Fallen, Book 1

Title: Fallen - Book 1
Series: Fallen
Author: Lauren Kate
Publication: December 8, 2009

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


Ashley's Review:

What can I say about Fallen? Let me start by saying I had very low expectations from the start due to some of the reviews I had read previously. It seems as if you would either love it or hate it. I thought ok some people really don’t like this book, but didn't really get the reasoning behind it. It’s simple really, there is a complete lack of character development and nothing throughout the book makes you feel like it’s a believable story. I have read some books that I realize are not the best books, I mean some are not even good…but in those books I have found I have at least been entertained throughout the story. I would say they would be more of a guilty pleasure *cough* Blue Bloods. In Fallen it felt like a chore to even get through. Why it is 452 pages? I am not sure because absolutely nothing happens. Sure there are a few points made throughout the book, but yet I left it feeling like there was no point to the story.

Lauren Kate attempted to bring all the usual characters in her story, but unfortunately they were completely flawed from beginning to end. There was the pathetic teenage girl who felt like she was the reason for all destruction around her, the bad boy mentality, the good guy, the weird girl, the girl that just wants a friend and of the course the villain that you never saw coming. At one point the villain who shall remain nameless says “When you die tonight — you die. That’s it. Kaput.” This really jumped out at me because I thought did that really just happen?! Who says that?! I will say the characters had potential, but I feel as if the story jumped around A LOT. One minute she was bff’s with one character, the next with the other and then there were the characters that really played no part in the story at all, yet there they were on the sidelines. Luce was a complete boy crazy girl and I totally get that being a teenager, but considering her past experiences it seems very quick for her to be checking out new guys.

I believe the idea behind the story had a lot of potential, but once on paper it just didn’t work. At the end of the book when I had roughly 20 ages left, I was so over it that I only skimmed through and read the dialog. This is definitely a first. I am not sure yet if this depiction of an Angel story will sway me all future Angel stories, we will see. At this point, I have no interest. I feel like a total basher, but hey I don’t want anyone to suffer through what I just experienced. Consider this a warning! How she will recover in Torment, I am not sure…but I can tell you I will not even attempt to find out.