Fallen (Fallen, #1) in Addicted to YA

Mar 22, 2010 Ali Cross rated it liked it

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

It was hard for me to rate this book. I love angel stories and so I loved the STORY of this book, but I felt a little let down on the storyTELLING. There were just so many words (it's not in front of me at the moment, but I'm thinking there were 450 pages or so,) and only the last hundred were page-turners.

I liked Luce, the MC, and found her to be believable in her inner conflict. I loved Cam and liked Daniel. But I think it's supposed to be the other way around.

All in all, it's not a decent r ...more

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Jan 02, 2010 Kitty Marie rated it it was ok

Shelves: books-finished

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The first quarter or so of the book I found immersive, around the halfway point I simply liked it, then all throughout the last half I lost interest and don't have a desire to continue on with the next book.

What attracted me at the beginning is the setting the main character is plunged into. It has a pretty fun and intriguing atmosphere. She (and we) are suddenly introduced to a variety of diverse characters. The school bully, the caring teacher, the charming and quick-witted friend Arrianne, t The first quarter or so of the book I found immersive, around the halfway point I simply liked it, then all throughout the last half I lost interest and don't have a desire to continue on with the next book.

What attracted me at the beginning is the setting the main character is plunged into. It has a pretty fun and intriguing atmosphere. She (and we) are suddenly introduced to a variety of diverse characters. The school bully, the caring teacher, the charming and quick-witted friend Arrianne, the smart and down-to-earth Penn. I quickly became curious about Cam and Daniel, the two guys who will eventually become smitten with the heroine.

Any who, about the heroine.. her name is Luce and she is actually the most major drawback to the book. I have a very high tolerance level when it comes to different character types and have liked many a far from idealistic character and even she got on my nerves. If you're looking for a heroine that you can look up to and admire, run away now. Luce has little else going for her except obsessive singlemindedness toward the boy she loves. Any other aspects about her are pretty glossed over.

This seems at its heart a love story about Luce and Daniel. About Daniel.. he is quite a rude guy, an uninviting jerk through much of the book. I'm one of those who is intrigued by such characters and love watching the tough nut to crack be, well, cracked. The transition from hard to soft is not all that smooth here. Though to be fair, it rarely is. For reasons that end up being plausible but not very satisfying, he sorta goes from being a pain in the neck to sweet overnight. Funnily enough one of the other characters ends up doing the reverse.

Kate tries to draw up some action scenes and conflicts involving supernatural beings. In this case, angels and demons. Plus some odd murky shadow creatures that plague the main character. The couple (Luce and Daniel) are plagued by their own curse too that has continued on for ages. I find all these ideas interesting but the execution is lacking, there is just a standard of believable detail that is not quite met. Might have convinced me ten years ago though so perhaps I'm just too old.

So to round up everything-

Likes - First hundred or so pages, practically all the side characters, troubled love interest, the general ideas and setting of the story.

Dislikes - Execution keeps it from being great and some parts are very unconvincing, never really liked the main character. ...more

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Apr 10, 2010 Alexandra rated it liked it

Shelves: ya

Not the most original story I've ever read but I did enjoy Kate's use of religious archetypes as a backbone for her novel's mythology. Luce is a great well rounded character although I did have issues with her seemingly random obsession with Daniel. While I know the whole point of the story is that they are meant to be together, I have trouble believing they are really in love (it's all a little too Bella and Edward for me). This book does, however, feature a great supporting cast of odd and ori ...more

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