Fallen by Lauren Kate
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So here we are… reading a YA novel about angels and demons. I know a lot of readers were pretty disappointed with the book, the first of a series of four. Volume 1 of the Fallen Series by Lauren Kate is definitely an enjoyable tale of love between a human and a fallen angel. While the theme is not original, the execution happens to be good. Is it the best book I’ve ever read? Certainly not. But I can say I at least finished it.
Lucinda just turned seventeen. After being involved in the death of her boyfriend Trevor, she attends Sword and Cross reform school with many other kids who also are considered problematic. Lucinda doesn’t think she’s a criminal but all the evidence plays in her disfavor. She experiences strange visions of shadows that haunts every one of her idle moments, and she’s extremely scared. She doesn’t know how to get rid of the shadows, and believes she’s losing her mind the more she sees them appear before her anywhere she goes. Lucinda makes friends with the other schoolmates, and she falls in love with Daniel, a beautiful seventeen year old boy who doesn’t seem to be the least interested in her, but Lucinda has the strange feeling Daniel and her have met before.
While Lucinda seeks love, she becomes the target of a war she’s unable to fully understand. Cam, another handsome classmate, does everything to seduce her. She likes the attention she’s getting but her heart strongly longs for Daniel. Which boy will finally win her affection and show her his true colors?
Lucinda bothered me because she’s a bit dull. I wanted her to be stronger and more assertive. Daniel and Cam are very complex characters and I liked how the author played a lot with their dark and conflicted personalities to oppose them or bring them together. Regarding the rest of the cast, I like Arianne, and Penn, two characters with very distinctive voices.
Overall, Fallen opens the gate to an intricate story I’m curious about. Lots of awesome ideas, but I want Lucinda to become a tougher cookie. Hopefully I won’t be disappointed with Volume 2.
The Manicheans 
I think the series leaves you feeling like that a lot. I LOVED the third book. it was fast paced and weaved a tale through time, but it still didn’t answer a fundamental question of why. The why I’ve been wanting to know through the whole series, and I think she really should have given the original story….
Now that you’re done…read Wilde’s Fire!