FALLEN by Lauren Kate

Book One in Fallen Series

Delacourte Press

December 8^th, 2009

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Young Adult

Paperback

Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)

Obtained by Publisher

 

Luce Price has no idea what draws her to the mysterious Daniel Grigori. He captured her attention the moment she spotted him at the Sword & Cross boarding school. The one bright thing in a place where cell phones are banned and it feels like you are being watched 24/7. But as Luce wants to know  more about Daniel, Daniel is trying to stay away from the girl who makes him feel things, things he shouldn’t feel and if Luce figures out what he is hiding, there will be death on Daniel’s hands.

FALLEN is one of those books where you can not, no way, no how put down even to go run to the bathroom or the kitchen for a drink. It is heartbreaking, otherworldly and more all wrapped up with a bow. Ms. Kate is a new author to me and one I fell in love with. Her world building is amazing. She completely had me transfixed for an afternoon as I flipped the pages, eager to see if Luce and Daniel will finally figure out they are made for one another even as forces conspire against them. The author does an amazing job in creating characters that fairly leap off the pages, right into the bedroom, acting out the scene right in front of you. I loved all the twists and turns this author delivered and after that last page was read, needed more.

There are some issues that made me wonder where the author was going, namely Luce’s constant look for answers yet at times, it felt like she never saw what was right in front of her. It made liking her a tad difficult at times because all I wanted to do was shake her silly and tell her to open her eyes. But it works in the end of FALLEN. Luce isn’t a kick butt heroine, she is just a young girl trying to keep her parents from finding out the boarding school is not a good one, that saving her friend means running into a graveyard at dark and to be thrown into a world where paranormal creatures she only thought where fiction lived and roamed. I have to give the author credit in creating Luce. She is definitely not one of the more action-y heroines but one that eventually grew on me. There were a few other secondary characters that were intriguing and the romance between Luce and Daniel was one where you didn’t know if you should root for them or not. That was okay for me. The premise of fallen angels was a different one for me and FALLEN delivered even if the ending had me going to the computer for book two.

FALLEN is one of those books where you need to keep an open mind to it. Yes, the pacing is a bit slow at times and it may seem like the main heroine is a bit dim but she doesn’t have any magical powers or anything which is a refreshing change in my opinion in a tired paranormal genre. Luce stands out as a young human girl who is in over her head but determined to do the right thing. I can’t wait to see where the author takes this series in book two. Ms. Kate has definitely become one of my go to authors now in the young adult genre.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement