Fallen #4 Rapture

A beautiful cover and a highly anticipating conclusion. Presenting Fallen #4 Rapture by Lauren Kate.

Here is the summary of the book:

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? The astonishing conclusion to the FALLEN series. Heaven can't wait any longer.

My history with the Fallen series - loved the first book, didn't think much about the second or the third book, loved the novella and the finale was totally the best. Rapture, was absolutely a great ending to this series, all the loose ends are tied up and a beautiful and a fitting ending too. So, Luce, Daniel, Cam, Roland, Molly, and the others are on a time sensitive mission. Fallen Angels and Demons have come together to put a stop to Lucifer's mechanization......nobody wants to take the headlong dangerous fall twice and Luce is at the center of it all....by the end of it things definitely become much more clearer than ever......about the curse...about Luce's inability to remember her past lives before and what had really happened with Daniel and why Luce is the one on whom it all depended........definitely a great read.

There is  definitely a surreal awakening among the characters this time. Luce knows what to look for now after her run-ins with her past incarnations, she now knows what Daniel means to her. Daniel on the other hand is as steadfast as ever and a constant support and comfort to Luce whenever she doubts herself. The others provide a constant secondary support towards the flow of the story....all of them necessary in order to maintain the length and the mood.

As far as the religion concept is the series.....well i'm not Christian and i'm don't really prefer religion concepts but since there is angelogy involved (I find the topic......the myths.....the history and the folklore about Angels very fascinating) so I couldn't resist it.

As far as the plot is considered, Lauren Kate exceeds expectations with this marvelous finale. Without making it a huge info dump, she pens a perfect conclusion to this wonder. Every details, every aspects, how the characters go through all the trouble to stop Lucifer in his infernal plans and break the curse. The climax sure gave it a surreal feel of a job well done. A fitting end to the Fallen saga.

"Lauren Kate exceeds expectation - A fitting and an exhilarating end to the Fallen Saga"

Genre :      Young Adult, Mythology, Romance


Publisher: Random House


My Copy: Random House India


Rate:              5/5 (It was Awesome)

Fallen #3.5 Fallen In Love

There are many kinds of love in the world, present in all shapes and forms, present all around us. A toast to the day celebrating love, aka Valentin'e Day; presenting this short Fallen #3.5 Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate.

Here is the summary of the book:

Unexpected. Unrequited. Forbidden. Eternal. Everyone has their own love story. And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories combine over the course of a romantic Valentine's Day in Medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding-and losing love. Arianne pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first -and last- time, Daniel and Luce will spend a night together like none other. Lauren Kate's FALLEN IN LOVE is filled with love stories . . . the ones everyone has been waiting for. True love never says goodbye. . .  

The final book of the Fallen series is about to come out and its time for a little love fest (well Valentine's Day is already gone for the year but so what..) in this short featuring our favorite characters Miles, Shelby, Rowland, Cam, Arianne, Tess and of course the main couple Daniel and Lucinda.

This short happens just around the end of the third book, Passion when Daniel sends Miles and Shelby back to their own time in the announcer but something goes wrong and instead they wound up in another era and on Valentine's day to be exact, a prehistoric version of the fest and another incarnation of Lucinda awaiting to spend this day with Daniel. To make this happen, so that they at least are able to spend one and only Valentine's Day together, the others help remembering snippets of their own loves and of loves lost and gained in that era.

Fallen in Love, is an ode to love, one of the most basic of emotions in whether mortals, angels or demons. Lauren Kate's narrative is as beautiful, fluid and tranquil as ever, making us readers feel what the characters are feeling along. Love can be of any kind; friendship, of the same sex, between parents and their children, requited, unrequited, or the kind of love transcending through time that Daniel and Lucinda share between them. That little surprise called the excerpt from Rapture at the end of the book just marks the cake finishing...so excited to know the end.

"Fallen in Love, is an ode to love"

Genre :      Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance


Publisher: Delacorte Press Books


Rate:              4/5 (Really Liked It)

Fallen: #3 Passion

Background is always great when you are dealing with series'. And Fallen #3 Passion by Lauren Kate delivers it fully.

Here is the summary of the book:

"Every single lifetime, I'll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever." Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . . Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last. Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.

Passion takes off straight after Torment ends. With the shocking end of book 2 where Luce steps through time to find out her history with Daniel. Luce, Daniel, the remaining angels and demons, as well as Luce's Nephilim friends jumped into the Announcer at the end of Torment. It was pretty exciting to see more of Luce and Daniel's story and how her past lives played into their current love. Passion does not disappoint. The reader is taken through many of their different romances and you learn along with Luce how much they really do love each other and in Luce's thoughts if she should be with Daniel or not. It was a nice change of pace to have the chapters alternate between Luce and Daniel and get his perspective on different situations, considering we didn't know very much about him for the first two books. We finally get more of his personality and his feelings for Luce. In her quest Luce's confusion about Daniel and their past becomes clearer and things begin to look up until a creature Luce has befriended and trusted along the way surprises her.

