Torment by Lauren Kate | Review

Title: Torment

Author: Lauren Kate

Published: January 9, 2010

Number of Pages: 452

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis

Hell on earth.

That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.

It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.

What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies. (goodreads.com)

Quotes

"Well, as much as I love kicking asses and taking names, it's way past curfew for you three."- Arriane

"Would he find her?
Without question.
Would he save her?
Always."

Review

Okay, let's get this out of the way first: I enjoyed Torment ten times more than I did Fallen. I felt an improvement in the characters, and I liked Luce's character a lot more than I did the first time. I think part of it had to do with the fact she actually decides to question Daniel's loyalty.

That's what a lot of this book is about. Luce is separated from Daniel, and it's killing her inside. She's been left in a place she's never been before, surrounded by Nephilim, and she doesn't know what to think. She hasn't even been told what's going on with Cam, or anything. I can actually relate to her distress in this book. In Fallen, it felt so unnecessary. Luce becomes a hero amidst a group of heroes and villains, angels and demons. She is also a target, further adding to the distress when she doesn't even understand why.

Daniel's loyalty is put into question when Luce suspects that he's keeping secrets from her, secrets that affect her very wellbeing. She makes a number of new friends and enemies while attending a Nephilim school in California, and her skills of summoning the Announcers are expanded on; making her a much stronger protagonist than she was in the previous book. She uses her skill at swimming to rescue a classmate, and her bravery to find out more about her past lives.

A few things that annoyed me about the book are here too, though: Daniel is an angel, yes? Then why the hell does he kiss her and make out with her in order just to make her forget what she wants to ask him? That doesn't seem right to me.

Why the hell would you describe an angel's wings as sexy? I don't know, maybe that's just me, but it seriously annoyed me. I also thought that for all of the things she's learning, she's still just so damn wimpy at points. Sorry for the language, but aaaugh. Those are the reasons for the lack of stars; and there are also some minor things like the fashion of the dialogue that annoy me for some reason. The fact that a lot of characters start out so vague and then all of a sudden they're blunter than anyone I've ever met gets on my nerves.

Hm...I like the new characters, especially Shelby and Miles. Shelby and her attitude issues [though it reminds me of Arriane sort of] and Miles with his nice little "I'm-a-good-boy" attitude make me giggle. And the fact Arriane and everyone else came back to meet at Luce's house was awesome!

My favorite aspect was the final battle at the end of the book. Lauren Kate's description of it had me on the edge of my seat, and I totally fell in love with Gabbe's earth-manipulation! The final battle was just epic, epic, epic; and Miles' trick even more so.

So, in the end, Torment ended up much better than Fallen. Congrats, Lauren Kate; you made me a fan. (; Now I'm just waiting for Passion to come out on paperback and for a release date on Rapture.