Review: Unforgiven by Lauren Kate

Unforgiven by Lauren Kate (review copy) - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

High school can be hell.

Cam knows what it’s like to be haunted. He’s spent more time in Hell than any angel ever should. And his freshest Hell is high school, where Lilith, the girl he can’t stop loving, is serving out a punishment for his crimes.

Cam made a bet with Lucifer: he has fifteen days to convince the only girl who really matters to him to love him again. If he succeeds, Lilith will be allowed back into the world, and they can live their lives together. But if he fails . . . there’s a special place in Hell just for him.

Tick-tock. From Goodreads.

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Review: Rapture by Lauren Kate

Rapture by Lauren Kate (review copy) - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoiled for you.

The sky is dark with wings...

And time is running out for Luce and Daniel.

In order to stop Lucifer from erasing the past, they must find the place where the Fall began. Only Luce can break the curse, and it is her choice alone that will decide all of their fates.

But as Dark Forces gather, great sacrifices will have to be made in this final, epic struggle...

In the fight for Luce, and for Love, who will win? From Amazon UK

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Review: Passion by Lauren Kate

Passion by Lauren Kate (review copy) - WARNING! This is the third book in a series. I cannot review this book without spoiling the first two. Do not read any further if you plan on reading the first two and don't want them to be spoilt for you.

Before Luce and Daniel met at Sword & Cross, before they fought the Immortals, they had already lived many lives. And so Luce, desperate to unlock the curse that condemns their love, must revisit her past incarnations in order to understand her fate. Each century, each life, holds a different clue.
But Daniel is chasing her throughout the centuries before she has a chance to rewrite history.
How many deaths can one true love endure?
And can Luce and Daniel unlock their past in order to change their future? From Amazon UK

When I received Passion for review, I was so excited to read it! Finally, the third book! Now I could find out what happened after Luce stepped through the Announcer, and what would happen between her and Daniel! Though I was slightly worried; would Passion live up to the epicness that is Fallen and Torment? Too right it would!

Following Luce as she visited her past lives was just so awesome! Seeing all the different people she was, all the personalities, was just genius. We get to witness the good, the bad and the ugly of what it means to be involved in the curse, exactly what the curse does, and it's just so cool! Kate obviously did a whole lot of research for this novel, because there is just so much detail about the time period of each life - the way people spoke, how they dress, the culture, and the "history lessons" provided by Bill - one of the Scale, a kind of Announcer tour guide, Luce meets on her time-travels. The things Luce learns and discovers, and the things she realises she already knew as she sees each past incarnation of herself and the Daniel of the time is just beautiful! Seriously, it's so moving and touching, and just truly beautiful!

What's also great is that we get to see Daniel's side of things too as he tries to follow and catch up with Luce as she jumps through time. How much he cares for her and how much he's suffered over the centuries just pours out of the pages, you can just feel it. And it's through him that we realise just how dangerous it is for Luce to jump through her past lives - changing things could be disastrous, to both their lives. Either way though, it's Daniel, and I love him, so I was always going to enjoy being in his head.

My god, the ending! It's not quite as big a cliff-hanger as the previous two, but with the immense and mind blowing events that leas up to it, a massive "what happens immediately next?" inducing cliff-hanger ending isn't necessary. Because the next book is going to be huge. No, colossal! When you think about the events that lead up to the end of Passion, and with what Luce and Daniel will have to face in the next book? There is no doubt in my mind that it's going to be more awe-inspiring than anyone could possibly imagine.

A fair few of out questions are answered in this book, but I do believe there are still some left to answer. I still think there is more importance to Luce than we're told in Passion, from the behaviour of some of the other characters in previous books, and at some points on Passion. But it's nice to have that "Oh!" moment when you finally start to understand things.

If I was to criticise at all, I would have to say I would have liked Luce's time in her past lives to have been longer. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Daniel and the various Lucinda incarnations together. However, if that was the case, Passion would have been incredibly long - it's already over 400 pages, so I can understand for the length and for the actual plot/Luce's purpose why the visits weren't as long as I would have liked.

I have said before that no-one writes love like Kate does - not as beautifully, nor as breath taking - and that's still the case in Passion. There were moments where I could have just died over how beautiful amazing and real it all was, but because of the amount of page time spent in each past life, and because present day Luce and Daniel don't spend an awful amount of time together, these moments don't last very long It was a shame, but it was still absolutely beautiful, and despite it being fiction, it gives me hope.