It was extremely enlightening in terms of the curse that has followed Luce and Daniel throughout the depths of time. As Luce journeys through her past lives, readers finally begin to obtain the many answers that Daniel was so keen to keep away from Luce, such as what it feels like to die in her lover's arms, whether she has a choice to fall in love with Daniel, and much more. I really enjoyed the narrative style as it follows both Luce and Daniel on their separate journeys through time as Daniel attempts to find Luce in the maze of their past lives, giving the reader important background knowledge about both characters.

Be warned though Ms. Kate switches up the entire format of her writing style in this book. Sometimes as readers we come to expect a particular style from the authors we enjoy. Passion does not follow the same written pattern developed in the first two books in this series. Having said that, it did not deter me from enjoying this read. Ms. Kate is an incredible writer. Her narrative is delightfully poetic and powerful.

Luce grew in this book more than in any of the preceding books and she found out that the love she felt for Daniel was real and significant, among other things. In all of her lives, Luce was taught a lesson that brought her closer to the ultimate truth that she learns by the end of the book. The love that Daniel and Luce feel in every lifetime if breathtaking, and Daniel's heartbreak from every one of Luce's deaths in excruciating. Daniel's Journey in this book is also important because he is not just chasing Luce, he also finds himself revisiting important moments in his own history that make him remember why he never gave up after all this time. He renews his own hope and understanding of his situation and believes in his choice all over again. The setting of the individual lifetimes come to life and made us feel as if we were there too.

Passion is the perfect example of starcrossed lovers. Throughout so many centuries, they had to suffer knowing that they loved each other so much, but that their love could be destroyed in the blink of an eye. One thing that I would have liked was that the other characters had a bigger part. I saw no Gabbe or Arriane. There was barely any Shelby or Miles moments. But then again, this was Luce's and Daniel's story, so they didn't really need to have a big part in it.

But there is still a big question as to why Daniel chose Luce. 

In both Fallen and Torment, we understood that Luce and Daniel were fated to be together. Now, after actually seeing how their love played out through history, I found myself really rooting for their love to stand the test of time. It would be lovely to see more of modern-day Luce and Daniel together, but understanding where they come from, and how Daniel has suffered with each of Luce's incarnations, makes their love all the more tangible. So now i'm definitely looking forward for the final book Rapture, and I can't want to see if the curse can be broken so that Luce and Daniel's love will survive past Luce's 17th year.

Genre :      Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance


Publisher: Delacorte Press


Rate:              4/5 (Really liked it)

Fallen: #2 Torment

One drawback for trilogies or series - the ones coming after the first book just serve the middle and as expected the final novel always ends the series with a bang. Book 2 of the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, Torment is mediocre at best and a little disappointment at best.

Here is the summary of the book:

Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts - immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students -Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something - something dangerous. What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

So I began Torment without reading the reviews and since I really liked Fallen. I was really hoping that torment would be just as good and exciting. Unfortunately, it was not as good as the first. Luce is so whiny that she becomes extremely annoying. Come on being independent is an admirable trait but girl you should let the guys do the work and not venture into things you clearly don't understand. I almost put it down for good more than once. Luce is away from Daniel for a few short days and starts questioning her love for him and thinks that maybe she would rather be with Miles a boy from the new school. Cliff hangers as long as the rest of the book has something remotely interesting going on. The best part of this book for me were the side characters and the abilities of the shadows (announcers).

Within its pages Torment has an interesting and entertaining cast of characters both old and new, the ups and downs of teenage love, the search for identity, and the ultimate question of what is good and what is evil. The book ends with a promise of more in the next installment. Daniel has hidden Luce away in a new school filled with Nephilm students who are full of surprises. Luce finds new friends, new talents, and finds herself questioning everything she believes in, including Daniel. Meanwhile, Daniel is in and out fighting an unknown enemy, and occasionally drops in to churn the emotional waters. At the school, Luce is more comfortable and less of an outsider than she ever was at Sword and Cross, but it's what she doesn't know that still haunts her. Eventually, she learns the Shadows that plague her are windows to events from her lives, both current and past. She intends to manipulate them and illuminate her relationship with Daniel. The problem? The Shadows only reveal a glimpse. Sometimes partial understanding is more misleading than none at all. Ultimately, viewing her past confuses Luce. And, adding to her sense of bewilderment is Luce's new friend Miles, a warm, funny, open guy who is so different than Daniel.

Like Fallen this one also starts out slow and after halfway through reading Luce whining about life and everything in secret - all the time she is with the others we don't see a hint of sadness in her - she seems to be enjoying herself with other but in secret, when alone would whine for just about anything. The second half picked up, though, when relentless action and a few unsuspecting plot twists are thrown in. From there, I was willing to finish it, and really got absorbed into the story. 

