Fallen: Book 1 of the Fallen Series (Fallen, #1)

by Lauren Kate

What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours? 17-year-old Lucinda falls in love with a gorgeous, intelligent boy, Daniel, at her new school, the grim, foreboding Sword & Cross ...only to find out that Daniel is a fallen angel, and that they have spent lifetimes finding and losing one another as good & evil forces plot to keep them apart. Some angels are destined to fall...

• ISBN10: 0385618026
• ISBN13: 9780385618021
• Publish Date: 17 December 2009 (first published 1 January 2009)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 15 May 2014
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
• Imprint: Doubleday Children's Books
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

I loved it from the start. Near the end, I started to like it a little less. Nothing terrible-it just got a little "classic teenage love drama" ish for me. I will still keep reading the series-its good. I was just a bit disappointed since it started off so strong! Hopefully the next one is good!

[Kelly]

Most readers who have discovered the Fallen series either seem to be delighted or repulsed, and I can safely say that I'm neither. It didn't invoke any emotion apart from a feeling of boredom. To put it in perspective, I would rate it slightly more favorable than Hush Hush, but even Twilight was far more entertaining.

The storyline was not only predictable, it dragged. Against my better judgement, I kept reading, wondering if perhaps there could have been a plot twist on the horizon. Sadly, no. The so called 'reveal' seemed to be what was already blatantly obvious within the first few chapters, and by then, I had no interest in any of the characters or the bizarre love triangle of good and evil.

If Luce had a backbone, a personality other than being a boy hungry doormat and stopped flinging herself at anyone who happened to make her feel special, it could have been far easier to read and tolerate. Whinging pyromaniacs who can list their hobbies as stalking, invading others privacy, able to watch fellow students die and feel it's unnecessary to intervene, and still find the time to be the poster girl for a junior Stepford Wife, have no place on my bookshelf.

[violetpeanut]

I got halfway through this book and absolutely nothing is happening! There is no plot to this book!

When I saw this series on the shelf in the book store I wasn’t too sure if I would be interested in it. Mainly because I had never read any stories with angels as the premise.

The first thought that came to my mind when I started reading was that hardly anything about the main character Luce made me interested in her. The only thing that kept me reading were these ominous ‘shadows’ that she kept seeing, they were the only thing that peaked my interest. And only because I had no idea what they were and I wanted to find out.

The story is based at the Sword and Cross reform school where kids that do/cause something very horrible are sent. Luce has been sent there due to a horrible event that she may have caused but is not sure herself what happened.

At the beginning I felt no connection to Luce herself, or any of the other characters for that matter. I’m pretty sure that mainly had to do with the fact that they were in a reform school and were portrayed as crazy (In the readers’ minds eye at least). For example Arianne, Luce’s first friend there, get’s Luce to cut off all of her hair in the very beginning, only after having talked to her for five minutes; kinda crazy.

I actually did try to get into the story and enjoy it but I stopped trying once I got to the point where I had had enough of Luce’s single fixation on Daniel. From then on I got bored because all Luce ever did was stalk/worry/think/stress about Daniel. Daniel was her every thought. And you know what? Daniel treated her like a piece of crap! Ignored her, avoided her, continually took her out into the forest and then left her standing there by herself, lead her on then ignored her again multiple times. And Luce just continued to fall even harder for him. What. The. Hell.

There was no message in this story. Unless the message was: let the guy you like treat you like crap and walk all over you then he’ll be sure to fall in love with you, because what guy wouldn’t turn away a girl who fawned on every move he made and let him get away with everything and murder? Metaphorically speaking about the murder.

I felt like there was nothing else going on in the story, nothing else to draw me in, nothing else to keep me hooked. There was no other storyline or sub plot. This story is based on Luce and how she feels about the mysterious Daniel. I got bored of this very quickly and found myself really not caring if they hooked up or not. It felt very one dimensional and flat.

Kate treats her readers like idiots. Seriously. The reader guesses the main part of the story from the blurb on the back, before they even start reading the book, but Kate has Luce figure it out three hundred pages later as if it is a huge reveal. Hello. We are not idiots. But apparently Luce is.

