Fallen (2) - Torment by Lauren Kate
And now to book two of the story of Luce and Daniel - Torment (in German Engelsmorgen, in French Vertige), I read it in German where it had 444 pages.
The Sword & Cross isn't save enough for Luce, not anymore. In order to keep her save, Daniel sends her to Shorline, a school for nephilim. Trying to learn whatever she can, Luce is haunted by the shadows of her pasts – while a girl that could be her double is attacked and nearly killed. But these aren't her only problems: What's up with Daniel? Why can't he give her the answers she so desperately needs?
This book really was what the title suggests. A torment to read. Sorry, but it's true. The beginning was way to long and it got so sappy! But other wise, it was actually quite tense, so... so far to the style. The book wasn't funny at all and apart from Miles and Shelby, the characters were pretty 2-dimensional. Which is really sad.
But what bugged me most is the following: No Cam! He walks through the picture a few times, but that was it. And I liked him so much... I mean, come on, Cam is clearly the better person. He doesn't love Luce because he's bound to, he tries to really get to know her – Daniel simply thinks he knows everything about her already, even though she led 17 years of life without him, in which she, I don't know, developed. Additionally, Cam has humour and isn't flat.
Spoiler:
He tries to keep his promises to her, he even sticks around, knowing she hates him. Daniel doesn't keep his promises when it's something easier. It's so ironic: Luce chose Daniel because he's the good guy. But how good is a guy, if he's so self-congratulary like him and still can not keep his promises? Seriously, Daniel's in love with himself. He's like I can not have a life without Luce, she's the centre of everything; but he takes her for granted, and for God's sake, he lived in all the 17 years after her death, didn't he? And slept with women? Which makes sense, don't get me wrong. But he really should stop making himself into a saint. He already has wings, that's enough.
Now to the other things that don't make sense. Why the hell does everyone apart from Shelby treat Luce like a rock star? From whom are their parents supposed to even know their story, when they were kind of dumped by their angel partners?
Okay, next mistake: Miles is so shy, such a good boy, and so... well, he always tries to make everything perfectly well. But then, he kisses Luce, even though he is a) afraid of rejection and b) knows he can never have her. All riiiiight.
As you can see, this series is the typical first-book-was-good-afterwards-it-gets-worse. It's kind of sad.
In brief:
I give this book half a star for the ideas. Minus one for characters and for content. So we'd actually be at minus 1 and a half.
Prequel:
Sequel: