This review contains spoilers for Fallen by Lauren Kate - reader discretion is advised if you have yet to finish the book.
I have to admit, I had never heard of this series until the movie adaption came out, and even then I was a few years behind the ball. I had always meant to read the book after I watched the movie, but during the surge of the 2014 tumblr book fandom, there was so much to read and this series slipped through the cracks for me. Luckily, I finally have the time to work through what appears to be an endless list of books to get through, and Fallen is next up on the list.
Our female lead, Luce, has been enrolled at Sword & Cross after a tragic accident where the blame landed on her. There she encounters Cam and Daniel, two mysterious yet intriguing boys who continue to pop into her life at the most interesting times despite Daniel wanting basically nothing to do with Luce. Cam, on the other hand, is immediately intrigued by Luce's arrival and is very much an active part of her daily life and appears genuinely interested in her. He actively seeks her out while Daniel takes every opportunity he can to get as far away from her as possible.
Now when it comes to love interests -- especially love triangles -- in romance books, I almost am always rooting for the female lead to end up with the brooding character, so Cam was officially no longer my concern in the book as I was fully on team Daniel. While Cam is charming in the beginning of the book, he was very much reminding of me of a lost puppy in the sense that he always seemed to be finding Luce when she was alone or following her wherever she went.
Luce's friendship with Penn and her constant battle with Molly adds both comfort and conflict to her time at Sword & Cross. Penn and Luce are basically using each other to grow as individuals in a sense, and Molly continues to whisper mild threats into Luce's ear at any chance she gets.
As I approached the halfway point of the book, I found myself questioning why Luce constantly seemed to be unsure of herself or very confident in what she was doing. She would hid in the hallways and listen to people's conversations, and then on the next page she would be confronting a random student about Daniel and his relationship status with a number of girls. She seemed to be very on the fence on who she was as a person, and how she wanted to approach everyone at Sword & Cross.
It was entertaining to see Gabbe always interrupting Luce whenever she was with Cam or Daniel, or even if she was just longingly staring at them from across the hall. Mostly because Luce's inner monologue was always giving "pick me" energy when Gabbe came around, as if it was Gabbe's fault that Luce was jealous of her always being around them.
When Luce's parents showed up at the hospital after the library fire, I was so surprised that they were not more comforting to their daughter, especially after everything that she has been through. The way that they basically checked to see that she was alive and then said "See you on Saturday" for Parents Day felt cold.
Once Luce finally knows about her and Daniel's past, the book really starts to pick up towards the end -- we see Luce racing to find Daniel as she connects the dots between them and slowly but surely believes what he has told her about their past love. Plus Cam decides to cosplay being a supervillain at the end of the book and has his little emo boy moment walking around the cemetery acting like mankind's greatest gift. They did my girl Penn so dirty -- I knew her death was coming since I had already seen the movie, but it still hurt to see her murdered in cold blood and then brushed off so quickly by Miss Sophia.
Overall, this was a fun read and felt like a good September read to put me in that autumn mood. It has slow burn, fated love with just enough tension to have the reader on the edge of who they want Luce to end up with. For fans of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, this is the book for you.
You can add Fallen and the rest of the series on Goodreads now, as well as follow the author to stay to up to date on publications and releases.
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