This let the story down. But what was I expecting? The blurb its self tells us that this story is only about Luce trying to get Daniel’s affection.

Because of this I found I skimmed half of the book in an attempt to finish it and find out how it ended. But I’m still not quite sure what happened at the end. The ending was so jammed packed with all of this new information that I didn’t want to stop skimming and really start reading to try and wrap my head around it all. So many new elements were introduced at the end that I just got confused, rolled my eyes, and tried to make out what was going on without actually putting any major effort in. Which was impossible.

Half way through the story I felt like all the characters around Luce knew something that she did not. Like every character. Except her best friend Penn who was just as clueless as Luce was. Actually, I knew they did, it was obvious, way too obvious that something was going on and she wasn’t seeing it. This took the enjoyment out of reading it because it felt like Luce was running around in circles while everyone watched, as if she were a pet on a leash tied to a tree trying to break free and run after its master, whom was watching and laughing at it. Luce nearly felt like the butt of a joke that no one cared sharing. Annoying. And not interesting.

Unfortunately the ‘shadows’ that Luce kept seeing didn’t get any more interesting. At first they were mysterious and scary but then they got boring and repetitive.

I like it when the main character doesn’t have to rely on anyone else to get her through the obstacles. When they amaze the other characters. Luce completely relied on Daniel at the end because she had to. She had no idea what was going on yet she pretended she did, blabbed on about things she thought she knew about but really she knew absolutely nothing. Because no one cared enough to let her know. Lauren Kate made Luce ignorant and stupid by decision.

I think the story had potential, but it fell flat. The storyline, characters and premise all fell flat. Maybe because I’m not that interested in angels? Or maybe because the premise didn’t give me anything to be interested in over angels. Either way, I am going to find it hard to read the second book of the series.

It must get better though because there are four books in total for this series. If it doesn’t then what the hell were the publishers thinking?

Oh please let them get better!

You can see why I only rated it one club! I rarely rate one club, but this book wholly deserved no more.

Miss J
x

Follow my book review blog at http://missbookreviews.wordpress.com/

[jeannamichel]

Luce sees strange things, shadows that she can’t explain away. After an incident at her old school, her parents send her to this school of screw-ups, some more dangerous than others. There, Luce meets Daniel who is nice to her one minute and cold the next. Daniel has some issues and they are all about to get involved with them.

I simply do not know why it has taken me this long to crack open this book. If I had known it was going to be great, I would have definitely read it sooner.

I loved the characters; they all had a distinct image about them. Roland was so sleek and cool, what with his dreadlocks and laid-backed-ness. Arraine was unusual and I could not quite figure her out. She has a past that no one quite knows about, but she is very friendly which makes her extremely likeable and almost trustworthy.

The writing was fantastic. The shadows really set the tone of the novel, when they come onto the page. There was beautiful imagery that, at times, took my breath away. Fallen gave a certain edge to everything with its nonstop action and likeable characters. Not to mention, there are a considerable amount of hunks in this novel that you will not was to miss.

However, there will always be questions that are not answered. Especially in a book series, of course the first novel will leave us hanging and wondering about some things. The last chapter wraps everything up all nicely, and then the epilogue sweeps on through and unwraps it again. I will definitely be reading the next installment and eagerly awaiting any of the books that release in the series.

These are one of those books that you can read over and over again. It is built in such a way that allows for an easy and fast read that you will never get tired of.

[Nicole Lynn]

This review previously appeared on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Book


My Review:



The novel centers around a girl named Luce Price who recently was sent to Sword & Cross boarding school in Savannah Georgia. The boarding school isn’t the New England type that most think of when boarding school pops up in the description. Instead this boarding school is a cross between a prison, mental ward, and school. The story takes the reader through Luce’s days attending the school and the other students she meets–in particular Daniel Grigori. Daniel becomes an obvious love interest, but so does another student–Cam. The novel weaves in some super natural and soon the Fallen angels do arrive into the story line. But i’ll leave you to read to figure out who’s who in this novel!

