As I turned over the final page of Torment, the second book in Lauren Kate's best-selling Fallen series, my first thought was Aw, man... now I'm totally gonna need to read the third one. Not the world's most enthusiastic recommendation, but a step up from her first book, which I damned with even fainter praise*.

The love triangle established in Fallen is sidelined in Torment. Fallen angels Daniel and Cam have declared a temporary truce in order to protect 17-year-old Luce from the "Outcasts"—fallen angels rejected by both Heaven and Hell. Continuing his hot streak of being infuriatingly patronizing, Daniel stashes Luce in a Northern California high school for children with angelic ancestors, hoping that her fellow students will be distracting enough to keep Luce from falling into the Outcasts' clutches. Naturally, he doesn't share his plan with Luce, who grows increasingly testy as her otherworldly suitor refuses to explain a single damn thing to her.

I found Torment infinitely more fun than Fallen, mostly because Luce is beginning to notice what was obvious from the first book: Daniel is a bossy, condescending creep. (Unfortunately, his actions are occasionally redeemed by an out-of-character moment of stupidity from Luce, but those are few and far between.) I suspect they will end up together—the laws of teen supernatural love triangles are probably too strong for any other outcome—but I'm still excited by Luce's baby steps towards independence. The final chapter of Torment does a solid job of setting things up for the next book in the series, but I don't care so much about all the angel/demon/Outcast stuff. I just want Luce to kick Daniel to the curb until he gets over himself, and I'm gleefully looking forward to seeing it happen.

*I said it was much better than Twilight.

Review based on publisher-provided copy.

Labels: Book Reviews, Lauren Kate, teen literature

As a merry band of book critics who spend a lot of time pondering young adult literature, we found it impossible to read Lauren Kate's novel Fallen without thinking about Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. Admittedly, Kate has written a better book, but there are some striking similarities between her work and Meyer's, and that has us worried about where this series is going.

When Luce Price's parents ship her off to to Savannah's Sword & Cross boarding school, her life changes completely. Sword & Cross is a reformatory school, and Luce is there because of her role in the mysterious burning death of a classmate—an accident that even Luce, the only witness, can't begin to understand. Her new school is miserably strict, but it does have two major things going for it: campus playboy Cam, and Daniel, the gorgeous boy who can't seem to leave Luce alone, even though he makes it clear that he'd prefer to avoid her.

Fallen has a great Southern-Gothic setting, a theology-tinged supernatural premise, and a heroine who isn't half as mopey as Bella Swan (even though she has a lot more to be mopey about). Unfortunately, the things it has in common with the Twilight books are the same things that make Meyer's series so irritating: a confusing mythology, and a supernatural love interest whose hot-and-cold attitude makes him seem less like a teenage dreamboat and more like a condescending, emotionally manipulative jerk. It is possible that both of these problems will be successfully addressed in future installments of this series, but our experience with Meyer's books has taught us that it is always best to be cautious. Sure, we enjoyed reading Fallen... but who knows what betrayals—ahem, supernatural baby plotlines, "imprinting", etc.—Kate might have in store?

Review based on copy provided by publisher.

Labels: Book Reviews, Lauren Kate, teen literature