Review: Torment

464 Pages
Published in 2010
By Lauren Kate

"She had to believe there was more to what she felt for Daniel: a valuable, locked-away history that added up to something bigger than a few nights of blissful kissing and a few more nights of arguing. Because if the past had no value, that was really all they had." (p.149)





SYNOPSIS:


Torment picks up almost immediately after the end of Fallen. Luce is transported to a new school to shield her from the enemies, and Daniel and Cam have adhered to an 18 day truce. As a part of this agreement Daniel is supposed to stay away from Luce, but cannot help popping in at times.


Luce finds it difficult to fit in with the kids at the new school, mainly because they are either rich human kids, or Nephilim, humans mixed with angel blood. Yet, Luce is able to form her own little circle who help her to learn more about her past, and cheer her up whenever she is upset.

In this second installment, we see Luce discover more about her past and learn to face her fears.

REVIEW:

Torment does what a second book is supposed to - keep the readers interested in the story by revealing a few secrets, but overall leaving the big picture unanswered. In this way, it was (sorry to be corny) but a torment to get through this book.

We have the same set up (Luc at a new school), where everyone seems to know her past and the truth about her relationship with Daniel - whereas Luc remains in the dark. Why doesn't she simply question the other characters more agressively? Or, grab one of those textbooks they mention numerous times as how they learned about her?

Once again, Luce spends her time either being caught up in Daniel whenever he appears, or in the throes of depression when they have an argument and he goes away. Cam is also a completely flat character in this novel, whereas in the first one I'm sure we all were tempted to have Luce end up with him.

There were some cool aspects about the book - for one Luce is able to peer into some of her past lives. (But then again we only see like two and they are both from recent eras when the indication is that Luce has been around for eons) and Luce does begin to explore her feelings for Daniel in order to find meaning in their attraction. Also, in the end Luce finally stands up for herself.

I will be reading the third novel - but only to end the (excuse me for being corny again) torment of not really knowing what is going on!

♥ ♥ = not too bad, not too great