Onto the critique:

What I loved about Fallen was Kate’s writing. Most novels have good story lines that draw me in but average writing. Kate, however, has written her characters well. Even the secondary characters of the other students are written well. At the end of the novel I felt like I had understood each character’s behavior and quirkiness. I love when a writer can develop their characters not only in plot progression but in just developing a strong sense of the character before plot even begins. Kate did that in Fallen which drew me in to loving this novel even more.

What I also loved was her ability to add in the supernatural. Her setting added to this greatly, but I felt the supernatural additions were not over zealous or unbelievable. Some of it was subtle until there was enough basis to have it all out, guns blaring. I also loved the graveyard setting and the few hints Kate dropped in there about the fallen angel themes around certain characters (*snake”).

Along with the setting I felt that Kate also did well with the love triangle. I felt Luce’s pull to each love interest and although most avid readers could probably predict who she would end up with, I still enjoyed the suspense. The ending as well gave me the desire to move towards picking up the second novel, Torment. The ending was a little surprising, which I love because I’ve gotten good at predicting most endings with YA novels and love being surprised!

Overall I didn’t find any thing really wrong or worth pointing out that was bad. I know with reviews you need negative points, but i’m not really reviewing I’m just telling my experiences with books :) So with that in mind, I hope you have an opportunity to read this. If you are into the YA supernatural (not SciFi) genre, this is a great book to pick up. Although everyone reads at their own pace, I do think this would be a quick read just because the story line and writing is so enticing!

[Angie]

Perhaps I've been spoiled by the amazing books I've read this week, or this book really was just bad. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and found them either irritating (Luce and Daniel) or dull (Cam and Penn). I thought the reform school scenario was an interesting change of setting from other YA paranormal romances, but unfortunately it didn't add much to the story. This was less of a love story and more of a tale of a disturbed girl obsessing over a guy who was extremely rude to her straight off the bat, while leading on the boring, cute, nice guy. Oh, and she sees shadows which make bad things happen.

I found my eyes glazing over and my brain turning to mush as I read this. But again I think this may have more to do with it not holding up to the other books I've been reading. I didn't want to finish it, but I'm of the mind "it might get better." It did...a little.

One last note: A greater, cosmic, soul-mate connection does not make up for lack of chemistry! I saw nothing that drew Luce and Daniel together, but rather Daniel just tells Luce that they're drawn together and always immediately fall in love. So if Daniel says so, it must be so. Free will be damned!

[elysium]

Luce was in a fire where her boyfriend died and she gets shipped to a new school for troubled kids. On her first day there Luce sees Daniel and she gets the feeling they’ve met before but he makes it clear he doesn’t want anything to do with her. And then there’s this other guy who wants her...

I really wanted to like this more. I mean with this gorgeous cover you would hope the book lives up to it. And it made me sad that it didn’t and kept waiting it to get better which never happened.

Luce was ok but when she was near Daniel or Cam I just wanted to slap her.I mean I get she’s swooning for them but really... With back cover saying it’s the “ultimate love story” I was expecting some sparks. But I didn’t feel anything between Luce and Daniel. He spends nearly whole book running away from her and telling he doesn’t want her stalking and harassing him. He made it so clear and yet she she can’t let it go and goes into stalker mode. If I was being mean I’d called that pathetic. I couldn’t feel anything between them.

And then there’s Cam who’s supposed to be this charming, popular guy and of course he seems to know always how Luce feels and what she wants. They just gave me the creeps. Plain and clear. He gave me the feeling that he was 50+ old slimey guy after teenager. But maybe that’s just me.

And there wan’t lot going on. I kept waiting something to happen and when we learn about flallen angels I thought finally! But that didn’t really go anywhere and all we hear is that Luce can’t hear everything at once because it’s such a shock. Really?! At the ned there is a battle but we don’t see it so it kinda fell flat too.

Of course the school is supposed to be highly secured place where some wearstracking bracelets but still people just seems to sneak around when they feel like it.

