Review: Torment

Torment by Lauren Kate

publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

release date: September 28, 2010

hardcover, 464 pages

sequel to Fallen (2009) (see my review here)

intended audience: Young adult

rating:


Warning! The following synopsis and review may contain spoilers for Fallen!
description from goodreads:
How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for? In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean - and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future...and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened...what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else?


Review: I loved this book. I was so excited to read it because I really enjoyed Fallen. And those gorgeous covers! This book had a lot to live up to and I was definitely not disappointed. I think I would even say that I liked this one better than the first!

As Luce and Daniel's story continues, she has been relocated to an exclusive school on the west coast called Shoreline. There are normal kids there, but there is also a very large population of Nephilim there and others who can protect L ...more I loved this book. I was so excited to read it because I really enjoyed Fallen. And those gorgeous covers! This book had a lot to live up to and I was definitely not disappointed. I think I would even say that I liked this one better than the first!

As Luce and Daniel's story continues, she has been relocated to an exclusive school on the west coast called Shoreline. There are normal kids there, but there is also a very large population of Nephilim there and others who can protect Luce. This added a lot of interesting situations, because all of these descendants of angels have grown up hearing the "legendary" love story of Luce and Daniel and it puts Luce at an uncomfortable sort of celebrity status. She is not exactly sure why she is there and Daniel doesn't seem to be telling her anything. This causes a huge strain on their relationship as she just get frustrated and feels like she's being held captive and kept in the dark, and he gets frustrated that she doesn't let him protect her.

Luce kind of infuriated me in this one. Yes, I saw her side of it. She was left completely in the dark about what was going on and she tried to stand up for herself by leaving if she wanted to and try to take some power into her own hands, and that was commendable. On the other hand, I kept thinking, this angel who loves her and has been around for thousands of years is telling her to lay low for her own protection---why would she rebel against him like a petulant child? But maybe that's just the "motherly" way of thinking in me. They did a lot of fighting in this one, needless to say! But they also had a lot of very sweet intimate moments, too. Luce does a lot of looking into her own past once she learns how, and she begins to doubt her future with Daniel and remorse for the pain that their love has caused her countless families in her past lives.

There is so much going on in this one and it gets so exciting. You're constantly trying to guess who can be trusted and who will turn out to be on the side of evil! What I loved about this plot was that it completely blurred the line that separated the angels from the demons. The new characters are all great in this one, and I was so overjoyed that some of the awesome characters from the first book pop up in this one, too. Especially Arriane, who was a favorite of mine in the first, next to Penn---I almost wished Luce would mysteriously start being able to talk to ghosts so we could see more Penn!

All in all, a fantastic addition to this trilogy! There are still questions that need to be answered and it's going to be a long wait for the third book! It already sounds like it's going to be an exciting chase through 5000 years of Luce and Daniel's past!!

Visit the gorgeous website for this series here!
Visit Lauren Kate's website here!