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

[Linda]

I'm a little torn here, the book was getting a lot better towards the end, but the beginning was really hard to get into. And I didn't love it, although I did like it, and will read Torment very soon.
I just feel like most of what happened in the book could have been a little faster paced.
Luce is nice enough, but I think she should have caught on to some things quicker, not doubt herself so much.

[Eve1972]

This was just OK for me.

[celinenyx]

Seventeen-Year-Old Luce is a new student at Sword & Cross, an unwelcoming boarding/reform school in Savannah, Georgia. Luce's boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances, and now she carries the guilt over his death with her as she navigates the unfriendly halls at Sword & Cross, where every student seems to have an unpleasant - even evil - history. Her history is no stranger to evil as it involves the 'shadows' that have plagued Luce since childhood and always appear when something bad is going to happen.

It was a nice book. Sword & Cross was positively gloomy, both Cam and Daniel were incredibly sexy, Penn was sweet, Luce is credibly emotional messed up and the shadows kinda creeped me out after a while. The angel thing was subtly done and not rushed. You can see Luce starting to admit the truth; she wasn't normal anyway.

To me it felt a bit like Twilight, how it should have been. Light, fast, a smooth read that leaves you wanting for more. And with real danger, not just some sparkly sparkly "marble" vampires that think themselves to be the shit. If you think about it, no one ever got hurt in Twilight. I like that Lauren Kate took a little risk here and ventured to kill off some of the characters that we really liked. It fits the story nicely.

(Spoiler)
I can't help but compare Miss Sophia to Rebel Angels' Miss Moore. It was more of a shock in Rebel Angels, but the betrayal of an older person the protagonist confided in felt similar. And in both cases, I liked not everyone is to be trusted.

Nice love story and good young-adult book.

[Jo]

After the mysterious death of a boy she knew in a fire when they snuck off during a party, Luce is sent to reform school, Sword and Cross, when she can't explain what happened. Trying to come to terms with the death, deal with her guilt, and escape the weird shadows that seem to follow her everywhere isn't easy, especially when all she can think about is Daniel. Absolutely gorgeous, he does his best to hurt her at every turn. Luce can't figure out what his problem is, but nor can she get over her attraction to him. It should be easy when the equally gorgeous Cam is showering her with attention, but she can't shake the feeling that she knows Daniel from somewhere.

What Luce doesn't know is that Daniel holds a secret, one that involves her. If she was to get too close and find out, it could quite literally kill her.

I have one word for you: WOW! This book is absolutely amazing! I can't tell you just how good this book is. I was dying to get to the end and find out just what was happening, and was despairing over my slow reading pace. Seriously, this book is awesome!

The characters in this book are just amazing! Luce is great, but troubled and disturbed. Thinking she's mad because of these shadows that are always there, and trying to figure out how on earth Trevor died. And then she has to deal with the confusing emotions the come with dealing with Daniel and what his problem is. Daniel himself is still a bit of a mystery, but amazingly gorgeous. You can't help but feel sorry for him when you find out his story.

Arriana, the girl who takes Luce under her wing when she starts school, is just fantastic! You never know whether to trust her or not as you go through the book, as she's just mental! She's the most quirkiest person I've ever read about and I couldn't help but love her! Penn, another of Luce's good friends at Sword and Cross, is awesome with her easy friendship and accepting Lucy straight away, but also with her sneaky ways, reading people's files, and hacking into computers. She's a lovely little spy.

There are so many questions that come up as you read through this book, and you don't really find ut any answers until you get to the end. However, this doesn't make the story slow at all. Lauren Kate has a clever knack for keeping you engrossed even when not too much is happening, by having bits of information inserted along the way, which just leads to even more questions, and although you know a few details of the story that Luce doesn't, you're dying to get to the part where Luce does find out, so you can get all these other questions answered and find out why. Really, you can't turn the pages fast enough.

As to the forbidden love, the chemistry, how deep the attraction goes between Luce and Daniel and how quickly, I was kind of thinking "Really? Already?" but saying that, I have reacted that way before when reading other stories. I think I tend to miss tiny little things in the first read through, and when I read through again, everything piles up, and how deeply the main characters feel makes much more sense. So maybe another read through is needed for me. But there is one word to describe it: intense. You could cut the sexual tension between the two of them, and as you're reading, you're just dying for Daniel to stop being a git and just kiss the girl already!

The action in this story is awesome, but there isn't a huge amount of it, because Luce needs to be kept safe so she is removed fromt he situation. I would have liked a little bit more description; I have a very visual imagination, and so when I read, I see it all, but I had a little trouble picturing "shadow-locusts" - but then again, maybe you can't really picture them, being shadowy. There is a twist you don't expect at all, and are shocked beyond anything. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat, I'm telling you.

An awesome story, but don't expect many of your questions to be answered in this book. There is a kind of cliff hanger, and the end leaves you with even more questions. But as the summery says, Daniel's secret could kill Luce, so instead of a flood of answers, you get a trickle. It is torture, but it's good torture.

It would be very easy to compare Fallen to other books with a similar premise. I urge you not to. Don't pick this book up with any others in mind. Fallen is an amazing book on it's own, and you'll be doing this awesome book a serious injustice if you compare as you go along. Close your mind to any other books, sit back, and just enjoy!

I cannot wait to read the next book in this series, Torment. Seriously, Fallen is unbelievably good, and I may just have to read it again soon. You need this book!