English essay’s and geometry homework got the best of me. *sigh* On the bright side, it’s now Friday! Thank God for Friday’s.


Title: Fallen
Author: Lauren Kate
Number of Pages: 452
Published by: Delacorte Press
Rating: 3.5


Summery: (From goodreads) 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.

My Review: This book started out good. The emotions and theme came across really well…in the beginning. But as the book progressed, the more confused I became; unable to understand why Luce did the things she did and felt the way she felt. In some instances, I assumed Lauren Kate just randomly picked an emotion for Luce to feel and just hoped that it lined up with what was going on. Not that a lot went on. In the 452 pages of this book, not a lot happened. And when big events actually did happen, not enough information is given to make the reader anxious or scared.

As a character, Luce isn’t great, but isn’t bad. In the beginning, I liked her, but further into the book, she started to annoy me. As she gets closer to Daniel, her dialogue becomes cheesy. And as I mentioned earlier, there aren’t many explanations for why she feels a certain emotion or why she does what she does. I was unable to connect with Luce because of this. But her friend, Cam, had me stunned. He was kind, charming, and respectful of Luce. Whereas Daniel, was rude, disrespectful, and just plain mean. Luce kept picking Daniel because she felt as if she knew him, but in most cases, this is just a shallow excuse for feeling a strong attraction to the opposite sex. So it annoyed me when Luce kept ditching Cam for a guy who kept shrugging her off. All that aside, Cam had me more interested than anyone else in the story. From the very beginning of the book, I knew what would happen between Daniel and Luce, but Cam was a mystery to me. And a charming mystery at that.

As for the story line, as I said before, not a lot happened. And more than that, no questions were answered. The only things that were revealed as facts were the things that most guessed from the very beginning. I am going to read the sequel, Torment, for the sole purpose of retrieving answers to my questions. I understand that some people loved this book, and others hated it. I’m neither of the two. It was an okay book, though parts were definitely irritating. Anyway, the point being that there’s a fifty percent chance that you will love this book. So I do recommend checking this out at the library and giving it a shot.



Fifth book of 2010

11 comments:

Raíla said...

I LOVED your review - as always! I keep wondering I don't remember certain things and details from books I read... Really. It happens even if I like the book. I'm not good at talking about what the book is about most of the times. It's pretty weird, isn't it? I'm trying to work with my memory, because it's pretty bad. Hhaha. Sometimes I even forget characters name.

Hm. About the book/review, I agree with you in parts. This thing about Luce goes after Daniel while Cam is SO drawn to her... It's weird, though. But I really don't know what to expect from Torment. Hope it will be better than Fallen.

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

Such a great, honest review! I loved the cover, and I heard so many great things about this book, but I was kind of let down. Until the very end, I thought it was really, really slow. :)

Anonymous said...

I agree in regards to Luce. I liked her better before she and Daniel got closer.

Bookalicious Ramblings said...

The only reason I'd ever pick this book up is because of the gorgeous cover, otherwise it's really not my kind of read, but thanks for an honest review, I enjoyed reading it! :)

Adriana said...

I felt the same way. I'm so confused on Cam I don't get if he's supposed to be good or bad, but he's the only one I actually liked.

Nina said...

There was such a hype around this book, that I inmediatley put it on my tbr list. The cover is beautiful! But anyway after reading your review I am thinking twice of buying it. I may even read it over a couple of months.. :)

Thanks for the honesty.

Sandy said...

I finished this book last night and while I didn't *LOVE* it, I didn't hate it either. I liked Cam in the beginning too but then somewhere along the line, I got annoyed with him. I thought he was a creeper x(

Anyways, your review was great! Very honest :)

Jenn (Books At Midnight) said...

Great review! I DEFINITELY agree. Poor Cam. Ugh, I don't know how to express Fallen, except that there were so many different aspects I was disappointed with. The only redeeming factor was the intriguing plot.

Raíla said...

Hey, Girls! I gave you an award over my blog! Have a nice day! :)

http://booksoutofthebookshelves.blogspot.com/2010/01/bliss-happy-101-award.html

Jen at Introverted Reader said...

I keep hearing mixed review for this, so I think I'll have to check it out from the library and avoid buying it. It's a shame--that is a great cover.

prashant said...

I liked her better before she and Daniel got closer.

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