Torment

Fallen #2

by Lauren Kate, Justine Eyre (Narrator)

The second novel in the addictive and worldwide best-selling Fallen series...where love never dies.

Number one New York Times best seller.

A USA Today best seller.

More than three million series copies in print!

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 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?

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Angels, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Supernatural

Audible Audio

First published September 28, 2010

About the author

Lauren Kate is the author of novels 15 novels including the FALLEN series, now an Emmy-winning television series on AMC+. Her forthcoming angel-focused romantasy trilogy, WHITE LIGHTS, will publish in June 2026. She lives in Laurel Canyon with her family.

Reviews

[Kiki · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, it had been about nine months since I read Fallen, and the choking feeling had subsided. I wondered, what if I was wrong? What if the first book was just a false start? Maybe I should give Kate another chance?

I'm pathetic. I know this. You don't have to tell me.

If I'm being honest, I will hold my hands up and say that Torment is a monumental improvement on Fallen. The writing style is less sticky and doesn't cut itself off. Every. Five. Words.

The first two or three chapters were good. And I mean good; not great, but good enough. At that simple stage, I could see the San Francisco setting and the early descriptions of Shoreline were fine. Shelby and Miles were fine too. Quirky. Likable.

It kind of went downhill from there. Kate has surely attempted to make Luce and Daniel's relationship 'healthy' by having Luce "question her destiny", but that's not really what's going on here, is it? No. What's going on here is an emotional mud-wrestle between two completely ill-equipped morons with the collective mental capacity of a sesame seed. Guys, healthy relationships are about mutual understanding, respect and consent. Healthy relationships are not about cheating on your partner just to get a rise out of them, dictating what your partner should look like and being disappointed when they decide to change their appearance, or trying to flatten your partner's personality and individuality to such an extent that they are incapable of being apart from you for eighteen days. Come on. That's not even three weeks.

Look, 90% of Luce and Daniel's conversations go like this:

Daniel: I am mad at you for doing X.
Luce: I am mad at you for doing Y.
Daniel: But I am infatuated with the idea of you.
Luce: I am still mad at you for doing Y.
Daniel: *kisses Luce*
Luce: Y doesn't matter any more. I like your muscles.
Daniel: I'm leaving.
Luce (alone): I am angry at Daniel for doing Y.

I know. No author is perfect, but let's be real here. This isn't so much a book as really sexual bible fanfiction. And honestly, if it were fanfiction, I'd probably enjoy it. But I paid money for this shit. I paid money for Luce to wonder, "Who was she without [Daniel]?" Nobody should ever be in a relationship wherein a legitimate concern is who you actually are outside of that relationship. Another person's personality is not for sharing, and frankly, you shouldn't want to be one half of a whole. How is that functional in any way, shape or form? How is that healthy?

But it's so true of the Luce/Daniel dynamic, though, isn't it? I could write a dissertation on this. It's this constant wonder, of how anyone can possibly write such shallow characters with such an unconvincing liking for each other, and yet somehow be invested in the story. How could you think this was interesting? We are reading this book and picturing two wobbly blobs of nothing slowly revolve around each other. It's like sitting through a ten-hour video of the moon revolving around the earth in real-time. Like, nothing but that. Just one rock moving around the other rock. It seems like it might be mildly interesting and then when you actually experience it, it's just what it says on the tin. One rock going around another rock.

(This just got so existential.)

And I get it. I get Kate trying to portray that Luce wants her own life and her own independence. But this is not living or being independent. Free thinking is not about bleaching your hair or crying about an eighteen-day relationship hiatus as if the thing that got removed for eighteen days was not your boyfriend but all the skin on your face; it's about seeking out your interests and figuring out what path you want to take in life, not your first-world problems with your pushy, overbearing boyfriend. I mean seriously. This book reads like a pamphlet on white cishet rich people's problems.

On the portrayal of healthy relationships: take a look at Steven and Francesca's horrible dynamic. Francesca and Steven apparently do nothing but hatefuck and talk about how they'll kill each other "when the time comes". How is this even a thing? We're served this tale of an angel and a demon (let's put a pin in the total mythology fail for the sake of argument) but all we get is some weird angry Nip/Tuckesque dynamic between two people who apparently hate each other but kind of love each other even though they openly hate one another's species and moral choices (???).

And continuity? What is continuity? We have the Announcers which function as deus ex machina and an easy out for exposition but there isn't even a cover story to try to hide that they're a plot device painted the colour of a plot device wearing a sandwich board across which the words "PLOT DEVICE" are written. What are they? Portals? Fortune-tellers? Time warps? WHAT? And what was the conflict here? The Outcasts? The Elders? The demons? Luce and Daniel? PICK ONE!

The end is another whole big thing, but simply because I don't know how on earth we managed to reach that conclusion. Is Kate trying to tell us that the best way to resolve the problems right in front of our faces is to run away from them? Luce suddenly jumps inside the Announcer (and no one bothers to stop her) without even the courtesy of an explanation. This is following a battle wherein she demonstrates some good old-fashioned Mary-Sue 'I'm going to battle even if you tell me not to, then pretend like I saved the day when really I did nothing'.

The end of the battle scene freaked me out, too. Why was everyone just standing around talking? How did blind angels manage to hook their arrows on to their bows? Why was everyone just waiting patiently while they loaded their weapons? Why is Luce the price? Why did Cam give up on Luce so quickly? Why do Gabbe's wings smell like Herbal Essences? Why is this a book? What is literature? What is life?

And, through this, the only question I was really interested in: How was Luce's parent's walk? Did they have a nice time?

Overall, this book was, prose-wise, much better than Fallen, though that isn't an amazing achievement in itself. Because I love you all, here are some examples of dreadful writing:

a) "Daniel's beautiful features distorted into a scary expression."
b) "Miles pulled away, looking happy and sad at the same time."
c) "Roland hovered over to him. Literally. He was flying."
d) "I know he would die if you died."
e) "Deep chartreuse, glittering gold, marbleized swaths of pink and purple."

Note: The Outcasts are blind, but locate Luce by seeing the "burning of her soul" because apparently there is something behind her mask/face that resembles a personality. If they see her by the "burning of her soul", why do they mistake Dawn for Luce? Surely if they are not looking for aesthetics i.e. hair colour and facial features, just the "burning of her fucking soul" then... Look, fuck it. I fucking give up.

To conclude:

This book is balls. This series is a disaster. Luce and Daniel are like a poor man's Bedward. The only thing that remains to be seen is Daniel eating a baby out of Luce's womb.

There's always hope!

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

*SPOILER WARNING* (As in if you thought you were in for a good read this will spoil it)
**Also SWEAR WARNING** (because I just can't get through this review without swearing. I need some release!)

I have had to take a break from my reading of Torment to get this off my chest.

I hated Fallen. Everything about it was incredibly one dimensional and at the end I felt like I still knew nothing, none of the big questions had been answered. Like I was reading blind-folded, was out of the loop and nothing was resolved.

Ok, I thought, so maybe you are supposed to feel that way because Luce does. Now before I started reading Torment, a year had passed, the anger had subsided and I was ready to forgive Kate; naively thinking that the sequel would be a more satisfying ride. I was wrong.

In Torment none of this changes, it just gets worse!

This book made me want to hurl it across the room on many occasions:

1. Every time TSTL (To Stupid To Live) Luce goes against every single warning anyone ‘in the know’ gives her and puts herself in danger over and over again; and

2. Every time Luce asks someone a question we are dying to find out, we get a vague sliver of information, only to have an ACTUAL ANSWER bafflingly snatched away from us. Here are some glaring examples, it usually goes a little something like this:

a. Luce: “Daniel, you aren’t letting me in, the whole reason I am TSTL is because you don’t tell me anything, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to be afraid of.”
“Mmmmm...” Daniel nodded, stared moodily into the distance, but did not tell her anything.

b. Arriane: “Oh, wait til I tell you the whole juicy story of the fall, it is the best thing since sliced bread! This story will be the ride of your lives! Your heads will explode when I tell it to you! Are you ready? Ok, it all started when — Oh! Wait, sorry! I have to go fight someone now. Raincheck!” (PS She never finishes this apparently mind-blowing story. Now that is just plain rude...)

c. Luce to Basically Everyone: “I wouldn’t keep putting myself in danger every chapter if someone would PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!”
Basically Everyone: “Well if you aren’t psychic then we aren’t going to help you figure it out. Now let’s change the subject...”

Yes, would someone please tell us! The bit on the balcony where Luce thinks her and Daniel are finally having a mature conversation only to have him go more mysterious and cryptic than ever before: I literally wanted to punch him in the face. Actually, that goes for every single time he appears, I don't care how glorious or blonde he is. The guy is a COMPLETE DOUCHE-BAG.

I have never been more frustrated by a book (or book series) in my life.

It is like Lauren Kate thinks she is upping the suspense if every single crucial piece of information is dangled just beyond our noses, but never given, forcing us to read until the end in the vain hope of getting some answers. And in the case of Fallen, getting to the end and finding out that we would have to wait A-WHOLE-NOTHER YEAR until she could torture us with the proverbial carrot again.

The woman is evil.

Now, I have not quite finished Torment, and I cannot stop reading now. But if that bitch ends on the same note as Fallen (which I know is a distinct possibility because there is another book after this one), I refuse to buy one of her books EVER AGAIN.

Will continue reading. Stay tuned...

****************************************

Ok, so I just finished torment. You must think me as dense as Luce because, lo and behold, she left us on another frickin cliff-hanger of crucial information. WHY??? Why does she have to use this as a tool to force us to buy her next book??? Why can’t it just be the anticipation of another exhilarating, well-written adventure and spending more time with the hero and heroine the reader has fallen in love with? Oh wait, that’s because if I have to spend one more moment with these Idiotic characters I will throw a starshot at both of them and save everyone the hassle.

So the big final carrots that she dangles in front of us in the last chapter are:

- Luce is some kind of a big deal: from the outcasts “we need retribution”, “I will yield to you” and “we need to trade you to get into heaven”.

- Luce is an angel or other heavenly being: Daniel’s fear of her being hit by a starshot when humans can’t be killed by them, and his guilty gaze when she thought it couldn’t hurt her.

Now the thing I hated about the prologue the most was the whole “Shelly had a crush on me but I never reciprocated”. Was that supposed to be our only “OH” moment at the end? PATHETIC! Like making us believe there was a miniscule chance he had been unfaithful to his eternal (-ly stupid) love was the biggest reveal in the story?? That was it?! That was what I waited the whole frickin book for?! For fuck’s sake!!

So anyway, what I am thinking is that the big “OH” moment in Kate’s next book, Passion, will that Luce is actually Lucifer? But since I refuse to read one more grating word of Lauren Kate’s, you will have to fill me in.

[Kat Kennedy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is fail.

If it were a city it would be Failinburg. If it were a WWII battle, it would be Failingrad. If this book were a movie, it would be Million Dollar Failby. How much did this book fail thee? Let me count the ways. Oh no wait, I couldn't be bothered. I ain't bovvered. If this book were my Polish grandfather, its name would be Failinski. Yes, I have a Polish grandfather. He doesn't Failinski. He's awesome. Unlike this book, which sucks.

Which reminds me, If this book were royalty it would live in Suckingham Palace. You know what awards this book won other than NONE? The Man Sucker International Book Prize.

If you read this book for shits and giggles, you'd still be disappointed.

[MischaS_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

[SKB · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never has a book been so aptly titled. Reading this book was a kind of torment, and I don't say that solely because I was stuck in an airport for an ungodly number of hours with only this ass book as company. The only more fitting title would maybe be something like Shit Sandwich.

It's a special talent to write a sequel that makes me long for its extremely implausible, poorly written predecessor. And yet, here we are.

Shit Sandwich Torment picks up where Fallen left off. Luce is being whisked away after the Epic Showdown of Angels and Demons Which Takes Place Outside While Our Brainless Heroine Is Tied to an Altar for Sacrifice. She feels guilty that the people she "loves" continue to DIE HORRIBLY (two random boys spontaneously combust; her one nice friend gets her throat slit by the extremely sketchy librarian-cum-member-of-some-obscure-sect-of-fuck-I-don't-know-if-they're-good-or-evil-because-anyone-wanting-Luce-dead-can't-be-all-bad). Edward Edwardiel Daniel, Luce's Hot Piece of Fallen Angel, has conferred with various other who-the-fuck-cares people and/or celestial/formerly celestial beings and decided the safest place for Luce is a large glass jar with a bunch of breathing holes punched into the metal lid an exclusive "boarding" "school" somewhere in California (ETA: It's San Francisco. Kate describes the Golden Gate Bridge as "candy apple red." This tells me one of three things: 1) Lauren Kate has never been to San Francisco, 2) Lauren Kate has never seen a candy apple, or 3) Lauren Kate is colorblind). Luce's parents and one non-dead friend are to believe she is still at her reform school. Apparently lots of otherworldly beings everywhere want Luce dead, and honestly, I don't blame them. If ever a girl was asking for being killed for sheer stupidity, it is Luce. Anyway, Daniel tells Luce she'll be safe at this school, that maybe she'll learn a thing or two, and that it is VERY IMPORTANT that she not leave the campus. Now, if my one reform-school friend had just been murdered, and I'd just discovered I died and was reincarnated every seventeen years but because I hadn't been baptized in this lifetime, I'd just die this time around and the entire universe's fate depended on what happened with me, I would maybe think that PERHAPS A LOT OF THINGS OUT THERE WERE TRYING TO KILL ME. If my broody angel boyfriend told me I'd be safe as long as I stayed on campus, I'd maybe take him seriously.

Here are some things I wouldn't do:

* If I'm explicitly told I should not let anyone know where I really am or use my teacher's borrowed cell phone to contact anyone who doesn't know what's going on, I immediately text my vapid friend from my first elite boarding school (the one where I accidentally set a boy on fire or something).
* If I received a nondescript note supposedly from my angel boyfriend-for-all-time telling me to meet him at some obscure location by taking a seedy bus when hello, he's an ANGEL WITH WINGS AND CAN FLY AND ALSO HE TOLD ME NOT TO LEAVE THE CAMPUS, I of course automatically assume the note is legit and immediately sneak off campus to meet him.
* If I were to sneak off campus anyway and see Cam, the demon guy I used to think was cute but now don't trust because he's ZOMG a demon, and he saves my life from one of the "Outcasts," a bunch of blind fallen angels (side note: it is at this point I realize that the Fallen quadrilogy is basically a giant version of the film The Warriors), I would look upon him unfavorably and fight him all the way back to campus as he's trying to, you know, get me back to safety.
* After my fallen angel boyfriend reminds me AGAIN how I shouldn't leave campus (as if the attempt on my life the last time I left campus weren't enough to be SCARED STRAIGHT), I'd immediately go on a yachting adventure the next weekend. Where there is another attempt on my life.
* During said attempt on my life (where Alice Cullen someone who looks like Luce is pulled overboard and dragged underwater several times), I immediately leap into the water and let go of the life preserver because only I KNOW HOW TO SWIM IT IS MY ONE SKILL I SWIIIIIIIM. And also because of course there's no way the powerful demon on board could save her.
* If my snooty boarding school teachers (who teach special classes for the "Nephilim"--more on this later) told me not to fuck around with the Announcers (the strange "shadows" that have plagued Luce her whole life), I would go to the woods right after class and fuck around with the Announcers.
* After my angel/demon teacher duo says, after figuring out I have been fucking around with the Announcers, in no uncertain terms that we really, really, REALLY are not to fuck around with the Announcers, I fuck around some more with the Announcers, involving my roommate and this new boy Miles (whose name anagrams to SLIME).
* When I fuck around with the Announcers, I see a glimpse of a former life and parents who might still be alive. I leave campus AGAIN with my roommate to go stalk them.
* Through another fucking around with Announcers, I see someone else from a past life in Vegas. I get Miles and roommate to open a portal and travel "by Announcer" (wtf?) to Vegas. Which, in case you did not know, is also OFF CAMPUS.
* Even though I overhear the demons and angels talking about a "truce," when I see an Announcer show Daniel and Cam working together, I decide Daniel must be EEEEVILLLLLL.
* When all the Outcasts show up at my house, and the angels and demons are all fighting outside and tell me to stay safe inside the house, I definitely run outside and put myself in the line of danger.
* When the Outcast threatens a cute boy, I offer myself up instead of him.
* After many warnings about walking into Announcers without proper training or checking, I leap into an Announcer at the end of the book because I just can't handle the pressure.