In the end I felt there was too much telling and too little showing. But I’m saying again that I loved the cover.

[Kim Deister]

The first in the young adult paranormal Fallen series, Fallen is a contemporary retelling of the age-old, epic battle between good and evil. The premise of the plot was creative and unique, set around a reform school with the unlikeliest of heroes and villians. Sorting out the evil from the good was rarely possible and kept me engaged, but at times it seemed a little too tangled, a little muddy. I liked Kate's writing style, although there were some awkward pieces of dialogue and a few contradictory descriptions that pulled me out of the story a little. The characters were quirky and added interest to the story with their uniqueness. A cast of juvenile delinquents that are neither clearly good nor clearly evil and a reform school are not the usual elements of a "fallen angel" story and I think that made for a better story. Fallen is the first of a series so I didn't expect the story to unfold too quickly, nor did I expect to have all of my questions answered at the conclusion. However, I think the ending almost raised more questions than it answered, even with subsequent stories to come. At the end of the main story, clear lines were drawn. But the epilogue changed that, and the lines were blurred once again. Instead of being an excellent cliffhanger leading me to the next book, it left me feeling a little muddled. That being said, I did enjoy the book, and I am definately looking forward to the next novel.

The cover art, however, is absolutely stunning and is admittedly what drew me to the novel in the first place. I am a sucker for slightly dark art and it really appealed to me.

I gave it a 3.5 stars.

[rakesandrogues]

FALLEN has been on my to-read list for months now. I’ve been planning to read it for a while, but I never got around to it. However, I recently received an ARC of TORMENT from Random House, and I decided that it was about time that I read FALLEN.

One of the best things I liked about this book is the author’s voice. It did not take me more than a chapter to know that I was going to like it. As I read about Luce’s first day at Sword & Cross boarding school, I was hooked right from the beginning and I could not stop reading! I was hooked into the mystery and into Daniel Grigori and I could not wait until the mystery was unraveled.

Honestly, the shadows were creepy and scary, but at first they were very difficult to take seriously. The shadows are described as “the murky shapes [Luce] sometimes saw in the darkness” that were “usually accompanied by a cold chill under her skin, a sickening feeling unlike anything else”. Naturally, after reading that description, I immediately thought of the dementors in Harry Potter. The shadows described in Kate’s novel resembled the dementors; the only thing missing was a Patronus charm and Azkaban.

With the Potter reference aside, the shadows were still creepy. It bothered me even more that I could not quite figure out and predict when the shadows would turn up. Like Luce, they surprised me the various times that they popped up in the book.

I did go into the book knowing the secret behind Daniel’s history (darn GoodReads bookshelves) so I was not as shocked when I read the ending. I tried to find clues along the way that would hint what he could possibly be, but I did not catch anything except for the hints that related to his past with Luce.

The best thing that this book has got going is the romance. Lauren Kate knows how to make her readers turn into mush. The chemistry between Luce and the various male characters in the book is perfect. Daniel Grigori has this certain allure that will cause even readers to fall for a fictional character.

In terms of the plot, it is really predictable. It really does not leave you at the edge of your seat. I did have a vague sense of how the book was going to end, and I came pretty close to guessing how it left off. I was not really bothered by this because I was reading more for the romance and less about the supernatural elements. I’m not a huge paranormal reader, so my interests concerning the book lie elsewhere. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered in the next book, and I do hope that the plot picks up in the sequel. Still, I enjoyed reading FALLEN. FALLEN is similar to Becca Fitzpatrick’s HUSH, HUSH, so if you enjoyed that book, I think you will also enjoy this book. Similar plots, similar endings.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would! It exceeded a lot of my expectations and I think that it truly lives up to all the hype surrounding the book. If you have not read this book yet, don’t wait like I did! Read FALLEN now, and pick up the sequel straight away! Though I have a huge workload of schoolwork this week, I will make time for TORMENT. I don’t think I can wait anymore. I crave more Daniel Grigori.

Thank you so much to the team at RandomBuzzers for giving me an opportunity to review this book.