Review: Fallen, by Lauren Kate

Have I ever told you about my pet peeve in books? And films, and music, and any other sort of pop culture really. It's beautiful boys. Or, more specifically, girls who call boys beautiful. It's sappy, it's cheesy, and above all it's SO unrealistic! How many of you have ever looked at your boyfriend and gone "oh, you're so beautiful, Randy!" Thought it, maybe, if you're proper lucky, but no-one ever says it.

The relationship between Luce and Daniel is like that. He's an angel, quite literally, and she's a mortal who is drawn inexplicably to him, but he keeps pushing her away. For her own good.

The cynical among you might be pushing the TWILIGHT button here. I'd imagine the comparisons between Daniel and Edward, Luce and Bella, Cam and Jacob are one of the reasons this book has been so highly publicized.

That said, it's not Twilight. The plot is more complex, more unique, the writing is more high-level...and yet, I didn't get the tingles I got after I read Twilight for the first time. So in a sense, they're equal and opposite to each other. Equally good, but for different reasons.

Oh, I'm being unfair only reviewing it in comparison to Twilight, aren't I? Because they are very different, and having been on Lauren Kate's website it doesn't feel like she's a "let's churn out a supernatural fantasy and jump on the Twilight bandwagon" sort of lady. I like her.

Plot-wise, it's great. The twist with Miss Sophia had me agape (agape. nice word) and it was all very well knitted together, flowed nicely, worked nicely.

The best thing about Fallen, in my humble opinion, is the side characters. Arianne was a hoot, Penn was just adorable, Randy is certainly going to be an intriguing character, CAM! Oh my God, I'd go to the dark side for him. Gabbe, and Molly, and ohh I was sad about Todd :( Luce is alright, as well, she has a bit of spunk about her that will be interesting.

Oddly enough, it's only Daniel I'm not bothered about... maybe because he's blonde, I just can't get into blondes. There's a long anecdote that goes with it but it's boring.

Summary: worth the read. I enjoyed it. Ta-ra.

Emma x