Yeah, I wouldn't do any of those things.

So, Luce has managed to become even stupider in this book than she was in the first. Great job! Are Luce and Daniel as unlikable as ever? HELLS YEAH! Every single interaction between the two can be summed up as follows:
1. Daniel shows up, surprising Luce.
2. Luce thinks about how hot he is.
3. Daniel kisses her.
4. Luce loses herself in the hottttness of the kissing and his rippling muscles.
5. Daniel says something stupid about her hair or chastises her for leaving campus and endangering not only herself, but the entire universe.
6. Luce thinks, "OMG WE HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON AND HE IS SO CONTROLLING AND BEING A WOMAN MEANS I GET TO MAKE CHOICES. FUCKING STUPID CHOICES."
7. Daniel senses Luce pulling away.
8. Luce senses Daniel's sensing of her pulling away.
9. Daniel senses Luce's sensing of his sensing of her pulling away.
10. Luce gets huffy.
11. Daniel warns Luce and tells her it's all because he loves her, but never explains WHY any of this is happening, because SHE CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.
12. Luce is filled with doubts.
13. Daniel flutters away with his man-angel-wings.
14. Luce plans her next stupid adventure fucking around with Announcers.

Lather, rinse, repeat, blind yourself like Oedipus. But this book is far, far worse than killing your dad and fucking your mom.

You know what I just realized? These books are agonizing because Luce is like that dumbass bimbo in slasher flicks who gets killed in the first five minutes. She's the stupid one who's like, "Oh hey I don't care if there's an axe murderer in the woods--I'm going to have a lot of sex and then wander around and think every snapping twig is my boyfriend instead of the axe murderer wearing a hockey mask, LOLZ!" But you don't have to suffer very long, because she gets killed off quickly. BUT LUCE NEVER DIES. Not in this book, not in this series. I mean, hells, she keeps getting reincarnated! She is plaguing humankind for eternity. YOU CANNOT KILL OFF THE LUCE.

Daniel says early in the book (or maybe at the end of the last one?) that Luce should "trust her instincts." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'm sorry, I just soiled myself. Never have I read of a character with worse instincts. And, yes, while Daniel is a bit of a chauvinist ass for not telling Luce a goddamned thing about why she should stay on campus, why Cam is working with them, etc., Luce doesn't exactly show herself as being able to handle ... basic logic and common sense. So I can see why he wouldn't trust her with this information, and definitely understand why in previous lives, telling her that he's an angel has made her die from brain explosion.

If their love is supposed to be romantic (because it's cursed and verboten??), sign me up for celibacy. They never communicate; they distrust each other; they get along only when they're covering each other with torrid kisses; they have absolutely nothing to talk about except "OMG I LOVE YOU MY LOVE FOR YOU IS ETERNAL AND CARRIES ACROSS EVERY LIFETIME LET US TALK ONLY ABOUT OUR LOVE AND GAZING INTO EACH OTHER'S EYES." At the same time, how strong is this love and how "worthy" is Luce of such love if she's immediately considering every boy as a prospective boyfriend? Ohhhh, Miles is so cuuute, those EYES are DREAMY, and he's uncomplicated and funny and considerate and HUGS her and makes her POPCORN and opens the Announcer portal for her to go to OFF-CAMPUS VEGAS.

And now, a list of things that are so laughably implausible that I soiled myself again:
* so, this boarding school? Is for "Nephilim," which is some term for anyone with any angel-blood in them. "Are you an angel? Would you like a little angel in you?" BUT! It's a hidden program in a regular elite boarding school, so we've got Muggles in Hogwarts in the remedial classes. Imagine. All the honors classes are for the fancy angel kids, and the smart Muggles have to be given impossible tests if they want to qualify for the program (which they will inevitably fail). I mean, why the fuck keep up this ruse? They can't possibly be accredited. Also, Kate has an annoying way of writing all-white characters and then throwing in a few ethnic tokens. They aren't given any characteristics other than "that Korean girl" or "Sarah Wong Wang Chung the Chinese kid."
* Angels and demons fight only with YE OLDE FASHIONEDE WEAPONNES. So, bows, arrows, and fencing. Hence, a fencing lesson. All the other kids have had tons of fencing training, but not Luce. Oh no, she has to fight! IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME AT ANGEL FENCING CLUB, YOU MUST FENCE. Of course she's brilliant at it and beats the crap out of the bitchy angel girl she's fighting.
* I'm sorry, I'm trying to imagine Armageddon with a bunch of angels and demons wearing white fencing outfits and facemasks, and ... no, just no. I think Kirk Cameron being whisked away in the first wave of the LEFT BEHIND series is more believable.
* You know how Luce called the Announcers "shadows" in the last book? Because they looked all shadowy? Well, apparently she is a SOOPER GEENYUS because she was actually likening them to Plato's Cave, and how the images contained in the Announcers are mere shadows, distortions, of what they reflect or represent. Plato. Luce "Plato" Price. Yep.
* There's an OUTCAST at the school. We've been told Outcasts are blind and can find people only by the glow of their burning souls. Even with several angel-halfbloods, a bunch of real angels and demons and more angels and more demons, NO ONE SENSES that the weird albino kid with the almost see-through eyes just MIGHT BE an Outcast. Which I figured out the first time he was described. Maybe Kate is just trying to make her readers feel really smart.
* I'm still hung up on "trust your instincts." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
* As if lifting many plot elements from Twilight in the first book weren't bad enough, in the second, Lauren Kate tries rather ham-fistedly to insert a love triangle. Once again. Now that Cam is no longer appealing due to his DEMON status, we have to introduce SLIME/Miles. He's uncomplicated! And kind! And maybe he can give her the life, the *normal* life that she should have, the one that doesn't end with Luce the Human Torch. At one point, Luce even says, "If you two were going to be that obvious about it, why didn't you guys come down in your Team Daniel and Team Miles T-shirts?" STOP TRYING TO MAKE ANNOYING TWILIGHT LOVE TRIANGLE HAPPEN. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. It's like Plato's Cave version of the annoying Jacob/Edward/Bella triangle, which was fucking annoying enough in the first place. So you've got an assy copy of something that already sucks. Good work.
* Seriously, are we ever going to address the whole "when I am around normal human boys, sometimes they spontaneously combust" thing?

This is neither here nor there, but your enjoyment of this book may be greatly enhanced by replacing "wings" with "balls" in your mind as you read. For example:

"His broad white balls seemed to be edged with violet light and were pulsing nearly imperceptibly in the rough wind."

"Her hands were wrapped tight around his neck, then stroked the firm muscles on his shoulders, brushing the soft, thick perimeter of his balls. They were strong and white and shimmering, always so much bigger than she remembered. Two great balls extending from his sides, every inch of them perfect and smooth. She could feel a tension against her fingers, like touching a tightly stretched canvas. But silkier, and deliciously velvet soft. They seemed to respond to her touch, even extending forward to rub against her, pulling her closer, until she was buried in them, nestling deeper and deeper, and still never getting enough." COME ON, THAT'S AWESOME. When it's about balls.

"But instead of the stars and trees and crashing waves, Luce's eyes fixed on something else behind one of the roof's many chimneys. Something white and billowing. An iridescent pair of balls."

"... an enormous pair of golden balls split through his gray cashmere sweater. They unfurled behind him, taking up most of the kitchen. Cam's balls were so bright they were almost blinding as they pulsed."

"Roland's balls unfurled with a sound like a great flock of birds taking flight. They lamplight in the kitchen highlighted their dark gold and black marbling as he squeezed out the door after Cam."

"Daniel took Luce's hands in his. He closed his eyes, inhaled, and let his massive white balls unfurl. Fully extended, they would have filled the entire kitchen, but Daniel reined them in, close to his body. They shimmered and glowed and looked altogether too beautiful. Luce reached out and touched them with both hands. Warm and satin smooth on the outside, but inside, full of power." AWESOME. (When it's about balls.)

I think I will employ the "balls" technique to make it through the next book. Which I'm reading solely so I can bitch about it here.

