REVIEW: Fallen by Lauren Kate (@LaurenKateBooks)

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.


Let me start out by saying that I am teetering on the fence over Fallen.  I guess I should also add that I really did like the book.  I liked the concept of the book.  The idea behind the plotline is intensely romantic!  However, the reason I am on the fence is this:  I listened to the audio book for this “read”, which is approximately 10 hours long, and I was approx 4.5 hours through before anything even remotely exciting happened.  Leading up to that, it was just a lot of dialog that seemed to drag on and on and on.  You knew that something was going on but there were no clues or anything to give you even a hint to guess at. 
My issue with Fallen isn’t that I think it’s a bad book.  Look at it like this – if the first book in a series were a first date, I understand not giving it up that night but that doesn’t mean that you have to pants, a wool sweater and turtle neck.  You have to give them something.  Some reason to want to keep coming back.  A reason to ask you out on that 2^nd date.  Because, sweetie, the conversation just isn’t doing it.   Throw in a form fitting top and your date will be piqued with curiosity. 
Fallen is lacking in those little details.  The little pieces of the puzzle sprinkled throughout a good mystery that engage the reader in unlocking the answer.  Instead, you are left in the dark all the way until the last hour – maybe even the last half hour – of reading.  For a book that is aimed at young adults, that’s not a shiny enough object to hold their attention for too long.  I could see myself in my mid-teens getting irritated and frustrated with waiting for some sort of clue.  Had I read this book back then, I probably would not have continued on with the series.
With all that being said, now that the secret at the tale end of this book is out, I feel that it laid some great groundwork for series to continue.  With the big mystery being solved and a WIDE OPEN story line (this book ended with a “Wait a second!!!  What the EFF just happened?!?!?!” moment), I feel that the rest of the series is a very promising one and I am looking forward to it!
I am going to give Fallen 3 stars.  However, it is a very hopeful 3 stars and I foresee the rest of the series getting much higher scores.
Click here to get your copy of Fallen from Amazon.com!