The love Daniel has for Luce is to die for - literally swoon-worthy. There were some things however that got on my nerves in this book sometimes. Daniel treated Luce at times like she was a child, telling her exactly what she could and couldn't do. In my opinion that is something you just don't do to someone you love- unless you have a good reason and even a good reason is only justified by letting the other person know exactly why and the reasons behind it. Daniels desire to protect Luce by sheltering her and not believing she is stronger than he gives her credit for may have been his only downfall in this story.

Luce on the other hand had me wanting to reach in a smack her hard a couple of times. Of course its normal to miss your boyfriend when he's not around but God knows he's fighting people who what to kill you!! I think that might have a little more priority over your need to have him by your side! Well A - He's fighting for your life! B- He left Heaven for you! C- He breaks the truce to sneak back to see you because he can't bear to be without you! D- When you were with him, your conversations ended with you picking a fight because he wouldn't tell you what you wanted to hear. Really??! How much more could you ask of him? In Fallen in thought "thank God at least she is not like Bella" but I had to eat my words in here. Although I'm well against comparing Twilight with almost anything but my fingers are itching to do just that.

Also Luce seems to garner a naive sense about Good and Evil, Angels and Demons or Dark and light - not good at all. Even a lay man can understand Light cannot exist without Dark, Good cannot exist without evil (or bad)  and angels and demons may not be as different as they seems - they are all parts or shall I say two sides of the same coins. Take for example Light and Darkness - Light exists to eradicate darkness - after every night comes a new day, with new hope.

Though she was acting like a fool a lot of times but it is understandably clear as to why she takes a lot of decisions in here and her reasons. All she did was question whether or not she was supposed to be with Daniel, which is ok, but she was all over the place. The constant whining was redundant. I know I have already mentioned this but it really made me angry.

Although no questions asked Miss Kate is a great author. She can write and she writes like a pro. The prose in both the books was amazing. But Torment really tormented me. That said I know I shouldn't read Passion (read it already anyway) but the covers are beautiful and only two are left. So moving onto Passion now.

Genre :      Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance


Publisher: Delacorte Press


Rate:              3/5 (Liked it)

Fallen: #1 Fallen

Once in a while you really get some good enough young adult novels which don't have a way of sticking to you without feeling super-imposed and does not make you cringe like a certain sparkly vampire does. Fallen by Lauren Kate does just that.

Here is the summary of the book:

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Fallen is a compelling, dark and sexy page turner with a heavy Gothic element. It is a rather long, drawn out excursion into the teen world of peer pressure, alienation and supernatural boyfriends. But I guess if you enjoy immersing yourself into gothic, forlorn atmospheres and long for intimacy things that creep in the night you'll most likely enjoy what lies within.The plot is pretty simple and easy to get into. Luce, our protagonist enters Sword & Cross, a school for troubled teens, that looks and feels like a prison - in other words, a madhouse - she doesn't expect anything, much less an inexplicably hot guy, to whom she feels completely drawn to, so much that she practically stalks him. Meet Daniel. Daniel who want nothing - and has made it very clear - with Luce.

A good portion of the book centers around Luce and Daniel's relationship. Luce comes across Daniel and is enamored by him. While it is swoon worthy but sometimes it felt downright annoying and made me remember Twilight and I must say i'm well past my obsession over the sparkly abominations of nature. But instead of vampire we have Fallen angels which is a very much interesting concept for me. I'm not a christian nor do I know every nook and cranny of the bible but yes Fallen angels do interest me a lot and so I decided to read it and I must say it is much better than Twilight. Plus the characters are (well most of the characters are) funny and entertaining. Such as, Arriane, my favorite, who is funny, the most entertaining, and certifiably insane.

As Luce is trying to get closer to Daniel, Daniel is making it pretty obvious to Luce that he doesn't want anything to do with her. I should also add that Daniel has a better self control than our resident sparkly cullen vampire seems to have towards Bella. The longer she stays away from him the safer she will be. Can she put him out of her mind and stay away? What will happen if they get together? Will digging into the past get her killed in the end?

Miss Kate had me wear my thinking cap for quite some time and had me thinking why is Luce infatuated with Daniel if there is this hot guy completely falling for her is she crazy! Daniel was rude to Luce on many occasions and I guess the woman in me was getting upset on how she would just keep chasing after him. When everything unraveled only then did I understand why Daniel acted the way he did and ended up in love with his character. Fallen is a story of an age old battle. A battle that has been tested since the dawn of time. The fate of all eternal souls resting in the hands of star crossed lovers. Very biblical don't you think?

The book starts pretty slow clearly Lauren Kate took her time developing the characters. Fallen opens up with a prologue looking into one of Luce and Daniel's past encounters, then the first chapter thrusts you forward into present day Luce creating more of a mystery around her making you even more intrigued to know what happened in her past.

Clearly a YA paranormal romance, Fallen can make easy transition towards adult fiction and is an easy read -  good work of fiction and definitely should be given a chance.

Genre :      Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance


Publisher: Delacorte Press


Rate:              4/5 (Really liked it)