[P · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I will always catch you when you fall”

I have to say Torment is not bad at all, in my opinion. The parts that keeps me continuing this series are the setting and riddles. Gah ! I want to know about Luce and Daniel's past. What has happened between them that makes Daniel so cryptic like this. And there must be something more about Luce for she can summon the Announcer like a pro. About the truce made by Daniel and Cam, I think consequences must come after it ends. The End Game is coming.

“Would he find her?
Without question.
Would he save her?
Always.”

Well, I loved and hated this book at the same time. Torment tormented me since the first chapter. I was dying to know more after the ending of book one, yet I didn't get many answers from this book, and it upsetted me. Instead of clearing all the conflicts that has been escalating since Fallen, Kate decided to create them anew. They're growing and growing that I'm afraid whether she can answer the questions that is floating in my head by the end of book four.

I just don't understand, in this book, why Luce and Daniel always bicker and come with a new issue whenever they see each other. It was acceptable for the first time, but the second and the third were awful. It was unbearable to see this happened at least three times through the book. Luckily, the ending just saves it all. Moreover, I caught a glimpse of the likelihood of the next book, which could be better than this one.

“I know he would die if you died, Luce”

However, the fight in the last chapter was stupid and didn't make sense at all. Luce is useless and annoying, and she's a drama queen who makes everything worse than it should be. I could understand the way Daniel has treated her through this book forces she to this path, but I was not okay when they could have talked about it sooner and these problem wouldn't happen.



By the way, Torment is as enjoyable as Fallen. I loved the feelings this book gave me as if I was reading New Moon again. Daniel keeping distance from Luce reminded me of Edward breaking up with Bella and she and Jacob get together after that. And Daniel's love for Luce overcomes the bad things in this series.

“Love never dies.”

https://goo.gl/CRAjb9

[Sasha Alsberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is how the book went...
1.Luce changes schools because Daniel wants to keep her safe.
2.Luce misses daniel
3.Daniel appears
4.they kiss
5.they fight
6.luce leaves
7.almost gets herself killed
8.lives
Repeat 1-8 five more times
End of Torment

This book wasn't the best book i have ever read but it wasn't the worst. Torment sometimes WAS torment reading it, i found myself not feeling like reading the book at several points. BUT it wasnt horrible throughout the whole book. I did want to pull out my hair when Luce almost gets herself killed several times in the book and it doesn't help she cries in EVERY chapter. but if your bored, read it. YA second book novels arent always the best but the fallen series looks promising so read it and hopefully would will enjoy!

[◆✦✧ Jemz ✧✦◆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait.... =0)

10/08/10
Omg I read the book!!! Tears tears why do I have to wait next year for the 3rd book Fallen Series "Passion" Ahhhhh (screaming right now) I enjoy reading this book. Poor Luce =( If I was in her position I woulld of done the same seriously. And I don't blame her. (Everything that Luce had done. I Don't want to spoil anyone.) I can't wait for "Passion". I'm so curious about Daniel, and the others. Omg !!!

[shady boots · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh Lucinda Price. Could you be any stupider?

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear Ms. Kate

I. Don't. Like. Fallen.

I don't like this series; i don't like the characters, the development of the story, the secret life of Lucinda Price, the archangels, mainly all the angels from your story, the Outcasts, the heavenly never-ending war between good and bad.

I just don't like your piece of shit story.

However, i do keep reading this series. Why? Because i have a need for badly written, made-by-brainless-authors YA-fiction and stupid non-feminists.

Therefor, this will not be a happy rating. Deal with it!
I will get straight to the point, starting with the things that bothered me most:

Why won't you tell us about Lucindas past. What on earth could be so dramatically that Daniel simply can't tell without Lucinda busting into flames?

Also, excuse me my language, but fuck Daniel. Having constipation is more interesting than reading about his life and feelings and wanting to protect his Luce from eternal danger. This gets old. Quick!

Seriously, Kate, give us some feministic domination here. Why does so many authors underestimate the power of a good, butt-kicking heroine?

Why does Lucinda has to be kept safe all the time. Why is Daniel overprotective? No, heaven forbid that anything should happen to Lucinda arrogant-bitch Price, because they have crossed paths since forever, and since she has used up your quota of rebirths, things seem kinda black.

Lucinda is an annoying part of the books. No wait, she is the most annoying thing in the books. Her arrogance and self indulgence is raw annoying. She meet her roommate, Shelby, in chapter two, and after eight minutes in her company, she could conclude that she 'seemed annoying'. Just because she wasn't a member of the Lucinda Price fanclub.

The bad mythology is but one thing of the list. Where did you do your research, Kate? Come on, you can do better!

Some things in the book bothered me

First things first: Lucinda Price's meeting with Cam at Noyo Point. The whole part was a joke. She said she'd falled for his lies too many times. WHUUUT? When did Cam ever lie to you? Yeah, he didn't tell you he was an angel, but do you know what? DANIEL DIDN'T EITHER.

Oh, now we're at Daniel part.
"Daniel doesn't think that" Luce would wish she could have said that she didn't thought it, but she wasn't sure if that was what she was feeling.
Luce, WE DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT WHAT DANIEL THINKS. GOT IT?

... maybe Daniel had talk to her like that once, but she was sure that she'd never tolerated it
No, definitely not, you hypocritical piece of bad heroine.

Another thing that bothered me was; Why the heck is Lucinda Price famous at Shoreline?

That's like taking an old, moldy pie, and add a smelly cup of milk; It's just gross, and definitely not something, somebody would like to have.

So this makes me wonder; Why did you serve that pie for your readers? Do you hate them?
Making Luce famous on Shoreline was a bad trick. Making everybody confident with the Luce/Daniel relationship was even worse. Why did you try to make Luce a celebrity?
Cause by doing that, you have made your 'heroine' act even worse!

Congratulations; You must be proud!

Oh, and Kate?

Before i tear this book apart, i just wanna tell you something;

In the heavenly eternal fight between good and evil, only two sites are available. That means you can't tell us that the Outcast were something in-between . THAT IS SIMPLY NOT POSSIBLE.

....

I think i know why this book is called Torment - because it was tormenting to finish this.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

No book has been more aptly named. I read this as a follow up to Fallen (which was a mighty let down itself) in hopes that it would somehow clear up some of the jagged and, at times, blatantly ignored plot points. It didn't. Instead, I was treated to nearly 500 pages of an insipid, seemingly bipolar angel who inexplicably loves a fickle, petulant, whiny girl-child who couldn't decipher the back of a cereal box with a room full of Mensa members helping her.

Though I can't really fault Luce the difficulty she finds in understanding her circumstances since they are *never* explained beyond an interrupted rumor. Nev-er. For hundreds of pages, not even a little bit explained.

I closed this book and the only remaining feeling I had (aside from intense ire at the time and money lost in reading it) was, "What was the point?!"

Luce isn't the type of girl I would waste a piece of gum on, let alone wage wars between Heaven and Hell. And if you clipped Daniels wings, he would be just another emotionally stunted, practically abusive teenage boy. Some angel. Some heroine. Epic love? Nope. Epic fail.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best thing I can say about Torment is that its title suits it perfectly. The first three quarters of this book were absolute torment to get through, but the end did pave the way for a somewhat-interesting third book in the series.

As I was persevering through this thing, I realized that the main appeal Fallen held was the secret of what supernatural creature Daniel is. That took up most of the plot of that novel, but that was okay since it held my attention long enough. However, in Torment, you already know that you're dealing with a bunch of angels, so the mystery of it is gone. Truthfully, I don't even know where Lauren Kate was going for the first four-hundred pages of this book. It was just a bunch of random plots haphazardly thrown together. We have Luce-has-Daniel-problems, Luce-wants-to-find-her-parents-from-a-past-life, Luce-goes-to-Vegas, Luce-has-feelings-for-Miles, Luce-misses-Daniel, Luce-loves-Daniel, Luce-misses-her-parents, and Luce-plays-with-Announcers all rolled up into one. It's as if the author didn't know what to do with her main character while the angel war (was there actually an angel war going on?) was happening somewhere in the background. There was absolutely nothing to keep you engaged in the story.

I mentioned this in my brief review of Fallen, but it still rings true in this novel: Luce is the most boring character in all of YA fiction. Actually, in all of fiction period. And it's not that Lauren Kate has trouble creating interesting characters that actually have a personality. Shelby, Miles, Cam, and Arriane (to name a few) all have distinct personalities. Even in Fallen, Daniel had somewhat of a personality, but in this novel, he suddenly turns into this self-loathing, absolutely boring person. It's also really hard to be absorbed into a story if the main character is absolutely devoid of any discernible character traits. I honestly don't know why anyone bothers with Luce; she seems like the most boring friend ever. Sadly, I'd rather have Bella Swan.

Is it just me, or did that war at the end seem to come out of nowhere? Not just the war but, also, Luce's role in the whole thing. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but that we-need-Luce-to-get-into-Heaven thing was never mentioned beforehand. I just don't think it was handled very well. Oh, and if they expect Luce to get them back in Heaven, a girl that has the personality of a doorknob, they're all completely screwed. And her parents during that entire scene were completely idiotic. "Oh, honey, we're so glad to have you home, but we're going to take the dog on his after-dinner walk. Entertain these dozen reform school students we're leaving you alone in the house with. kthxbai!"

Usually in these types of books, the main romance sparks some kind of interest and keeps the plot flowing. Not so in Torment! Every scene that involved Daniel and Luce had so much melodrama and angst that I had to resist the urge to vomit. Every scene was a toss-up between "we'll be 2gether 4evar!!!!" and "idk ur keeping 2 many secrets from me!!!!" It seems like - since he's what? thousands of years old? - Daniel would be about to handle the situation in a mature manner, but he's worse than Luce. I seriously felt no sympathy for him through the duration of this novel.

Okay, I think that's enough to complain about, right? This novel just felt like a bridge between the first and third books, but this bridge was devoid of anything engaging whatsoever. However, like I said in the beginning, the ending did leave me wanting to know what happens. So congrats, Lauren Kate, you're probably going to force me to shell out some more money on this series of yours.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I loved Fallen and had waited so long for Torment, I was sure it would be worth the wait. Sadly, it was not.
Luce really irritated me. She took everything Daniel told her in the first book on faith, and days later she is now questioning everything. I understand the desire to have her more in control of things and be a stronger character. But that came across more like a spoiled, poor me, do whatever I want regardless of the consequences, little girl. I can't image that this is who Daniel loves. Luce's interest in Miles made her an even less sympathetic character.
When she leaves everyone and walks into the Announcer, I was relieved she finally did something. But again, she handled it wrong. She should have told Daniel she loved him but needed to be alone for awhile. Of course, she didn't say anything and he will blinding hunt her down.
This book lived up to it's title. Surely Lauren Kate meant the torment that Luce is going through, but for me, reading this book was torment.
Passion, the third book, is supposed to be about their previous lives. I hope that Luce is a better character in that one.

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

La única razón por la que lo leí fue por que lo compré al mismo tiempo del primero. Le di una segunda oportunidad a la saga con este pero... fue una decepción total. Más ridiculeces, más boberías, en fin un libro desastroso, tedioso y horrible que solo te llama por las portadas tan bonitas y las frases cautivadoras de atrás, por algo no tienen sinopsis.

[Vishnu Chevli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Torment by Lauren Kate is the second book in Fallen series. I was randomly going through youtube and I came across the movie that was made from the first book of series "Fallen" last month and I loved that movie, I wanted to read Torment ever since. So when I found this book in book fair I was so excited, but after reading this book I was bit disappointed.

The story starts after the events of Fallen, Cam- the demon and Daniel -the angle made an eighteen-day truce to protect Luce who was Daniel 's love and a mortal from the Outcast. Luce was hidden at Shoreline, a school where both humans and Nephilim - half angle attended. Luce found 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. 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 to make her feel happier about her situation. 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 everybody behind her. Leaving her past and into her future and Daniel, follows her.

I am love reading books with angles, demons or vampires in it, in short, YA fantasies. That was the prime reason I liked this book, otherwise, I found writing style quite poor. One particular thing that I didn't like was the meetings between Luce and Denial. Whenever they met, they just fought over stupid things. And then Denial will leave saying "I have to go". After watching Fallen I had big expectations from this book, which were not fulfilled.

Detailed Review Link - http://chevusread.blogspot.in/2018/01...

[kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

1 1/2 stars, but I can't give half stars.
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Yep, that would certainly apply here. The covers of this book series are without a doubt, beautiful, intriguing and the best thing about the books.
So, Torment.
Who the heck is Luce? Why the heck does she matter? What the heck is the pull between Cam and Daniel? Why the heck is there a war? And when not at war, why the heck are they fighting other angel creatures? Can we get some answers to these questions? Obviously not.
Luce is such a nothing character that I find it all but impossible to believe that the fate of the entire world rests on the actions of this whiny crybaby. Miss Sophia’s words to her in Fallen are so true. “. . . you’re nothing more than what you appear to be: a stupid, selfish, ignorant, spoiled little girl who thinks the world lives or dies on whether she gets to go out with some good-looking boy at school.” Well said, Miss Sophia, well said.
Everything is drama to this girl. Everything. She picks fights with Daniel over nothing. He, like every other person at her school, mentions her stupid bleached hair and she gets defensive, for no reason or for the same reason she bleached her hair which is she doesn’t know why. He doesn’t say he doesn’t like it or that she shouldn’t have done it, he simply asks her what she did.
Asked to write home an email lying to her parents about where she is and what she's doing, she can only be brief because she's going "to lose it" if she continues to lie to them. Really? Are you kidding me? Luce lied to them about Sword and Cross, not telling them she hated it, trying to hide the bad parts of the school but now lying to them is more than she can stand?????
So, here's what I really don't get. Well, first, what the heck about Luce appeals to Daniel at all? But let's just ignore that for the moment.
These two have known each other over Luce's innumerable lifetimes, right? And she is always the same, looks the same, is the exact same personality. Do you get where I'm going with this??? So, that being the case, shouldn't Daniel know her personality? Shouldn't he know that she is a self-centered twit who can't see past what she wants to do when she wants to do it, someone who never even pauses to think of the consequences, someone who will always do the EXACT opposite of what she's told?
Then, knowing that, shouldn’t Daniel be telling her, Hey, Luce, dye your hair blond for no reason. Hey, Luce whatever you do, hang out in the scary woods as much as possible, ignore the fact that it's not permitted and just do it. Hey, Luce, if you get a suspicious type-written letter supposedly from me, don't pause to consider whether it's legitimate or not, but sneak out of school as fast as you can. And Hey, Luce, we're going to be apart a total of eighteen terribly long and horrible days, so try to find another cutie to fall for ON THE FIRST DAY because we are only eternal soulmates. And last but not least, Hey, Luce, don't worry about the fate of the world and all being tied in some unexplained way to your ridiculously childish self so try to put yourself in as much danger as you possibly can.
Why oh why oh why would Miles go after Luce? What is he really up to, what is his scheme? Luce is seen as a celebrity when she gets to Shoreline. Simply everyone, including Miles, knows her story, she’s the subject of bedtime stories, if you can believe that, yet Miles immediately pursues Luce, even though there are other girls who obviously are attracted to him. But he’s all about Luce and why, exactly? What about her appeals to him? He was all about her from day one. Why?
Luce has already learned that people she thought she could trust turned out to be the opposite. Still, she lets things go with Miles because . . . I don’t know. Because there needs to be a triangle, is the only reason I can think of. When you have an eternal soul mate, someone asking you to only wait a few days to be with him, how do you justify starting up with someone else? Not just for the eternal lover, but for this new guy you’re toying with because you have no self-control or self-awareness.
My head hurts so I’ve decided to write the synopsis and as Luce’s blog. Here we go:
Luce’s Blog
"First day as new girl at my new school, Shoreline. I miss Daniel like a physical part of myself is missing. He is everything to me. I can’t stand to be away from . . . Hold on, hottie alert. Oh, I see, this guy is the third side of my new triangle. Got it. See, Cam can no longer be the other side, being a demon and all, so I needed a new one and here he is. Yeah, yeah, I’ll only be here a few weeks and I loved Daniel, literally, forever, but if he isn’t here, I need someone else to lean on. Oh, I was confused for a second there, but I saw Miles’ sparkling eyes, bright white smile and dimples and I understood. Third side of triangle. Check
Oh, party on the beach with a bunch of people I don’t know, don’t care about and don’t plan to know since I’ll only be here temporarily. Still, leaving campus could put me in danger so count me in.
Daniel dropped by to dis my hair. How dare he?
Snuck off campus to meet Daniel, but this girl tried to shoot me with this weird silver arrow. Cam, I’m still mad at him, showed up to save my life.
Waffles with Miles. Isn’t he cute?
Yacht trip, even though I‘m supposed to stay on campus where I‘m safe. Whatever. Dawn fell overboard and I saved her.
Figured out those shadowing things, those Announcers, you can see pieces from your past life. So I went to see my past life parents, peering at them through the window and crying for no apparent reason other than I like the drama of myself.
Learned more about the Announcers and fencing, although that took up a bunch of time and lead nowhere, the fencing, not the Announcers. Hey, did y'all know you can use those shadow things for travel? It is way cool. We went to freak out, I mean, see my once-sister, Vera, in Las Vegas. Yeah, made her get all jumpy and scared, but hey, who cares how anyone but me feels anyway.
Oh, my friend, Callie who is totally unimportant to this plot and whom you hardly remember as even being my friend, is planning to come to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving which should be a good joke on her since I won’t be there. I was going to tell her I couldn’t come, but decided it would be more fun to just not show up after she traveled all the way there.
Dawn got kidnapped, but then they gave her back. Weird, huh? Oh, she kind of looked lots like me until I bleached my hair. Maybe they were after me, since everything seems to always be about me.
Even though I was afraid he might burst into flames like that Trevor guy (will I ever learn what happened with that? Oh, well, doesn’t really matter, I guess.), I let Miles kiss me. It was nice, but then I realized that Daniel had witnessed the whole thing. Wow, I just cheated on the guy who gave up Heaven for me, who has suffered through my endless lifetimes for loving me, but who cares? Miles is still cute and Daniel is totally responsible for my having to keep re-living my life. It’s all his fault, everything. I have no responsibility whatsoever. So what if I always track him down and push and push and push him, it’s still his fault, no matter how much he suffers because of it. Did I mention how cute Miles is?
Guess what? Even though I was supposed to stay on the Shoreline campus to be safe, I’ve managed to whine and pout enough that I got to go home for Thanksgiving. And everyone was there, Daniel, Arriane, Gabbe, Cam, Roland, Molly, Miles, Shelby, Callie, my parents and me. It was intense with Miles and Daniel there together and my parents who are so clueless. While they went for a walk after dinner, there was this huge battle in my backyard between these Outcasts on one side and the angels and demons on the other. The Outcasts want me, too, just like the demons and angels. I’m so popular!
Anyway, I just stepped into an Announcer when it was over, so I could have some alone time and find out about my past lives. See ya."

One last note. There is a short, short story included, an excerpt from Daniel Grigori’s journal. Now THAT was interesting and I would love to read more from his point of view. Daniel is interesting and his voice isn't complaining and angsty like Luce. This should be the story with only tiny bits of Luce tossed in. This bit works, the other 452 pages, not so much.

[Zenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

omg the book isnt even out yet and im drooling i cant wait till it comes out yaaaay

[Roohdaar · Rating 1 out of 5]

To hell with, "Never judge a book by its cover."

Do I really need to read this book to write a review about it?!

Goddamnit.

Does anyone else find it ironic that this one is called Torment?

LMAO.

*reads summary on Goodreads*

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.

[☠Kayla☠]

I really liked the first book, but for some reason I just couldn't get through this one. Dnf.

[₊ ˚ ale ࿓ ♡ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 1 out of 5]

0.5 stars.

Welcome, friends, to "books I read because I hate myself to stratospheric levels, but that make me laugh." Today our guest will be Torment, the second book in Lauren Kate's Fallen saga.

As I said, I had started this book several days ago (I think it was right after I finished the first book), but I hadn't advanced it because I didn't care for it at the time and I had better things to read. However, a few days ago I decided to continue it... And I'm still pondering whether it was a total waste of time or whether it filled the weekly quota of laughs.

Luce is in "grave" danger. After the "battle" at Sword & Cross - which she clearly didn't participate in because she's human and a little glass doll to be protected - Daniel decreed that the place isn't safe for Luce, as a bunch of strange people we don't know want to kill her.

In any case, Daniel decides it's better for Luce to be somewhere else, so he takes her to Shoreline, in another city. This is a school for nephilim, and although there are humans too, both sides are divided. You're either on the side of the Big Guy, or the Rebel who earned an expulsion from Mount Olympus. In the end, you have to pick a side. Or that's basically what everyone is talking about.

This book is problematic from top to bottom. I don't even know how to describe how disgusted I was to read so much toxicity in a relationship that is based on Luce's obsession with Daniel, who is clearly sick in the head and a toxic fuck.

Plot.
Again, there is no plot. Why put the minimum effort into planning a good plot, when you can create characters with no personality, toxic and problematic? They is our plot.

I would have liked Lauren to delve deeper into Shoreline, to give us a new picture, and though she tried, she failed mightily, and I understand that I'm asking too much. The nephilim are aggressive towards humans and practically treat them like garbage. The descriptions of the places are vague and mediocre. And, oh, don't get me started on the celestial subjects consisting of, "How to find a job if I'm a bastard son/daughter of some angel and a miserable mortal they wanted to hang out with and dump", "What are the chances of me fitting in with the real angels, who see us as lesser, and succeeding?" "You know how having superpowers is ridiculous because I don't use them and it doesn't affect the plot itself?"

Dawn is kidnapped by the Outcasts (a series of angels who were blinded as a punishment imposed by Lucifer), because they mistake her for Luce and, coincidentally, return her safe and sound. This is ridiculous, why return her safe and sound, why not send some message? I found it stupid and totally unnecessary, apart from the fact that it makes Luce feel more important than she should: that is, nothing.

There are many unnecessary scenes that could have been omitted. But, of course, certain "plot twists" had to be added (which, by the way, were totally predictable) to keep the reader "hooked". Again, the angels and demons plot is poorly developed. I could have developed it better, jk.

Nothing exciting happens during the whole book. We only get Luce's day to day life for 18 days, which amounts to a journey through Hell, Purgatory and back to Hell, because there is nothing more torturous than this book. The last few chapters really are boring and stupid. Were they supposed to thrill me, make me cry and understand that Luce has a purpose beyond being the most boring YA character in the world? We'll never know.

Characters.
This book, like the first, is from Luce's point of view to no purpose. Although, if it had been narrated in the first person, I would find our protagonist to be more irritating, stupid, selfish and ignorant than usual.

In this book, friend Luce is gradually realizing (finally, yai) that Daniel is hiding more things from her than she thinks. But, Luce hadn't realized it before because she was distracted stalking Daniel, and playing the spy. Now, she is slowly waking up and realizing that the reality about angels and demons is more complicated than her tiny, selfish brain can comprehend.

Luce believes that the world revolves around her, that she is meant to be with Daniel, that nothing and no one can separate them and that theirs is ✨true✨love. She's selfish and all she really cares about is getting Daniel's attention, which she does repeatedly when she runs away from Shoreline, despite being told NOT to. And he not only puts his own life at risk, but the lives of those he drags with him into his pathetic life.

She lives her life wondering, "what would Daniel say?". Bitch, no one but you cares about Daniel Grigori, who is an asshole, but we'll talk about him later. Her world boils down to him, which is annoying, because she's only known him for two weeks and he throws her at Shoreline. She depends on Daniel and clearly expresses it, which makes me severely worried about her mental and emotional state.

Quote:

It was scary how quickly and how much she’d come to rely on Daniel, scarier still that she didn’t know when she’d see him next.

I didn't understand why on earth they added Miles as a possible love interest, when it was clear that Luce only saw him as a friend. Was it to cause a different perspective? To show Daniel's jealousy, even though it was totally stupid? Miles would have been better off being Luce's friend from the start, without sneaking in that he was in love with her. WE ALL KNOW THAT LUCINDA AND DANIEL ARE ENDGAME, THANKS!!!!

Luce couldn't be dumber and more clueless. She's not a heroine as such, because all she does is think about whether Daniel would go along with everything she does, commiserating about something really ridiculous, putting his boring, pathetic life at risk, or doing something she was told not to do, so as not to put herself in harm's way. But, Luce ignores everything she is advised not to do.

Luce compares her "relationship" to that of Francesca and Steven, who are angel and demon respectively. Forgive me, child, but Francesca and Steven love and hate each other at the same time; they know that despite their love and relationship, when the "war" comes, they will have to fight each other and kill each other. You claim to love Daniel more than anything, even though you've only known him for almost a month, and you don't hate him and you're not going to fight him because ✨true✨love✨ and you can't fight for yourself.

Amiga, date cuenta.

Daniel is, once again, the biggest asshole that can exist. He has Edward Cullen beat in terms of stupidity, toxicity and testosterone overflowing from his brain like a river. He's a macho fuck who firmly believes he has power and authority over Luce by "wanting to protect her".

Just because Luce dyed her hair blonde, he complains to her and says something really shitty. EXCUSE ME, BUT NO. You have no right to come and tell her what she can and can't do. But, of course, with a kiss Luce will ignore and forget all this, forgiving him because he loves her with his miserable life. More pathetic it couldn't get. Seriously.

Quote of Mr. Grigori being a dick, again.

“I shouldn’t be here, but I worry about you.” He held her at arm’s length. “And from the looks of things, I’m right to worry.” He fingered a lock of her hair. “I don’t understand why you did this, Luce. It isn’t you.”

Again, here is the big man. :3

“You’re not going on a yacht trip anywhere.”
 “What?”
 “You’ll stay right here on this campus until I say so.” He exhaled, sensing her rising anger. “I hate giving you these rules, Luce, but … I’m doing so much to keep you safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

But he claims that this is TRUE LOVE. HAHAHA YOU FUCKING LIAR.

He grabbed her shoulders and shook them until she met his eyes. “It is true love,” he said, with such desperation that Luce couldn’t tell whether it chipped away at or added to the pain in her heart. “You know it is.”

I could go on with all the quotes of Luce idolizing Daniel, getting mad at him and then forgiving him; or with Daniel being a jerk, but not caring.

I thought this book would have multiple POVS, maybe Luce and Daniel's, because I kept wondering the whole damn book: where is Daniel going? What is he doing to "protect" Luce from all his enemies, which are more because of him? And to think that Luce takes the idea of Daniel killing for her very calmly... No one has any idea how much I laughed at that.

Nothing in this book has coherence. Nor Luce being sent to Shoreline. Nor Francesca or Steven teaching them ONCE to summon an Annunciator and then leaving it at that to say that NO ONE should do it because it's dangerous. Nor Shelby being Daniel's girlfriend, but Daniel doesn't say anything to Luce, but she figures it out on her own and guess what? She forgives him. Nor the war that breaks out at the end where Luce's parents happened to be out walking the dog.

This book was predictable af. A circus. And it's also a funny book, but no because there is humor (which it doesn't have), but because it's stupid.

It's obvious that Lauren Kate couldn't think of much to write in this beautiful story of endless love... Well then, she wouldn't have written anything. This book is terrible, and as the name says, it is a torment.

[Jude · Rating 2 out of 5]

How many lives do you need to live
Before you find someone
Worth dying for?

Well, one thing is for sure, this book, is not worth dying for. I know this sounds bad and like its going to be a hater review but, I actually find my situation amusing. Just stick around.

For starters, the story sounds great: A school of Nephilim! Cool! It's gonna be like Howards, but instead of fighting Voldemort, you fight Outcast. Well, No. it's exactly the same as Sword & Cross, only with brighter colors and sexier students. Seriously, that's it.

Strike One!

Another thing is, for as much as I rummage through my mind, I can’t seem to remember why I even liked Daniel in the first place. I swear every single time he and Luce meet, they fight, end up pissed off at each other, and go their separate ways. Every. Single. Freaking. TIME!!! And it's not just, two or three times, nooooo, it's six or seven!! And in the summary is says: What if Luce is meant to be with someone else? I assume that guy is Mike [or whatever his name is, I know for a fact it starts with Mi.], though I am not so sure, because the phrase makes it sound like a total soul mate that shares a super deep connection with Luce- but of course it's not Daniel. So, Pl-ease, cut the drama. Yeah, he is cute and I like him way better than I like Daniel. But the Luce-Mike crush and the Daniel-Luce-I-hate-you episodes. . . complete turn off.

Strike Two!

I still can’t believe I managed to get to the ending of this book – well, I actually can, I just designed a mantra system: 'it cost you 17.99 dollars plus tax, the least you can do is finish the freaking thing' – and when I was like, 3 chapters before the end, I was hooked, and couldn’t put the goddamn thing down.

Strike Three! And Your Ou- Wait, What?

Yup. The Ending. Was. Great. (or maybe just good I’m still not sure). Total Cliffhanger. And a final shocking decision. I think I now hate the book more. I had long decided when I started the story, that I wouldn’t continue reading this series, and then this! or more like that! What kind of ending was that!? That was just cruel Miss Lauren Kate!

So, Will I be reading the Third Book? Yes. And since I am so predictable, here’s what’s going to happen: No matter how much I hate Passion – Passion being the third Book in the Fallen Series – I’m gonna buy the fourth one, why? Because I’ll tell myself, you already have the first three! Might as well have the whole collection and finish the story. . . and the covers are pretty.

*update from me of the future: Guess What? I won the third book and I didn't read it. BAM! Didn't see that one coming did you?? I am an unpredictable and wild creature. BAM.

Yup. That would be my somehow conclusion. The book didn’t suck so much, it had some good points too, like the new characters; I just thought they were all more fun than the ones at Sword & Cross, more sparkly or. . . I don’t know. It's the Nephilim-Angel thing I’m sure. Luce was a little bit more useful, and disobeyed Daniel *Gasp*, and I really liked the theme of good and evil and how the one that wins, chooses how history is written. . . I’m not sure that was the right way to say it, but... It’s a conversation they have in a Dinner, you’ll see - if you read the book.

If you read Fallen, you should continue, If you haven’t . . . think about it reaaallyyyy well, you’ll be getting on board a lame and addicting ship...

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I applause to the stunning cover, but I'm saddened to give this book a gracious 3 stars that it doesn't deserve. It took me forever to get through all the whining and disappointments with the characters. The whole premise of the story that had so much potential to offer was just "Torment" — yup, see the pun here.

The entire story just fell flat. What happened from book 1 to book 2? We continued on with the tragic romance of Luce a human and her fallen angel Daniel. The sweetest love in all of history, where they cannot be together because Luce dies. Her curse is that she gets reincarnated and with each new life she falls in love with Daniel again — only this time something has changed and she hasn't died yet.

Here is a quick synopsis of what went on that really bugged me.
1. The whole book is about Luce whining about missing Daniel.
2. Luce is rebelling like a spoiled child - her inner thoughts is making my brain bleed.
3. Too much about the announcers and the shadows - ooh, so creepy evil...all right we get it already.
4. Oh no, another love triangle - egad, just shoot me now.
5. The lines between good vs. evil and angels vs. demons just got foggy with a big HUH? Okay, where are we going with this...

And yet, I'm a sucker — so yes, I will be waiting for book 3 to see what Lauren Kate has in store for us...oh, did I mention a cliff hanger at the end?

It was 3/4 a waste of a read, luckily there was 1/4 of good reading.

[James Tullos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give it 2 stars but... dammit the last 40 pages were so entertaining. Things actually happened!

[Elena Salvatore · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Are you okay?" Daniel whispered, his voice soft, his lips so close to hers.
"Yes." She could feel the beating of his wings. "You caught me."
"I will always catch you when you fall.”

In this book Luce finds herself in yet another private school from which she can't leave.
Daniel left her here only with instructions to never leave the school and a promise to return to her.
He doesn't tell her where he is going or what he's doing only to never leave the school grounds.

So what is she doing?
Leaving the school grounds of course. She goes to the woods where several people told her not to go, she goes on a boat ride which Daniel specifically told her not to go since it wasn't safe, she leaves the school grounds where then Cam has to kill someone to save her life and she experiments with the announcers which the teachers told her are to dangerous.





Daniel was pretty much absent in the entire book except for those short, unnecessary visits he paid to Luce.

I still don't buy that whole "Epic-Star-Crossed-Lovers" thing.
First of all.... if you don't want her to burst into flames then just DON'T KISS HER.
Second... for the love of God!
Don't just come flying by, kiss her, don't answere any of her questions and leave gloomy. Tell her something! Anything! What is the worst that can happen, she bursting into flames?


I started to root for Miles and so did she.
You better step your game up Danny boy.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dear Author Lauren Kate,

Anytime you feel the need to title a book with a word who's synonyms include; Suffering, irration, hell,excruation, torture... you had better damn well make sure the reader's are not feeling any of those emotions. You failed.

While 'Torment' might be a nano better than 'Fallen', it still is not anything I would consider good. You have successfully took something that could have possibly been an interesting story and turned it into unrelatable, long, annoying garbage. Your main character, Luce is almost painful to hear, she makes stupid decisions and does not have a clue what love is. Daniel is also equally annoying, keeping way to many secrets and being shady. Maybe they are perfect for each other. You know it's bad when you have this huge love story going on and you're rooting for the new guy to take her away.
Enter Miles. Pretty much the only decent character in the book.

I see you have a third book, Passion coming out.... why??? With a passion, I, the reader wish you weren't. If you haven't caught my drift by now, I'm just going to flat out say it- Your writing Sucks, Your Books Suck. I don't know you as a person, but i am assuming...... you suck. There is probably a national epidemic of overflow in our landfills because of these books!!! I'm not into book torture, but this one is just asking for it!!!

FAIL!


Dear goodreads team,
Take my advice, don't do this to yourself!!! I took the bullet, so you guys wouldn't have to. Don't worry, you are not missing out on anything.

Sidenote: On a positive note, the cover is gorgeous!!!!

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Torment was such a torment to read.

I didn't much like Luce's character in the first book and in this book I liked her even less. She went from not so bright, crazy stalker to a complete idiot and crazy lunatic. In fact, everyone becomes kind of crazy in this one. Yes, they are fighting some unknown evil (known to them of course but we don't get many answers but more questions) but still. I couldn't believe that they were all the same characters from the first book. I mean they are all fallen angels and have been around for thousands of years and yet they acted like a group of spoilt teenagers. Still I loved Cam and Ari the most.

There were a lot of other groups thrown in, which I liked but the whole book dragged. Sometimes it was interesting and other times it was really boring and pointless. I thought of not wanting to continue but kept on reading thinking well I need some answers so may as well continue to read. We didn't get that many answers btw.

Overall I feel let down by this book and all the characters.

2 stars

[Krystle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love it when books are aptly named. This book was excruciating to read and it being a "torment" is no joke. I wanted to rip the book into pieces so many times.

Let's start with the good: Miles. I just love him. He's the sweetest, patient, and most understanding guy in the whole book. He should *not* get together with Luce under any circumstances because he's just too good for her. If they do somehow hook up, Luce will eventually became a overly obsessive moron you just want to slap to the burning fire of Earth's molten core and back. Which is funny because in comparison to her supposed soulmate, true love of all time, he actually had a lot more chemistry with her.

And now the bad. There's loads of it.

I stated it before and by this book it is perfectly clear. How in the hell do Luce and Daniel even like each other? This time around Luce is a melodramatic walking wank-fest and Daniel is just a prick. I'm serious, she's getting all upset and can't live without him thoughts and what not when they're only supposed to spend eighteen days apart from each other? Which doesn't even matter because Daniel cheats and sees her practically every other day anyway. And then when they're together it's an absolute chore to read. They always fight - mostly about the most stupid things - and end doing the boohoo thing back and forth.

Daniel is a jerkbag. If you thought he was bad in the first book, well, he continues it in the second one. They argue about how she colored her *hair*. Her hair! If a guy picks a fight over you for something as simple as changing your hair color that is the big clue to DUMP HIS ASS IMMEDIATELY. Secondly, he says the most chauvinistic comments to her ever, like "you disobeyed me!" and crap like that. Wtf? And he purposely withholds information from her when she asks him for it, which I thought, you know, communication was key in relationships. Guess not. It's not a wonder that she's died thousands of times then.

Whoa, my god, the plot. What direction was this book supposed to go in? Was it the supposed war between angels and demons, the Announcer things, or these Outcasts who want Luce to return to Heaven? WHICH IS IT? If the author had chosen to stick with one straight and clear plotline then this book would not end up being some nonsensical mess where nothing seemed to matter. It got drowned and muddied up so much I was not even bothered to try and figure out what events were going to happen next.

There is a fundamental flaw in Luce seeking out the Announcers, or shadows as she calls it, to find out her past lives because the question of why this is important is never answered. Yes, I know that if you've supposedly been killed and reborn for thousands of years you might want to find out how your other life lived but *why*? Why is Luce so important? Why is it so important that she find out this stuff? Does this have any bearing whatsoever on the real plot? No? Yes? Someone please give me a clue.

I was bored by about page fifty. I constantly checked the length of the (heinously long) chapters and had this great feeling like someone was staking me in the heart whenever I picked this book up to read. The pacing of this book is extremely slow and it doesn't help that Luce is such a poor and ineffective protagonist. Daniel, too, is a loser so you can't seek any redemption there.

And, finally, the writing. At first I thought, "hey, maybe Lauren Kate's writing actually improved" but I was backhanded so hard that my brain was probably trying to punish for even thinking this assumption. The kissing scenes especially were woeful. They ended up being nothing more than terrible word choices and clichéd descriptions that they became funny then hormone inducing. And I found no tension whatsoever to ramp up the pace of this book. When the big climactic ending came my only thing I could say was, "THANK HEAVENS THIS IS OVER!"

Save yourself the agony and torture. Do not pick up this series. I don't know why I keep subjecting myself to this. Probably to see if I can last longer than my friends. Geh.

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it has been a while since I read the first book and it took me a while to remember where everything was left off and what was going on. I gotta say. Daniel annoys me. Maybe the reasons that he doesn't explain everything and keeps her in the dark will become more apparent as the series continues, but as for now it's just annoying, and as far as I can tell it's unnecessary.

I'm surprised to find that I really like Miles as Luce's love interest way more than Daniel. He is such a great guy, everything I personally would look for if I hadn't already found my soulmate. It's too bad really that he won't get the girl. Guys like him never do in these stories.

I think what I love most about these books so far is the Academy-like setting. I really hope there is more of that but based on the ending, I'm thinking probably not. Oh well. I will continue on with the series, even though I'm not super into it. It's just interesting enough to keep me reading.

How I choose my rating:
1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much.
2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end.
3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

En esta continuación la trama sigue igual o más lenta que en el primero 😬, pero increíblemente se lee rápido; aparece el típico triángulo amoroso y Luce comienza a cuestionar su “amor verdadero” 😴.

Lo único que se agrega al “mundo” construido por la autoes son unos famosos proscritos, que obviamente quieren a la protagonista y las “anunciadoras” como una especie de nubes que guardan recuerdos y sirven para transportarse. Fuera de eso, creo que no hay nada más nuevo.

Y el final, el tipico donde la protagonista toma pesimas decisiones sin sentido 😬😴.

[Alaina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't remember if I liked the first book Fallen or not and since I said I was going to do a buddy read for this book, Torment, I just sort of went with it. I was also way too lazy to look up my review/rating for Fallen. Plus, it honestly doesn't really matter to me how I felt about the first book - what matters if how I felt about this book.

I hated it.

I hated it so fucking much. I would rather sit in the dentist office for like 48 hours than read this book ever again. Side note: I have perfectly healthy teeth (very straight and everything) and no cavities either. I just hate the dentist and the scraping they do during the cleaning. It makes me cringe.

If I hated someone so much I would probably send them this book.

I don't even want to dive into Torment or hide/tell you spoilers about this book. Nope, not one ounce of me wants to do that at all. I'll just complain about how annoying the characters were. It was such a boring read that I would put down this book all of the time and do something else. Like, read another book (or four), do laundry, shower, walk the dogs, etc. I would rather watch a show that I hate than read this book.

I apologize to anyone that actually liked this book and then I also have to ask - DID WE READ THE SAME BOOK?!?

I'm done with this series. I will not be picking up the next book. I will never reread this series ever again. I'd rather eat dog shit.