Torment (Fallen, #2)

Torment (Fallen, #2)

By: Lauren Kate

Pub date: September 28th, 2010

 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 just 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 coasts 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 into 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?

summary from book/arc

My Rating: 3/5

*Review is spoiler free for those who have read Fallen, the first book in this series*

I have to say that the thing I love most about this series is the plot. The entire fallen angels concept is very intriguing to me and I like how each author who touches upon this concept brings something new and interesting to the table. Lauren Kate has really shaped a wonderful world filled with entertaining characters and mysterious concepts that I very much happen to enjoy. After all, who doesn't love mystery, suspense, and secrets?

Torment is very different from Fallen in the sense that Luce is starting to ask questions. She is no longer taking things at face value and desperately wants answers, doing whatever it takes to obtain them. I have to say that I was very proud of Luce in this novel. I initially liked her in the beginning of Fallen, yet once Daniel became a constant in her life I felt as if she kind of lost herself a little bit as everything after that point revolved around Daniel and her love for him.

With Torment however, she comes back around and really redeems herself. I love her independent streak in this novel and her extreme motivation in her search for knowledge and the truth. She will stop at nothing to find what she wants and what others refuse to share with her. Not only does Luce want to know more about her past lives but she also starts pondering her current life as well as her relationship with Daniel. I don't want to give too much away but I was proud of her for not just going along with routine by doing what others expected. While Luce really impressed me, I did find myself drifting away from Daniel. I really was a fan of his while reading Fallen but he just fell very short for me in this book.

Characters are plenty in Torment as the reader is introduced to multiple fresh new faces. I have to say that my favourite supporting characters were Miles and Shelby. They were a lot of fun and I think, wonderful for Luce. Fans of Fallen will be happy to know that there are also some cameos made by familiar faces that will very much leave you satisfied.

While this series is fun to read and super enjoyable I have to say that one aspect did leave me very disappointed. Nothing was really answered or revealed. Yes, you do learn some new interesting facts but I feel as if there are more questions being asked than answered with this series. I thought that after reading Fallen, (which ended off with me wanting to know so much) that Torment would catch me up on some of the in-betweens, but it really didn't. Instead, it offered more questions to ponder. I really hope that the next novel in this series Passion (2011) will kind of piece everything or mostly everything, together. I'm not sure if it's going to be the final installment in the Fallen series but regardless, I really do hope to finally be in the know. Secrets are fantastic but after a while, the reader can get kind of frustrated. Who knows, maybe Lauren Kate is holding out on purpose. Regardless, I look forward to continuing this series and hopefully (crosses fingers) being let in one all of the secrecy. 

Overall: Fans of Fallen will flock towards this book without hesitation. However, if you have not read this series and are into paranormal elements with eternal love thrown into the mix as well as mystery and suspense then I do recommend this series to you. My only word of advice is not to read too much into this series on the internet or anywhere else as you may spoil some aspects that are meant to be kept hidden. Just the jacket summary for Fallen and you're good to go. :)
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A HUGE thank you to Wendy Loggia for providing me with the ARC.
You can read my Fallen review here (it is spoiler free)