Passion is a fantastic book! It's absolutely amazing and such a page turner! All Fallen fans should read it immediately. You do not want to miss out on this brilliant third instalment. Now, where did I leave Fallen and Torment? I believe I need to start reading this series all over again.

Thank you to RHCB for sending me a review copy.



Published: 23rd June 2011
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Buy on Amazon US
Lauren Kate's Website
Fallen Website

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Review: Torment by Lauren Kate

Torment by Lauren Kate (ARC) - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling Fallen, the first in the series. Do not read any further if you plan on reading Fallen and do not want to be spoilt.

In "Torment", fallen angel Daniel and his mortal love Lucinda think they are safe but evil forces are massing against them. As Luce learns more about her past, and discovers that the lives she's already lived hold the key to her future happiness; she starts to wonder if Daniel has told her the whole truth. What if his version of events isn't the way things happened? What if that means that she's really meant to be with someone else? From Amazon UK

I fell in love with Luce and Daniel's story in Fallen, and was beyond excited and frustrated when I finished the book; excited because it was just so wow, frustrated because I had so many questions and had to wait so long for Torment! So I ws thrilled when the lovely ladies of Random House UK handed out bound manuscripts of Torment as gifts to the bloggers who came to the Book Bloggers Meet Up in May. And now I've read it, all I can say is OH MY GOD!

I am reeling with amazement as I write this at how incredible Torment is! The writing skill Kate just blows me away. We have a whole slew of new characters who are just so real they could jump out of the page, a plot that is just so believable, a rollercoaster of emotions that will tug at the heart strings, and so much excitement you won't be able to sit still!

You know those questions I mentioned earlier that were left over from Fallen? Well now I have a whole lot more to add to the list. Kate has this brilliant way of just scratching the surface of what's going on, giving you - and Luce - just a glimpse of what is the heart of, well, everything that makes this story, without really answering any questions, yet keeping you turning the pages like your life depended on it. I can't tell you how maddening - in a good way - it is to still not know what's going on! Kate drops hints throughout, and I have my theories, but who knows if they're right? It's just fantastic, I am completely gripped by this story!

We have a few new characters who make an entrance in Torment. Shelby, Luce's roommate at her new school, is great; she's sarcastic, she's a little rough sometimes, but altogether someone you would enjoy being around. Jasmine and Dawn are brilliant, both really sweet and excitable - Dawn especially, just the cutest thing ever. Then there's Miles, the sweetest, loveliest guy! Just adorable! They're all brilliant!

The love between Luce and Daniel is just so wow. I am unable to describe it eloquently. It's this big, wonderful, scary thing that is just overwhelming to read about. It's huge, it's poweful, it's endless - and it's really quite beautiful. Kate's may be some of, if not the best descriptions of all encompassing love I have ever read. It really is amazing how brilliantly Kate puts something so undescribable into words. It's one of the things that makes me love this series so much; not only is the plot exciting and intriguing, the love is just so real it's almost palpable.

The main action, like in Fallen, comes right at the end. There are smaller action scenes throughout the book, but the main event is towards the very end. Luce gets to see more this time round than in Fallen, and it's just awesome to see the angels at work. Really impressive, really exciting, really worrying! I loved it!

The ending! Oh my god, the ending! Such a cliffhanger, with all those added questions! I am dying to find out what will happen, but the next book in the series, Passion, who's publication date is yet to be announced, covers Luce's past lives, so is more of a prequel than a sequel. I cannot wait for the next two books, the wait for them is going to be torture! If you haven't already, you really need to start this series, it's so far beyond amazing there are no words!

Thanks to Random House for the review copy.

Published: 30th September 2010 in UK, 28th September 2010 in US
Publisher: Random House UK, Delecourte Books for Young Readers in US
Buy on Amazon UK
Buy on Amazon US
Lauren Kate's Website
Fallen UK Website

My review of Fallen

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Fluttering Butterflies
Sarah's Book Reviews
Girls Without a Bookshelf

Continue reading Review: Torment by Lauren Kate

Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen by Lauren Kate (ARC/Proof) - 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 that come with dealing with Daniel and trying to work out 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 Luce 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 out 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. It 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, and so 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!

Thank you to Random House for giving me this book to review.

Release Date: 17th December 2009 in UK, 8th December 2009 in US
Publisher: Doubleday (imprint of Random House)
Pre-order on Amazon UK
Pre-order on Amazon US
Lauren Kate on Random House
Fallen Website

Other Reviews:
Chicklish
So Many Books, So Little Time
The Story Siren

Continue reading Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate