Sunday, July 10, 2011

Review: Torment

Book: Torment
Author: Lauren Kate
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Pages: 452
Source: purchased from Chapters
Stars: 3/5
Warning: may contain spoilers from Fallen (book 1) 
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.
(summary taken from Goodreads
MY THOUGHTS:

In my opinion, sequels are rarely better than the first novel. There are some; I could easily name at least one from the top of my head. But although Torment didn't really exceed Fallen, it wasn't awful, either. I actually enjoyed both books equally! :)

I loved the world that Lauren Kate created in her novels! The setting was rich and gothic, with its disunited angels, shadowy Announcers, and mysterious Outcasts except instead of in a reformatory like the first book, Torment took place in a boarding school for Nephilim, the children of humans and fallen angels.

Luce, who I came to have a love-hate relationship with in the first novel, had some character growth in this novel, which made me happy! It was easy to understand her frustration with Daniel and all the angels in general, since they all claimed to be protecting her yet still adamantly refused to tell her anything. It was just as irritating for me as the reader to be kept in the dark!

But since Cam (who was obviously one of the bad guys in the first novel) was actually somewhat good in this book, I allowed myself to fall for him a little bit more ;)

Overall, Torment was a good edition to a captivating series about angels divided by blurry lines and a girl caught right in the middle. After all the unanswered questions I got from reading this novel, I'm definitely going to pick up the third installment, Passion, very soon!  

BUY or BORROW?: A beautiful cover, gothic story line, and continuously growing plot make this book one that fits nicely on my constantly growing bookshelf! :)

-Mimi

4 comments:

  1. I'm glad that you enjoyed Torment! I just finished reading and reviewing Passion a couple weeks ago. I do think that this is an entertaining series, although there are some things that definitely frustrate me about it, like Daniel and Luce's relationship and all the unanswered questions-- but I will still be reading the last book Rapture when it is released!

    Nice review :)

    ~Lea @ LC's Adventures in Libraryland

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  2. @Lea : I love the Fallen series too! But I agree with you when you say that it's a little frustrating at times -- especially all the secrets that we still don't know. I'm still super excited to read Passion & Rapture though! ;)

    Thanks so much! :)

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  3. Awesome review! I really like this series, and I am SO excited to read Silence! Glad you enjoyed this, and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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  4. @Christy : Thank you so much! LOL I think Silence is for the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick, but they're both about angels and I love them all the same! No problem! :)

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