Torment by Lauren Kate

Book title:  Torment

Author: Lauren Kate

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publication Date: September 28, 2010

# in series: 2 of 4

Rating: Good - It's still a bit slow as there is a whole slew of new characters to introduce.

After the dramatic events of Fallen, Cam and Daniel make a truce to protect Luce from the Outcasts. Luce is hidden at Shoreline, a school where both human and Nephilim attend. Luce finds out more about her past lives with the help of two Nephilim friends: Shelby, Luce's roommate, and Miles, whose affection for Luce causes her to doubt her relationship with Daniel. Daniel will do anything to protect her, which includes forcing her to stay at Shoreline to keep Luce safe. Discovering some of her past lives, Luce realizes how their love hurt the thousands of families she once lived with. During her time in Shoreline, Luce's division between angels and demons becomes blurry when she discovers that Daniel and Cam are fighting side by side. At times, Daniel visits her to try and make her feel happier about her situation. She then finds out he had a fling with Shelby many years ago. At one time, when Daniel comes to visit her, he sees Miles kiss Luce on a window sill. She finds out that not only the Elders want her, but that the Outcasts - beings who are neither angels nor demons - want to capture her. Luce's parents have a Thanksgiving party, and when her parents go out the Outcasts arrive in Luce's backyard to fight the angels. Luce finds out that Miles has feelings for her, as he can replicate a person, but only if he loves them. Luce is stressed from the violence and decides to find out more about her past lives by jumping through one of the shadows, leaving her friends behind.

I found this one an easier read. You already knew what was going on and you were clued in to a little more than Luce was. You learn early on that there is a truce and that Cam and the other demons aren't the threat at the moment, though you don't know who the actual threat is until later on in the books. There still has to be some mystery.

I did find this book to be a little more on the slow side, however, because Luce was in a completely new school and there were quite a few new characters to introduce, and a whole new species, the Nephilim.

Luce naturally doesn't like being told what to do without answers as to why she's being told this, so putting her at a safe school ends up not doing a whole lot of good--not to mention there turns out to be a spy in the school!

This book celebrates Thanksgiving, and the dinner is actually kinda amusing until it turns dangerous. You do finally meet Callie, which is something I liked. I kinda pegged her as being one of the characters the main character always talks about but is never there, especially since she's not involved in the crazy world of the fallen angels and the nephilim. At least... not yet.

This book ends with Luce still being confused and running off into the past, so that tells me that Passion should at least provide some interesting storylines.

I'm giving this book a rating of good. It's a little faster pace than Fallen, but introducing all of the new characters pushed it almost back to first book status. It still left a little to be desired, but was still an interesting enough read.

Dark Swan Giveaway

Shadowkissed.net is doing a giveaway of Richelle Mead's Dark Swan comics! There are five winners of this competition, four will win one of the issues signed by Richelle. Each of those will win unsigned copies of the other issues for a complete set. The fifth winner will win an unsigned complete set. I've entered this competition, have you?

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Book title:  Fallen

Author: Lauren Kate

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publication Date: December 8, 2009

# in series: 1 of 4

Rating: Fair - Interesting read if you can get through the slow parts.

Suspected in the death of her boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Lucinda is sent to a Savannah, Georgia, reform school where she meets two intriguing boys and learns the truth about the strange shadows that have always haunted her.

I read this book because I had seen several people talking about it and grew curious. In all honesty, I have to say that the book was a little difficult to follow through most of it as you had no idea what was going on. The only thing that kept me reading was trying to figure out exactly what it was.

The book opened with two unnamed people, a man who was drawing a picture of the woman. He's leaving and you get the idea that if he stays, it will be a bad thing, but it's not clear on why. Even at the end of the chapter, it never really details what happened to the girl.

The book itself starts with Lucinda starting at a reform school because of something that happened probably a few months or so before, but you can't really tell what it is until later.

As she goes through her first day, she finds herself enamored with two boys, making friends and of course making enemies. It seems that everyone but Luce (and the reader) is in on some huge secret, but there are very few clues as to what, if you pay enough attention, you might even catch them.

The book closes with some interesting twists, but you have to get through the rest of the book to get there. I get the point of the book was to follow Luce through the discovery, but while I was reading if people asked me what it was about all I could say is "I don't really know," which doesn't make it the best for recommendations at that point.

Overall, I would say this book is fair. The series is an interesting read if you can get past the slow parts of the book. I always consider the first book in a series to be the worst because it's the setup before the action that follows in later books. I would say give the book a chance, if you can get through it, the second is more worth the read.

Who Am I

Who am I? 

My name is Lissa. I'm 28 years old and have been reading for as long as I can remember. My general interests are acting, singing, dancing, writing and of course reading.

What do I read?

Lately, it's been anything YA, but that isn't all I read. I love the Classics, I love Shakespeare, anything. This blog will most likely not be themed, I would like to do reviews of any books I read in the upcoming months and even go back and review books I've already read.

Why am I doing this blog?

There are plenty of review blogs out there and it isn't my job to compete. Basically, these are the books I read, if anyone reads my blog, great! If not, I won't really be bothered by it. Ultimately, I would love people who read my blogs to offer up suggestions, because I am always open to reading new things. I have several book series pending, but that doesn't mean I'm closed to suggestions.