Fallen by Lauren Kate
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Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series has been phenomenally successful, the individual titles topping the bestseller lists around the world. These books, while arguably not the greatest works of literature (as Meyer herself honestly and refreshingly admits), have clearly shown what young female adults are looking for today - romantic fantasy with a supernatural edge. This is why, in June 2009, Random House Children’s Books acquired the first four titles of Lauren Kate’s Fallen series, with the opening title, Fallen, being published on December 17 in the UK, December 8 in the US.
Fallen is the story of seventeen year old Lucinda (or Luce as she is known). She falls in love with the good-looking and highly intelligent Daniel at their reform school but soon discovers that he is a fallen angel, cursed, destined neither to ascend to Heaven nor descend to Hell. The two realise that they have spent their lifetimes finding and losing one another, and face the final challenge to keep evil forces at bay and seek redemption for all.
Lauren Kate’s writing is accomplished, thankfully avoiding the unnecessarily flowery and long-winded narrative that often plague pages of romantic fantasy books. The reader’s interest is engaged early and, helped by a solid and ever-evolving plot, never lets go. This is a gothic love story featuring fallen angels and forbidden love (a winning formula) that will thrill and delight in equal measure.
Luce is described by a character in the book in these terms “you’re nothing more than you appear to be: a stupid, selfish, ignorant, spoiled little girl who thinks the world lives or dies on whether she gets to go out with some good-looking boy at school”. This shows that the author is under no illusions about her lead, and although it is a very harsh description, there are elements of truth in every statement. Luce is a teenage girl and she talks and behaves like a teenager. Although she may not be to everyone’s taste, readers of the same age will connect with Luce and very quickly find themselves falling completely under the book’s spell. It is this connection that will make this book such a huge success.
The setting is delightfully gothic, the highlight being the church that has been turned into a natatorium. The excerpt below shows Luce’s first impressions when encountering this wonderful creation:
“Inside the humid natatorium she instantly understood what Penn was talking about. The pool itself was giant, Olympic-sized, one of the few state-of-the-art features she’d encountered so far on this campus. But that wasn’t what made it remarkable, Luce realized in awe. This pool had been set down right in the middle of what used to be a massive church.”
Fallen: Chapter 6 - No Salvation
As Fallen comes to an end, there are still many unanswered questions that will leave its new fans eagerly anticipating the sequel, Torment, that will be available in September 2010. There are echoes of Milton’s Paradise Lost, the classic epic poem about the struggle for ascendancy between God and Satan and the consequences of the Fall, but at its heart Fallen is a love story, a story of doomed love admittedly, and a story that will strike a chord with many.
Who will this book appeal to most? A rule of thumb that would work in this instance is to look at the lead character, their gender and age, and use that as an answer. So, the ideal person for whom this would be a perfect Christmas present would be female and seventeen years old.
About the author
Lauren Kate recently finished her M.A. in Creative Writing at UC Davis, where she also teaches. She lives in Los Angeles, CA. Her first novel, The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove goes on sale one month before Fallen.
Fallen (Amazon.co.uk)
Author: Lauren Kate
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 464
Publication date: 2009-12-10
Publisher: Doubleday Children's Books
RRP: £9.99
Lowest new price: £3.98
Lowest used price: £4.00
Jenny from Norman, Oklahoma
"A big page turner... but vague... but then again thats what make a it a great page turner =) Great chartecters and developement."
Mariam from Leeds
"OMG !! I LOVE this book! I bought it a few dayss ago and couldn't wait to read it!! I'm soooo glad I bought it!! It had me stuck on the book like glue!! I couldn't stop reading it and was just longing that the book was much longer so I could have read on!! I'm really hoping there's a series of these books!! They would be a real hit!! LOVE IT!!"
Aleyah from South Carolina
"This book I have to say is in the top ten books I have ever read. It gives you chills and you're on the edge of your seat wanting to know what is going to happen next. I couldn't put it down. "
Victoria from Maryland
"Fallen was recommended to me by one of my friends and it has everything that I was looking for. It was sexy, breathtaking and most of all great for teenagers going through a rough relationship!"
Alice from Georgia
"Sorry Ms. Kate, but this book sucked. Seriously, it was very dull and much too dark for my liking. Also, it takes about three hundred pages to become a bit interesting. The protagonist comes off as obsessive and annoying. In addition, as a Christian the storyline was a little offensive."
Fallen Angel from Savannah
"I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! It has everything that I love in a book in it. It is sexy and very dark. Not so sure about Cam though..."
Zizi from UAE
"I haven't read the book yet... oz i live in UAE and can't find in any bookstores!!! Can any1 tell from where I can get this book in UAE bookstores???????? P.S I have heard it is a lot like Twilight."
Megiie from England
"I LOVE IT! It is such a sweet story, and it almost brought me to tears when he finally tells her the truth. I don't usually like love stories, but this one I loved. Can't wait for the next book, Torment, to come out!!!!!"
Breige from Glasgow, Scotland
"Gave this book a 9, cant give it a 10 cause that belongs to Twilight Saga (sorry). My mum bought this book for me in Amsterdam last week on a mother-daughter trip (which was fab). Started reading it on the plane home and have not been able to put it down since - its really good - very gothic and eerie! Cant wait to finish it and get the next one "Torment" I think it is called - hope its a follow up to Luce and Daniel - although I also like Cam!!! Angelic to say the least - keep the story going!"
Lillie from Florida
"OMG!!! I CANT WAIT FOR TORMENT!!!....it was so sad when Penn died but I loved the whole book anyways... better than Twilight...(I'M SORRY EDWARD)... lol looks like I found my new favorite book series... and my new dream guy (DANIEL GRIGORI)... OMG I dunno if I can make it until Autumn... AHHH!... lol loved it!"
Emily from Louisiana
"GAH!!!! DON'T TELL WHAT HAPPENS!!!!! OTHER PPL WANT TO READ IT!!!!!!"
Elsie from Taipei
"Oh, I love it so much. I believe it will be a succesfull series in the future."
Athena from England
"IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! My second fave book in the whole world. Sorry, but Harry Potter has stolen my heart away. It is nothing like Twilight, by the way the Twilight saga sucks, no offence to Meyer. I would rather go out with Daniel Grigori than hairy chest Cullen. Anyway, glues your eyes to the page, no joke. Immensely awesome!"
Roda from San Diego
"I love, love this book. I can't wait for Torment. I'm in love with the characters, especially Daniel Grigori and Luce."
Feli from Tampa, FL
"The BEST!!! Love it, sorry better than Twilight!!! Very AWESOME, love it, love it, love it!!!!!"
Claire from Ireland
"OMG!!! This book was amazing, it was so moving and unpredictable. Luce - I loved her. She is so realistic and doesn't try to be perfect, she is a strong, beautiful, smart and determined. She just rocks! :) And Daniel, well I can't say anything or I'll never stop; know that he is breath taking and while I loved Edward in the books I can't help feeling that I love Daniel more. He is so way more mysterious, rude and utterly compelling. LK's views on angeology are different and incredible. Unputtdownable."
Jaxter from Australia
"This book was amazing! It was like I couldn't put the book down because I was to anxious to find out what was going to happen next. I'm not much of a Twilight fan but this book was so interesting. I recommend making it into a movie. To all you people who aren't in to love stories, this book will change your point of view =]"
Song from Wherever
"A good read, but left me a little dry towards the end. I felt like there was so much going on in the plot that nothing was elaborated that much at all. There should have been a good elaboration on a little part of the mystery, not big helping of vague little bits. No doubt the next book will (hopefully) explain more, but the mysteries should have been served in balance. In Fallen, it was definitely not balanced. Kate should have tackled each thing slowly, one at a time, instead of introducing a handful of wonders leading to the inevitable and annoying "Book of Explanations" that becomes the sequel."
Rashida from Houston
"While Lauren Kate has a way with words, I found myself very bored while reading this. It was slow to build up and I found myself not interested at all in Daniel or Luce's star crossed romance. I love romance, but I also cannot stand sappy love stories. The fact that about 90 percent of the book focused on Luce obsessively finding out stuff about Daniel was grating. And, sorry to say... I love Cam better. He may not be good or perfect, but I found him much more real as the anti-hero. This puts me in the minority for sure, but there you have it. "
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