La primera maldición

Fallen #4

by Lauren Kate, Rosa Pérez Pérez; (Translator)

Solo la luz de su amor podría iluminar la oscuridad de todo un mundo...

La primera maldición es la cuarta entrega de la saga paranormal romántica «Oscuros», que narra la cruel historia de amor de Daniel y Luce.

A Luce y a Daniel solo les queda una oportunidad para salvar su historia... y la del mundo.

Y es que Lucifer ha desvelado por fin sus planes: quiere recrear la Caída de los Ángeles a la Tierra para alterar el tiempo y borrar, de un plumazo, todo lo acontecido en los últimos siete mil años.

Luce y Daniel son los únicos que pueden detenerle, pero cuentan solo con nueve días. Así que, acompañados de sus amigos (e incluso de algún enemigo) iniciarán una carrera contrarreloj para evitar que el ángel traidor destruya el rumbo de la humanidad...

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

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 12, 2012

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

[Cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

Post-Review:

Okay, so, story time: I had tried writing this review a while ago, but, surprise, surprise, my computer quit on me before I had any time to react (and most of the review was done), and, poof! It was gone. So I got incredibly pissed off and didn't come back to re-write it, but I suppose now that most of the anger and general feelings of self-pity is over, I will try and make this review even better than the original here goes nothing.

First off, this book was just very.... strange. I read it and was left with a very deep sense of just emptiness and slight unsatisfaction, but I wasn't exactly mad for the most part but never along the way did I feel exactly....good about anything that was happening. And let me just say that my review scaling is kind of wonky; I do have an overall rule for rating books, but I tend to be a little more specific and grade along the book series once I'm four books into it like I am with Rapture, and, in comparison this book was better than the other three pieces of shit books that I read of this series, I rated it a three. But, what I'm trying to say, I suppose, is this disclaimer: I still did not really like the book and I would never recommend this series to anyone to go through three books of absolute donkey ass just to get to a book that will leave you going, "meh." even though I rated it what I did Just so we're clear here. Get away from this series and never look back.



True say, Doctors. True say.

This book was just damn confusing. Did I already say that? Well I don't even care because it was. Make no mistake, Luce is still as stupid is as stupid does, and even thinks herself an incredible weakling:

She reached the window and saw that the two angels were facing each other. Her hands gripped the windowsill. She felt a small swell of pride-which she would never confess-about making it back into the library without help. Probably none of the angels would even notice. She sighed and slid one leg inside.



Okay okay okay just hold up right there. You're proud of yourself for climbing up a window? And before anyone jumps up my ass and says, "wow you're judging her so quickly what's your problem that was in the beginning of the book!" Let me remind you of something. Luce has had three and a half fucking books to change and be a strong woman, and we still have this shit in the final book? Are you serious? Like do you seriously want a pat on the back, Luce, for climbing through a window and are disappointed when beings of immense power ignore the fact that you're doing something like that? You are an adult, Luce! Act like one! And this next part is the real kicker:

That was when the window began to shudder. The glass pane rattled, and the sill vibrated with such force that she was almost knocked off the ledge. She held on tighter, feeling vibrations inside her, as if her heart and soul were trembling, too.

"Earthquake," she whispered. Her foot skimmed on the back of the ledge just as her grip on the windowsill loosened.

"Lucinda!"

Daniel rushed to the window. His hands found his way around hers. Cam was there, too, one hand on her upper back, another on the back of her head. The bookshelves rippled and the lights in the library flickered as the two angels pulled her through the rocking window...

First question: who the fuck whispers earthquake!?! I'm pretty sure you're either going to be screaming your ass off or you're too surprised to say anything at all besides duck and cover. And is anyone else cracking up just thinking about the stupidity of the whole angle that the three of them are in. Daniel is just holding her hands (like how is that going to help break her fall what are you doing) and Cam somehow is holding onto her waist and the back of her head, which is an incredibly awkward position and nearly impossible to do if she's falling forward face first and the only way that would work is if she was falling backwards, but that doesn't work either because then how is Daniel even holding onto her hands because they would be falling in front of her and even if they weren't then that means that each of them are straddling her on both sides and I just don't really know. I'm just scratching my head going...



And the whole buildup to the ending was just incredibly.....slow in typical Lauren Kate fashion. You could probably skip most of the first half the book, still know what was going on, and not really be confused about anything. I understand that sometimes a slow simmer is good, but this is not the time for such things. This is the last book of the series. You need to set up a bit more of a breakneck pace and really get me invested in what's happening! But was I? No. I won't even lie, I completely skimmed over parts and read through it just to get to some actual plot progression, because let me tell you something: if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, Luce and Daniel would so be getting eaten first, because they are as slow as fuck even at what is essentially the end of the world. Here's what I was thinking as this was going on:

Me: Okay, so do you guys have a plan
Luce: dur de dur
Daniel: Well, kind of. We know the general area of where they are, but not their exact location
Me: Well you'd best get started!
Daniel: Let's go then!
Luce: Ohhhhh parade!
Daniel: Oh you're so beautiful Luce let's make out I luvers you let's be together
Me: Guys....
Daniel: Lovelovelovelovelove
Luce: Omg Daniel u r so hawt
Me: Guys! World. Ending. Fate of all souls. On this planet. In your hands.
Daniel: Oh don't worry look we found the piece through the power of positive thinking (I'll talk about that later)! Now to meet them back at the location point! *flies there*
Luce: *slightly smart thought comes through* Daniel, shouldn't we really get going?
Me: YES!
Daniel: Nah. I luv u 5ever Luce. Let's have a picnic!
Luce: Oh look how pretty! Who even cares if the world's about to end and we essentially kill over 7 billiion people as long as I'm with you it's all okay!



Like stop it, Kate! I know that they love each other and their bond is everlasting and all that shit! I don't need all of this! You're ruining any suspense and need for urgency by having Luce admire how beautiful Daniel is all the time!

I'm just very upset by this.

And another problem I had when they were in Venice. There is a scene where they are trying to get this relic from in a submerged church and Luce and Daniel have a conversation earlier and it goes something along the lines of (I don't have the book on me right now so I can't remember the exact quote) "But what if something happens to me while I'm down there?" And Daniel basically says, "You can do anything as long as you believe. " And I waved it off, thinking, what the hell are you, Walt Disney? And my first warning was when Luce wasn't feeling well and Daniel drops another Walt Disney "if you believe" hint out of the fucking sky and all Luce does is think that she feels better and she does. Now, I understand that sometimes sickness is self-imposed and that you aren't actually not feeling well, and there is something to be said for the power of positive thinking, so I was fine, but wary. And then the stupid happened. So, Luce is underwater in the church swimming without any Scuba gear what the fuck you're swimming more then twenty feet underwater YOU TAKE FUCKING SCUBA GEAR and, of course, she ends up in a pickle and Daniel isn't responding to her telepathic SOS signals, so what does she do? She basically thinks I can breathe underwater and she does. She holds her breath for several minutes even though she was about to drown before and make it to the surface, and I'm just sitting here, reading this like:



What the fuck, Kate? That is not anatomically possible if you were just drowning earlier. Now, I understand why at the end of the book she was able to do that but that's the end of the book. This was near the very beginning. You can't just drop things like that and expect me to be completely okay and wait like some patient child until you feel like getting to it. If this was the first book? Maybe. But now? No.

But, one of the reasons why I rated this book higher was because of a new character added into this book was Dee. She was such a sweet, kind, spunky, sagacious, badass old lady and every word she said had me enjoying her and maybe it was also because she was because she was the only one to put Luce in her place. I loved the aspect of her living in a bubble of time and space outside of basically the universe. Maybe it's just the whovian in me that had recently watched "The Doctor's Wife" a bit before I read that part, but the whole ambiance of the home and Dee combined just made me like her. Just tell me, Kate, why do all of your decent characters have to have such minor roles or die? For Luce of all people? Why?! And, of course, Arriane and Cam were still their awesome selves, and, although I hated a lot of the build-up to the story there were still some good parts that I actually did enjoy, but those were few and far between. As usual.

And I still fucking hate Daniel's guts he can go die in a fucking bottomless pit with his sparkle-sparkle purple wings and never show up in my life again for as much as I care about him. He is just as much of a controlling asshole as ever, and I will never like him for all of the shit he's done in this series to basically everyone. He should have just fallen in love with a mirror and he would have been a much happier man and then Cam/Luce or just anyone with CAM could have had a relationship.

And was anyone else thinking that we were going to get more of Cam's backstory in this book? I sure as hell thought we would get something, but nope; still nothing. As goddman mother fucking usual

WARNING: THE NEXT PART IS MAJOR SPOILERS. IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT REALLY CARE THEN DON'T READ THIS NEXT SECTION.


And, as I said above, the ending just didn't really leave me with anything but confusion. I didn't really mind the Lucifer angle that much or anything he did, but more the whole twist with Luce and then God herself. Yeah, that's right, I said herself. God is a she. Now, I understand that people do think that God could be female or the fact that God is just an all powerful deity and can probably appear in any form that he or she wants, but it just didn't really fit at all. I mean, why make God female in the first place? You haven't really been pushing the mold before this, Kate, and I just felt like it would have had a bit more...weight on the situation if God had been male. Now, I am not a sexist nor am against feminism and I like to think of myself as a bit of one and I am all for the girl power, but Kate really didn't do anything with her. She was female. Wow. Great. Whoop de do. Such a revolutionary idea. Now I was shocked, of course, when God first came out and I'm sure that's what Kate was going for, but after that cleared I was just left with an overall "meh" about the whole thing. I'm sure I'm more in the minority about this issue but that's how I felt; confused and slightly exasperated:


And yes I am that cute because I knew you all were wondering

And just the whole truth being revealed about Luce being an angel. And the whole flashback montage about it and her shacking up with Lucifer first. It just kind of left me feeling tricked by Kate in not a good way. At least introduce this vague idea somewhere through any of the other books and build it up a bit, which of course didn't happen. Again, she was going for the shock factor and it didn't really work for me. I actually would have liked it better if she had actually been someone Daniel had fallen in love with after he fell; one of the main reasons I was still kind of hoping for this book to be good was seeing the first time they had met on Earth maybe sometime right after he fell and Luce taking care of him or something and just getting more of their beginning backstory period. I couldn't care less about almost all of the stories in Passion that's the one I wanted the whole time. And I sure as hell got it, but not in the way I wanted at all. It all happened so fast and felt so superficial while God was away for those seven days and all that shit and it left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I just didn't like it and it didn't work for me. Now I didn't really mind the choice they made at the end and deciding to stay together; at least they weren't wishy-washy like that, but the rest of it I could have done without, to tell you the truth.

And now I'm finally done with this review, and I shall leave you a picture of a real angel:


Ugh just let me touch your buns and give you sweet, sweet, lovin'

Ahem. Enjoy the review.

Pre-review

...............

I have a very strange sinking feeling that Kate's still not going to give us any answers whatsoever and is somehow going to avoid it. Even though it's the last book where the answers are supposed to freaking be. Here's how I think it's going to go:

Luce: So, Daniel, why did we ever fall in love in the first place? What ever happened with the first me and you? How'd we meet?

Daniel: Oh, you know, just...stuff. This thing happened; you know, the thing with me and you and all the...love. Then everyone was like, "aaahhh!" and I was like, "nooooo!" and God was like "hmmm" then you were all like "aaahhh! It burns! It burns!" and that's it!

Luce: Oh.

Daniel: Yeah, like always and forever and destiny and all that stuff.

Luce: *blinks* alright! You wanna let me touch your wings, lick your feet, and make out before we go fight Lucifer? And when I say fight, I mean I'll go do something idiotic and almost die which sends you into a sorrow-filled rage then you get all sparkle-sparkle shiny and pose dramatically while everyone else fights?

Daniel: Like chhhaaaeaaahhh! Let's do this shit!


I'll let the picture speak for itself. Enjoy, as God's own son does a facepalm.

Ohdearohdearohdearohdearohdearohdearohdear Rapture has a cover. Heaven help me not Daniel, though, I would die sooner from him trying to save me than reading this book.

Edit #2: Okay, so the final cover of Rapture is out and, I must say, that it's fucking gorgeous. If I wasn't going to buy it and review it already, I would have bought it just to have the beautiful dustcover. Props, Kate.

[Megan]

Dear Lauren Kate,

If you somehow miraculously kill off Luce ,

I'll give you five stars ? (:


* Edit:* She doesn't die.

[MischaS_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

[High Lady of The Night Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The only way to survive eternity is to be able to appreciate each moment."

Beautiful. That’s the only word that’s coming to my mind at the moment. This was absolutely beautiful.

Reading this series was worth every second of my time. The first book threw me off, but from the last book I have been reading like I am addicted. The plot, the story, the characters, the very purpose of the plot unraveled in the most amazing way and left me breathless. A lot has happened, we’ve questioned where our loyalties lie, we’ve been disbelieving about love, we’ve made friends, we’ve lost friends, we’ve learnt more this than we ever thought possible but all in all the journey so far has been exhilarating. Many things I found were absurd and meaningless earlier on in the story have proved to carry a certain purpose and even some of the characters either have more to their personalities than was revealed in the beginning or have changed their ways.

Now when I go back to see my review of the book, I realise I was a little brutal about quiet a few things that took place along with the personality of the protagonists. I stand by my review for the first book, but as for now a lot of the things that happened and the reason the personality of certain characters was held nback makes sense. Many characters proved tone great people and as more of the plot was revealed the characters also seemed to compliment the overall story.

Luce who was only pining after Daniel in the first book,was shown questioning her role independent from that of Daniel’s and came forth as a powerful yet sensitive person. Daniels’s secretive, and in general, confusing behavior was justified given what would have happened if he had just come out with the truth in the first place. Luce finds out who she is, she reaches into her past and learns everything there is to know about the people she was and how they still play a part in the person she is today.

Arienne, Roland, Can, Gabbe, and Molly were each amazing people who enhanced the story which would have otherwise been dull at some points. They all have incredible personalities and are great friends. Each of them exhibit a great capacity for love and friendship and I shall miss reading about their lives. Even Miles and Shelby who were only truly featured in the second book have turned out to be great people and seeing their story end in this book was one of the happiest moments in this book.
I especially enjoyed watching her navigate her way through her past. Seeing how different each version of her were is both entertaining and shocking. Watching Luce’ s opinion about her past selves and make revelations about the curse is fascinating(even is some of it was obvious) and I pride myself on the fact that I figured out the truth before it was revealed in the series.

I had a great time making my way through this series and shall go on to read the next and final book. I can't wait to see Cam’s love story play out and I desperately wish he finds his happy ending because he certainly deserves it. Every single one of these characters grew on me and I rate this book 4.5 stars.

[Zemira Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's go Luce and Cam! This needs to happen!

EDIT



Fallen books are my guilty pleasure and I can't help and say I am so glad this books didn't suck. It so didn't!

I was expecting this whole boring story that would make me fall asleep. Sure,there were some less interesting parts. I struggled through the first half but then it quickly picked up and things were starting to make sense.

We learn more about Lucinda's connection with Lucifer,Daniel and Luce remain (too) cute and Cam is still a flawless God(pardon fallen angel) even though he didn't have as many scenes as I hoped he would have. We also see the almighty G.O.D. in flesh or in spirit,whatever you prefer. If you are worried that your favorite character might die,I can tell you that some people did actually diebut no one major.

We get a VA type of a happy ending and I shed some tears because there won't be more of these books. I do think Lauren should write a spin-off with Cam as a MC. I would definitely buy that and so would all Cam's fan girls. Also because I had a feeling we didn't actually see what happens to him in the epilogue. So please,Mrs./Ms.Kate write at least one book with this flawless devil. :D

There was this scene with Luce and her new roommate and her name was Nora. I am not joking. That is her name. I laughed so hard. For those who don't know who has the same name,I'll tell you. Nora is the name of the very stupid girl from Hush, Hush.

Rapture wasn't perfect but it is so much better than Passion which I never finished reading. I am so sad Fallen is over. I wish all the best to the author. Haters need to GTFA.

Goodbye to Lucinda,her man Daniel and to Cam,hopefully one day I will call him mine. It was a blast hanging out with you over these past few years.

[P · Rating 3 out of 5]

“It isn’t goodbye. It’s until we meet again.”

I really hate this type of ending which leaves a black hole in my heart and shatters my soul to its irreversible point. But I can't deny that it's a beautiul one to their epic love, or whatever you call it, after what they have been through in Passion. Daniel, Luce, and their friends must stop Lucifer from renewing the history by using the Announcer to change the place where the Fallen first happened. I was so excited and I read this book right after I finished Passion, I was dying to know if Luce and Daniel can make this out alive and get their HEA. But what I get is the opposite that I do know I must accept sooner than later even if it's so hard. I'm sobbing for them, for everything they've endured, for the time I've spent on this serie. BEAUTIFUL. SHATTERING. HEARTBREAKING.

“I want you to know that I would do it all again. I will choose you every time.”

Although I read the spoilers before, I still enjoyed the rest of the book where the characters fight their ways out of the conflict that will judge the fate of Heaven and Hell. Daniel is stunning as always, my love for him was growing in each book. For Luce, I quite liked her in this book, her self-reliance is a kind of development I want to see since Fallen, particularly when her past is revealed.

“You have to stop loving me.
Because I stopped loving you.”

The author tried to present Luce and Daniel's fates were bound together since the beginning of everything by showing how persistent Daniel has been all the way even though he has been given the choices to be free of this torment, he still choses love again and again. Who doesn't fall for this boy ? Yet seeing from his point of view, it's only give to deliever this ending, but from mine, it's not fair because I think they deserve more than this. Perfect stranges sound hurt to me. They meet each other again after giving up their immortal lives. The sacrifices have been made. The curse has been broken. However, I still want them as they used to be, angels, immortality, and being totally in love. So the ending disappointed me a bit.



I saw many unreasonable things happened in this book. From the last book when Daniel went back to Heaven and saw himself making a choice, Luce wasn't there. But in Rapture, She's there with him all the time since the beginning of Roll Call. Maybe the author didn't want to spoil us about that or she forgot to put this detail in Passion and made it up in Rapture to knock some sense into the story. And Lucinda and Lucifer's name was really unexpected. I hadn't seen it coming until it was actually there. You're great, Kate !

And I still have one question after all, where is the Fallen ?

“I never asked for a happy ending.”

All in all, I loved this series because I've spent my whole week on this series. I has been binded to them more or less and I'm not realy to leave it here, move on, and read another series, therefore, I save the last book of the series for later if I miss Daniel, Luce, and Cam, I will come back to this series and read it once again.

REAL BITTERSWEET ENDING.

“Then the angels, the demon, and the Nephilim flew to distant corners of the sky, leaving a moment's brilliant flash of light behind them, as below, Luce and Daniel fell in love for the first-and the last- time”

https://goo.gl/CjPgCW

[Vi Vi]

THERE'S A FOURTH BOOK OF THIS??? WHY

[Katykit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Screw the haters :)

Cannot wait for the fourth & final installment of the Fallen series to hit the shelves. I'll be pre-ordering this as I did with Passion.

[Lorelei · Rating 3 out of 5]

REVIEW UPDATED.
EDIT : OH LOOK, LUCE IS MEANT FOR SOMEONE ELSE. Does that mean we have a new love triangle in the picture? What an unforeseen turn of events! What an interesting plotline we haven't explored before! Sign me up for this new territory!

REVIEW

Rapture, the final book in the Fallen series. The story is over. Okay, it is a bit sad that it's over, mainly because i can't write these reviews anymore but i don't think i could handle another book with Luce and Daniel. For a change i will start by saying this book was an upgrade from the sloppy Passion and it actually had a plot, so congrats there!
It starts off rather slow for my taste. Like, really slow. The first half of the book was a struggle to go through. It's like a running theme with this series.
The books offer 40 pages of information/action/characters doing something within 350 pages of filler and nonsense. The whole saga is a story for barely a two parter but okay, we have a successful book deal and Twilight had 4 books so let's stick with that cardinal rule of paranormal romance.
The first chapters aren't anything important and we deal with the usual measure of stupid by the lead couple so there's that.
She didn’t care about her unbrushed teeth, about her bed head.
Maybe the person you are about to kiss might care about your nasty breath, Luce. It's a thought.
Why, after all they’d been through, did Luce and Daniel have to beat the devil before they were free to love?
This whole 'stopping the fall' scheme involves world ending consequences but Luce still believes the world revolves around her and her thrilling romance with Daniel.
Dating is more important than saving the world as we know it.
“Remember,” he said softly, reaching over to buckle her seat belt, letting his hands linger over hers. “There’s a trick.”
I'd like to know what kind of seatbelt is it that requires a "trick" which apparently is too complicated for mere mortals. It's not explained at all, he just buckles her seatbelt instead of her. He doesn't do anything to prove that this seatbelt needs a special trick to buckle other than...you know, buckling. Is he subtly shading his true love?
“What I saw last night—you, stepping into that . . . that shadow—was beautiful. I just want you to know that.”
Watching you vanish into thin air was the best thing I've seen you do, Luce!
“Venice. Vienna. And Avalon.”
Send my greetings to King Arthur when you see him, he's such a good lad. Next time try to fly to actual places.
“What does my soul look like to you?”
“I couldn’t reduce it to words if I tried, but its beauty is unsurpassed.”
It's a beautiful piece of broken cardboard adorned with poop colored sequins of stupidity so big that their beauty is truly unsurpassed. Words cannot describe it, Luce.
There’s a reason he was called the Morning Star. Lucifer was beautiful. Some say he was the most beautiful.” Luce thought she detected a hint of jealousy in Daniel’s tone.
Heaven was a fucking pageant show, wasn't it? Daniel wanted to be the fairest of them all but Lucifer stole his thunder and he's been bitter about it.
Daniel’s hands found hers underwater. “Are you all right?”
“What happened to you?” she cried. “I almost—”
“Luce,” he warned. “Shhh.”
Get over it, Luce, you were only drowing because i left you there. Some people just like to overreact.
“Don’t underestimate yourself.” Daniel smiled back briefly. “This has to do more with you than me. Try it: Tell yourself that you are not cold, not hungry, not tired.”
“All right.” Luce sighed. “I am not . . .” Now he was telling her she had mortal needs only because she thought she did. She decided to give this crazy idea a try. She straightened her shoulders. She projected the words into the misty dusk. “I, Lucinda Price, am not cold, not hungry, not tired.” The wind blew, and the clock tower in the distance struck five—and something lifted off her so that she didn’t feel depleted anymore. She felt rested, equipped for whatever the night called for,determined to succeed.
So if you say out loud like that you don't need to eat, sleep or shit you won't have those needs anymore? My God, i love how she blindly follows Daniel's advice each time. We established that she can breathe underwater thanks to him, except from that time he left her to drown and now she can get rid of her bodily needs? If Daniel says it's possible, then it's possible! Makes sense if you think about it!
Mind you, they are standing on the rooftop of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Didn't anyone see or hear her act like a drunk lunatic up there? Get that crazy bitch down and have her arrested!
“They’ve been after me for years,” Daniel said, “planting lies, manufacturing scandals.”
It is rumored that he is responsible for countless murders over the centuries but it's just the haters trying to ruin his reputation. By the way, why wasn't he never accused of Luce's deaths? I think he was jailed once in France but other than that he always gets away with it, despite being the number one suspect. Not even one person didn't press charges against him? His criminal record should have been 500 pages long with all these unreported murders!
“There is a chemical compound in the drink,” Daniel explained, “a dull poison mortals call aspartame and believe that their scientists invented. But it is an old, Heavenly substance—a venom, which, when mixed with an antidote contained in the alloys of the starshot, reacts to produce a healing potion for angels. For light ailments such as these.”
Yeah....
Or "i just totally pulled that out of my ass for the sake of plot convenience".
Every chapter in this book is a revelation.
“Do I need to ease up on the psychedelics, or did LP just recall one of her past lives unprompted at the most crucial juncture ever?”
“You’re a genius,” Daniel said, leaning forward and kissing her deeply.
Suddenly Luce can recall her past lives with details, making the previous book a waste of time since she had that ability all along but she conveniently discovered it now because a bunch of immortals can't remember where the fall happened. Yes, we are supposed to believe it and not think that it is an excuse to make Luce seem more useful.
Before she knew it, Luce had her hands around a cold brass fire poker resting in a stand by the library door. She raised it like a weapon, jaw clenched and heart hammering, and barreled into the hallway.
In case you've missed the hints, Luce is really supposed to be the hero in this book. She's our deus ex machina, the solution to every mystery, the savior of the universe, the lion hearted courageous heroine. Oh my God, somebody help me!
“Transeternal, dear.”
“They’re technically mortals,” Daniel explained,“but they can live for hundreds, even thousands of years. They have long worked closely with angels.”
We've been kept into the dark for 3 books and now we're bombarded with the most ridiculous information an author could come up with. A transeternal is someone who is technically mortal but can live for thousands of years because this makes sense and shut the fuck up. Is there such thing as a transmortal? Someone who is technically immortal but able to die? Or are there transangels? People who are angels but can't fly? I'm loving this terminology!
“No, I’m tired of being punished simply because I love you, Daniel. I don’t want anything to do with Lucifer, with Scale and Outcasts and whatever other sides there are. I’m not a pawn; I’m a person. And I’ve had enough.”
“You’ve changed, dear,”
“Since when?”
“Since before. I’ve never heard you talk like that. Have you, Daniel?”
Yeah, she's so mature and wise. What an extraordinary thing to say when you've been cursed since the beginning of time. One more reason you haven't heard her talk like that is because she is finally aware of her curse and her history and what selfish asshat her boyfriend is. Every other time she died before she knew anything about it, but continue with the awfully pretentious slimy praise nevertheless.
“Why did they—?”
Why? You're asking why? Well, here's why, Luce : “No!” Luce shouted, struggling to break free from Daniel’s grip and dragging him with her into the chapel. You blew your cover, Sophia shot you and the two angels jumped to save your useless ass. That's why. Also, why was she so distressed? She hated Cam before, now she was desperate to save him? Moreover, she continues to be suspicious of him later on so it is bizarre she wanted to risk her life for him. Her feelings towards Cam are as inconsistent as ever in this book.
“If I’d just stayed out in the hallway like Dee told me to—”
“Then Cam would be dead,” Arriane said.
You don't know that plus now there's two dead angels instead of one so the damage is greater. Also Gabbe was first in line making her soul priceless. Thanks, Luce!
The angels didn't give a shit about their friends dying. Arriane and Gabbe were besties but she didin't seem too bothered by her death! It is shocking how no one expresses their sadness or never mentions them again. I wonder why these cold hearted jerks became angels in the first place, they are pretty terrible for the job in my opinion. They don't have any purpose in the story either. Arriane is eventually a caricature and the others just lurk around in the background sucking up to Luce. Kate probably didn't develop their characters so that Luce could outshine everyone.
He let her cry. Held her close. He whispered, “You’re so brave.”
No. No. No. No. No. No. NO!
So, not only she had she forgiven him but she grew to love him as well? This happens without any buildup or transition. They suddenly became friends, as though something occured behind the scenes that the readers don't know. This felt out of place considering how little they've interacted throughout the series. She didn't even thank him when he saved her in Torment, come on.
“Daniel.” She knew him as the sixth Archangel, charged with watching over lost souls. “Why have you come to me?”
“Because I have been watching you.” Daniel stared and Luce knew that before then, no one had ever seen an angel cry. Lucinda’s tears were the first. “What is happening to you?”
For a long time she searched for the words. “I feel like I’m losing my light.”
When she finished, Daniel’s eyes were wet with tears.
“What you call love does not sound very beautiful,” he said slowly. “Think of the way we adore the Throne. That adoration makes us the best versions of ourselves.
We feel encouraged to go further with our instincts, not to change ourselves for love. If I were yours and you were mine, I would want you to be exactly as you are. I would never eclipse you with my desires.” Lucinda took Daniel’s warm, strong hand. Maybe Lucifer had discovered love, but this angel seemed to understand how to build it into something wonderful. Suddenly, Lucinda was kissing Daniel, showing him how it was done, needing for the first time to give her soul entirely to another. They held each other, Daniel’s and Lucinda’s souls glowing brighter, two halves made better as a whole.
So, a two minute cheesy pep talk was all it took to lose their shit for each other? How can they make out since they don't have bodies? What the hell is going on here? Daniel's all : "I'm better than him" and she's all "Sounds legit, let's make out!" Wow, what a deep, beautiful love we have here. Oh and Daniel telling her that he would accept her the way she was? Buddy, you made a scene because she dyed her hair blonde ! Did the author forget about the numerous situations where Daniel was an overbearing piece of shit or what? If you haven't realized it yet, we have another love triangle with Lucifer being eternally pissy about getting dumped by Luce 7000 years ago. Yup, that's right. That was the point of 4 books and 1 novella. No refunds, sweetie!
“And you don’t even know the half. Without you, I went on to invent evil, the other end of the spectrum, the necessary balance. I inspired Dante! Milton! You should see the underworld. I took the Throne’s ideas and improved them. You can do whatever you want!"
“You always were a sucker for acknowledgment. Baby, that’s your Achilles’ heel.”
“Because of Daniel Grigori, who isn’t a tenth of the angel I am, even at my worst? It’s ridiculous! You know that I have always been more radiant, more talented. You were there when I invented love. I made it out of nothing, out of mere . . . adoration!”

If you are thinking "wow that is extremely lame", it is lame as fuck. You wanted a battle of good and evil? Settle for a bitchy Lucifer who can't get over his stupid breakup. You know, they all sound as if they are highschool kids, like seriously, it's celestial Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen or something. He's such a craptastic cliched moron that he makes my skin crawl with embarrassment. WHAT IS THIS?
Is this the thrilling conclusion to this series? A cartoonish Satan and two losers yapping about their love? You know what? That's lazy and i can't believe the author took the easy way out.
He staggered toward her. His eyes filled with tears.
The devil shook his head. “Tell me how a guy, with a decent job, loses a—”
“ENOUGH!”
Even God herself couldn't bear his stupid whiny ass anymore! Also, the Throne? Really? God is meant to be an equivalent of a king?
The Throne nodded as if Luce should have known this all along. “The last time you refused to choose.”
Okay, i must address this inconsistency. In Passion only Daniel is heard making a choice. Here we have a flashback where Luce also chooses love but then God tells her she refused to choose?
They all suffer from memory loss when it's convenient for the plot.
But it will come at a price.” She shifted her gaze back to Luce and Daniel. “Are you prepared to pay the ultimate sacrifice for your love?”
It isn't a sacrifice since they won't remember anything when they become mortals. It's more painful for the ones that'll stay behind actually. One of the reasons they wanted to stop Lucifer was because they didn't want their history to be erased. This ending cancels out their whole goal in this book so I don't know what to think of it. Thanks for nothing i guess?
Luce of course isn't concerned the least about her parents and how they will face their daughter's strange disappearance (?)/death which happens to coincide with her boyfriend's also strange disappearance so there's not much to think about here. They are too self focused to be worried about other people and their feelings. If you made them choose between saving the universe and saving their love, be sure they'd opt for the second option.
Even Lucifer looked impressed. He muttered, “Only Lucinda could pull that off.”
Don't think this series would end without some good old fashioned ego stroking, now courtesy of the Evil Incarnate! Oh you know what? Fuck you forever, Fallen series! I'm done! FUCK YOU.
“Oh, come on. You already saved the world.” He laughed. “Now go save your relationship.”
Nice one, Roland, but all she actually did was to negotiate her curse. No world was at stake here, no great battle happened. We were tricked once again! But carry on with the sickening flattery, i don't care anymore!
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” What color were his eyes?
“That’s not why I gasped. I mean . . .” The flower fell from her hand, three petals landing on the boy’s shoes. Say something.He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. Not that!
The world would end for THIS.
Somebody kill me NOW.

The final scene where the angels and Nephilim stalk them, er, watch them was enjoyable but Miles and Shelby are grownups with kids. Don't they have anything better to do than watch two teenagers make out? And Cam, what happened to him? WHAT HAPPENED TO TREVOR?! Hello, did you forget about that plot point that is left hanging? No answer for that?
Now that the series is done, i still don't get why this so called love is the most important thing on the planet and why lives had to perish for it to thrive. Saving the world should be their priority but in this case romance is the main concern which is frankly, very obnoxious. It is a shallow relationship with no foundation, an unhealthy infatuation of two very self absorbed people that are impossible to relate to. God is depicted as a dictator and the love story is basically celestial hormones. What should have been moving and profound turned out to be a laughable excuse. This was advertised as a romantic story when it's far from even trying to be one.
I don't know anything about Luce now that is over, because she's forever defined by Daniel. I don't know anything about Daniel because he's defined by Luce. They are two dimensional characters with no depth or meaning other than having a selfish crush that needs to prevail because....? They kissed in Heaven and they liked it? Because the hormones are too strong? Is this enough reason for other people to die? Why does this gushy love has to exist at the expense of innocents?
The whole thing seemed forced and unauthentic.
Rapture was an okay book, with some good moments and some action. The story in this one was rushed and uninspired, however. It felt as if the author ran out of ideas, gave up and wrote this book just to wrap up this drag of a series. The only character with interesting qualities was Cam, and he was terribly misused, so it's sad it ended like this.
While the characters didn't develop, the final scenes are satisfying. The ending was decent, solid and what the story needed.
I would have given it a 4 if the villains weren't stupid and the romance was not so crappy. Will I be watching the movie if it ever comes out? Yes, just out of curiosity. I'm too old for this kind of series, i know, this is why I'll stay away from YA. If I were a teenager I'm sure i would have appreciated this series a lot more. It gets 3 stars because I'm lenient.

[Annabelle]

Dear Cam, I adore you(: You're the only interesting character in these freaking books.

Oh, pretty cover! I really hope this is the final cover.

[Nurlely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished reading the series. I did not wish to finish book for 2 reasons. First reason is that I had great expectation with Passion and it was not as awesome as I had expected. Second reason is that as annoying as Luce is, I did not wish to end the series and end reading about Daniel.
Eventually I could get pass my annoyance for Luce and ended the series.

-----------------
Ms Kate did a good job with the ending and managed to keep her readers confused of what Lucinda Price really is until the end of the book. Daniel has always been blamed for causing misery to Lucinda and for making her dead every single life they were together. I have never believed that Daniel was capable of being so selfish and sacrificed Lucinda to keep his love for her sated. He was so devastated at every death he witnessed. He even flipped Luce and was rather nasty to her to keep her away in order to keep her alive thus sliced his own heart. I am glad that Daniel is not the angel many readers accused him of.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Dedication to the end of the Fallen Series by Lauren Kate....

Because I have an incredibly immature sense of humor and wanted to show off my mad skills at photo editing, I created this Ermagerd meme. Enjoy.

Ermahgerd!!


Ok. Let's get serious here.


LC's Take:

And now...

The epic conclusion to the Fallen series by Lauren Kate.

And by epic, I mean the following:

1.) Totally ridiculous
2.) Painfully cliche
3.) LOL hilarious for all the wrong reasons
4.) Convoluted beyond all human reasoning
5.) Inexplicably addicting in a *slightly* unsettling yet delightful kind of way

Yep, it's been a looooooong time coming for this one guys. Fallen was the first book I ever read and reviewed on LC's Adventures in Libraryland so you might say I have a bit of a soft spot for it-- but that doesn't mean I won't respectfully rip it to shreds where needs be. 



So let's jump right in. Now, after three ranting reviews for the previous 3 books where I gripe at length about this series, a lot of you are probably wondering why the heck I even bothered with the last one. Well, my relationship with Fallen is complicated. I love it and hate it at the same time. The main characters are beyond aggravating, the dialogue is so cheesy you have to wonder what planet they're from where people actually talk like that, the romance is completely dysfunctional, and I lost track of the plot about 800 pages ago.

So. My reasons for reading this book?

A.) Figure out what the flying fig newton all of this has been leading up to

B.) See if Luce becomes less of a brain-dead idiot and Daniel becomes less of an ass-hat, and

C.) Find out if the entire series could be redeemed by some miracle in the last installment.

~Brief Summary~

I'm going to try and not give away any spoilers for those of you who are just dying to read this series or haven't finished it yet, but here is the gist of things: Luce and Daniel have been falling in love, over and over again in every lifetime, for thousands of years. Daniel is a fallen angel and Luce is just a normal girl-- except for the fact that in every lifetime she ends up bursting into flames the minute Daniel and she kiss. Bummer, right? So in the last book, Luce went back in time through a bunch of her past lives to figure out why she and Daniel are cursed and try to fix things. Along the way, she met this little gargoyle named "Bill" who was shady as f*** and who turned out to be the devil in disguise [Note: This really wasn't that big of a surprise-- it was actually pretty predictable-- so I don't feel bad about giving that much away]. And now good ol' Lucifer has plans to basically wipe out the last 7,000 years of human history because Luce didn't destroy her soul at the end of Book 3. (Why does the Father-of-All-Evil have it out against Luce and Daniel? Beats the crap out of me-- none of this was explained until about the last half of the final book...) So, in Rapture,  Luce, Daniel, and their other angel friends have NINE DAYS to find out where the original Fall of angels took place when God threw them out of Heaven, effectively stopping Lucifer from carrying out his diabolical plans to destroy life as we know it.

Confused yet? Join the club.

~Three Things I Liked (sort of)~

So first off, I have to say, there were aspects to Rapture that pleasantly surprised me; even impressed me in how well they were done--you know, compared to the craptastic first three books. So let's start off with the positives:

1.)The descriptive language was good. Like, really good. For all the ick I find in these books, I have to hand it to LK, she is pretty talented when it comes to providing readers with rich, vivid descriptions of the scenes playing out-- and Rapture more than any other book in this series is a testament to her ability to do this. Kudos on the scene-setting Lauren, it really was beautiful.

2.)There was FINALLY a sense of urgency in the plot that was completely missing from the last three books. Fallen, Torment, and Passion were not only painfully slow but they seemed to be going absolutely nowhere. By the end of the third book, I was so flipping confused I had a headache. But Rapture managed to capture my attention because it had a direction-- things happened and things were explained. Was it a water-tight plot? Not so much, but thank the Good Lawd Almighty, there was at least action!

3.) I can't rave too much about this because it was only a slight improvement, but both Daniel and Luce were *marginally* more likable in this book than in any of the previous ones. What I could NOT stand about these books was the totally unbelievable and dysfunctional relationship between Luce, the desperately-clingy and dumb-as-a-rock female character, and Daniel, the chauvinistic jerk-wad who constantly belittles and pushes her around. This was ever-so-minutely improved in this book, BUT I still have plenty to say about how sucky the two of them are overall, so stay tuned.

OK so those are the good things about Rapture-- three things that resulted in my three-star rating. Now onto the fun part!

~Ten Things That Sucked~

So what didn't I like about Rapture? I've already elaborated at length about the many aspects of this series that made me want to knock my head against a wall-- repeatedly-- so I'll spare you and say that if you're really that interested, go check out my past three reviews. But more specific to this book and how the entire series wrapped up, here are my thoughts on the parts that seriously blew:

1.)According to this story, Luce and Daniel's love is the most epic, mind-blowing, knock-your-socks-off love ever to exist. The very beginning of good and evil all originated because of their love. The fate of Earth and all human history basically comes down to them. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY??? I still have no idea. WHY is the love between Luce and Daniel so stinking profound that everyone and everything hangs in the balance because of it, and legions of angels are willing to fight and die over it? There is absolutely NOTHING exceptional about either Luce or Daniel-- they are in fact pretty darned boring-- and their relationship is beyond mundane. In the entire length of this series, not ONCE have I found anything remotely grand or real about Luce and Daniel's "love." Not once did I go, "Aww they're so cute!" or "Shucks, I hope I find someone that dreamy." On the contrary, they're both hopelessly self-absorbed and their relationship is at the best of times awkward, bland and generic, and at the worst of times abusive, dysfunctional, and in dire need of Dr. Phil.

2.)Luce was the same pathetically useless, boring, and wimpy lump of oatmeal that she has been throughout the whole series-- I could see where LK was trying for some character development in this last book where Luce finally gained a backbone-- but honestly it just didn't happen. There were parts in this book where Luce was so freaking pathetic that I wanted to slap her across the face and scream, "What is WRONG with you?!" Here are some examples that nearly sent me up in flames of rage:

SCENE #1: Luce and Daniel are going after one of the ancient relics they need to find out the location of the Fall from Heaven, and Luce has to swim under water to get to it because it's in a sunken cathedral. Well Daniel can't go into the cathedral because it's sacred ground and he's a fallen angel, so he stands guard outside of it to make sure Luce is OK. But THEN he swims away and just leaves her there. Sh-yeah!  LEAVES HER THERE UNDER WATER IN A FLIPPING CATHEDRAL TO DROWN. So Luce-- the girl Daniel supposedly would risk Heaven and Earth for-- nearly dies because Ass-hat Daniel abandons her. And when she makes it back up to the surface and tries to ask where the heck he went, this is how it goes down:

"What happened to you?" [Luce] cried. "I almost--"

"Luce," he [Daniel] warned. "shhh."

~p.91

Whoa, whoa, hold the phone. Are you freaking kidding me? The girl is trying to find out why her boyfriend almost let her drown and he's telling her to "shhhh"?!?



I'm pretty sure that makes him the biggest butt-face known to man, but of course, Luce being Luce, she let's it slide and doesn't seem to be at all miffed by the fact that Daniel abandoned her underwater to fend for herself and almost die. No biggie right?

SCENE #2: Near the end of the book, Cam (who happens to be one of the only likable characters in this series) goes to talk to Luce and sort of smooth over their rocky past. BUT all Luce can do is practically have a brain aneurysm because she's freaked that Daniel is going to see another guy talking to her. Heaven flipping forbid.

"She wanted to leave. What if Daniel looked over and saw her in this dim cave with Cam? They were arguing, but Daniel wouldn't be able to tell that from a distance. What did they look like, she and Cam?"

~p.319

Well, Luce, I think a better question you should be asking yourself is: "Who the hell cares?" And even more to the point, if your relationship with your boyfriend is so unstable that he doesn't even trust you to talk to another guy without freaking out and getting all suspicious, and you can't leave the leash he's got you on for 5 minutes-- isn't that like a warning sign that maybe, just mayyybeeee, there's a problem?

Now, let me make this clear-- there was nothing shady going on between Luce and Cam, this was a totally platonic conversation they're having-- and Luce is scared to death that her psycho-jealous angel bf is going to flip a crap if he sees her with Cam. There's something majorly wrong with this, no?

SCENE #3: This was my favorite-- I was reading this and just wanted to set the book down and start a slow-clap for Luce after this:

"Now, tell me who you are." [Daniel speaking]

"Well... I'm Lucinda Price. I'm the girl you fell in love with."

Daniel's violet eyes filled with tears. He whispered: "More."

"Isn't that enough?"

~p.327

Really Luce? Really? Isn't that enough? Why are you such a pathetic loser? How is it that after this entire time you still have about as much self-confidence and identity as a ball of lint? The fact is that up to the last few pages of this series, Lucinda Price is still absolutely nothing without a guy to fawn over, and she sees herself as having no value beyond what that guy thinks of her. I mean her entire stinking identity is wrapped up in what a guy thinks of her, she JUST said it right there! And this is just sad. And makes me want to wring her little neck to be quite honest. "Isn't that enough..." GAWD!!

3.) While we're on the subject of how cray-cray Luce and Daniel's "relationship" is, another thing that really bothered me was the fact that there was absolutely no true feeling or passion between them. Nada. Which is nuts, considering that one of the books was titled "PASSION" and their love for each other is supposedly off the charts. But no-- the heat-factor was somewhere between tepid and 1950's-style frigid. There is one point where Luce is embarrassed to tears just standing in front of Daniel in her underwear. What the crap?! This is the guy you've been madly in love with over and over again for thousands of years, who you're willing to lose everything for, and very well might, you potentially have nine days left to be together-- and you're blushing because he might see you in your knickers?? I'm pretty sure that any normal human being with blood pumping through their veins in the same situation would be getting it on like bunny rabbits, but the only thing we get out of Luce and Daniel are a few totally lame kisses that were about as sexy as a lima bean casserole and dialogue that was so awkward, I felt embarrassed for them. Their relationship was completely artificial and I was not once convinced that they truly loved one another. End of story.



4.)There is pretty much no continuity in the writing, or the plot, or the characters. In anything. Seriously. Go back to Fallen where we started out in a reform school in rural Georgia, and I have no idea how we got from Point A to Point B. It's like they aren't even in the same series. Yes Luce and Daniel were slight improvements in this book, but they acted nothing like they have throughout the rest of the books. This makes me think that the author really had no idea where the story was going so she had to fudge everything as she went. Maybe that's a jerky thing of me to say, but that's just how it came across.

5.)LK killed off one of the only likable and semi-intelligent characters in the book. I won't say who, but dude really?! Couldn't you have killed off Luce instead lol.... just kidding. Kind of.

6.)The ASPARTAME.... in diet soda..... was created by GOD..... and it has magical properties to HEAL ANGELS.

I-- my God, I have no words.

I swear I'm not making this up.

7.)When you get right down to it, the plot still made absolute ZERO sense. Lucifer, the Creator of Evil, is planning to re-create the Original Fall, so that he can effectively wipe out 7,000 years of human history, and it all boils down to the love between Luce and Daniel. OK, um... what?? How, why, and what the hell does this have to do with anything? I'm sorry but I. Just. Didn't. Get. It. I mean at times I thought I was catching on, but to be perfectly honest with you, I could not explain the course of action and how it unfolded or why it unfolded the way it did to save my life, probably because it was EFFING CONFUSING AS HELL. And nothing was ever clearly explained. The whole thing about a "key angel" tipping the scales between Heaven and Hell, the reasoning behind Luce and Daniel's "romance" and how it set everything in motion, just everything was so convoluted and off-the-wall nuts. I don't know, maybe I'm just a total idiot, so please, if you are a semi-intelligent person who actually understood what the hell was going on from Book 1 to Book 4, please leave me a point-by-point explanation in the comments-- I would greatly appreciate it.

8.)I cannot tell you how many times the other supporting characters talk about Luce as though she's freaking Daenerys Targaryen on steroids. And I, of course, just couldn't help but shake my head and laugh, because they're all like, "Oh Luce, you are such a strong person! So tough, so brave!" And I'm thinking, did you see Luce in the last three books? Are we talking about the same person?? Are you guys drunk? She's a total idiot! There is absolutely nothing about her that is strong or brave and if I ever came to be as pathetically attached to an a-hole boyfriend as she is, I would probably go light myself on fire and then jump off a cliff. Luce brave, yeah OK Lauren, nice try. It doesn't matter how many times you have your cast singing praises about Luce being Wonder Woman, you can't take a totally bland and unexceptional character who has "Mary Sue" written all over her and try to make her sound like a Mensa-acing Navy Seal just by having everyone else say that she is. Her actions were not smart or brave, just clueless and sad.

9.)The dialogue. Holy crap, it was painful. Like, I don't know how the book went through to publishing with some of this hokey dialogue. Cheesy is the understatement of the century, it was just that bad. Half the time the (teenage) characters talk like they're straight out of 1842 and the other half is soppy back-and-forths between Luce and Daniel that were so stinking awkward I was cringing. The villain dialogue was equally hilarious, and while it provided me with a few laughs, it did nothing for the rest of the story.

10.) OMG the ending. It was so unbelievable cheesy and sooooo lame and anticlimactic, I don't even know where to begin. But here was what I loved most about it-- remember how I said that the plot was insanely confusing and I had no idea how LK was going to wrap things up? Well get this, because I have to admit it was totally brilliant: GOD Himself comes onto the scene and yells, "ENOUGH!" and all major action stops, and then we get about 25 more pages to quietly explain away any other major complications. I swear to you, I am not making this up, THAT is how the whole series and all its conflicts and convoluted loose ends were neatly tied. Well played, LK, well played. That was quite the crafty move to wrap up this humdinger of a series.

So, final verdict? Well, believe it or not after all this ranting, it actually wasn't as bad as it could've been. I'm glad I finished the books and got to see where everything ended up, even though I still have no idea how or why anything happened the way it did. There were parts to this book and the series overall that were good, but in the end it just didn't deliver. Entertaining, yes. Good writing with good story and interesting characters, hell to the freaking no.

Final note, I have to thankSKB on Goodreads, who is a total girl genius, for her invaluable tip on reading these books-- and I'm going to pass her secret on to you guys so that you can enjoy them infinitely more as well, because it is flipping brilliant and I love you: Every time you read the word "wings" in this series, replace it with "balls." I promise you, it will have you rolling on the ground in tears laughing.

You're welcome :)

See more of my book reviews on my YA Book Blog at

[Pen-rye-n]

"Good luck and wingspeed.

Worst. Thing. EVER.

I can't even. WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE. KATE, WHAT DID YOU JUST DO TO ME?



So many things wrong. SO MANY THINGS WRONG.

Luce is a fucking angel?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She was LUCIFER'S FREAKING EVENING FREAKING STAR? SERIOUSLY? THIS. THIS IS IT. THIS IS WHAT I SAT THROUGH PAGES UPON PAGES UPON PAGES TO FIND OUT? THE BIG REVEAL? THAT'S IT!? SHE WAS AN ANGEL. NO ONE COULD TELL HER SHE WAS AN ANGEL BECAUSE...WHY? SHE HAD TO FIND OUT ON HER OWN? SO SHE WOULDN'T COME OVER ALL HUMAN TORCHISH? SO SHE COULD CHOOSE FOR HERSELF?! WHAT AN EFFING COP OUT. YOU DRAGGED ON FOUR BOOKS FOR THAT? THAT COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT!? OH. MY. GOD.







And can we talk about something real quick? The bit that seriously made me want to BURN VILLAGES?

Well... I'm Lucinda Price. I'm the girl you fall in love with."
There was a stillness all around them. All the angels seemed to hold their breath. Daniel's violet eyes filled with tears. He whispered: "More."
"Isn't that enough?"



ARE YOU KIDDING ME? "ISN'T THAT ENOUGH," SHE SAYS. WHAT IS THIS BABY BACK BULLSHIT?

ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH.

Never before have I had SO MUCH FREAKING RAGE towards a fictional character. Somehow, in four books, Luce Price managed to surpass both Bella Swan and Ana Steel for number one spot on my list of Female Leads I'd Most Like To Pluck From The Pages and Strangle Them With My Bare Hands and Paint in Their Blood.

Whatever. I'm done now. I'm done and I'm not a better person for it and Lucinda, you are still the absolute worst and you're still tacky and I hate you and you and your purple eyed, stupid blond haired, downy winged boyfriend can go jump off a cliff or shoot yourself with a starshot or play jumprope with your intestines.

[Ade · Rating 1 out of 5]

NEVER AGAIN WILL I HAVE TO READ ANOTHER BOOK IN THIS SERIES! I'm sorry, i'm just so excited that it's over. I could rant and rave about all the plot holes and "plot surprises" (i.e the surprises that you could easily guess 1/4 of the way through the book) but i won't. I will leave it at this- For the sake of your sanity, don't read this series. In fact, don't read ANY books by her.

[Liepa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want you to know that I would do it all again. I will choose you every time.

The last book of those series. Luce has to stop Satan from erasing the world. But before she needs to find out how everything started, to know, how everything will end. She travels with all of her friends around the world searching for answers.
Was it worth 4 stars? I have no idea honestly. I loved Luce's transformation through the books. From dumbass, annoying and capricious lover to brave, strong and clever fighter. I didn't guess the ending which made it even better than A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and even if my religious thoughts weren't so happy, I still love a different perspective.

🖤 lovers to enemies
🤍 really easy to read (finished in a day)
🖤 romantasy (series)
🤍 travelling in time
🖤 kind of reminded me of The Siren

tbr: The cover is so pretty and tbh I can't wait for those series to end
pre read: being at my grandparent's= reading in the sun all day while eating fruits and ice cream

[Lighthearted · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disappointment. The first book in the series, Fallen, snared me with its gorgeous cover and its intriguing premise. The ending of that book should have made me realize that Kate really didn’t have the story worked out. Torment and Passion added very little to the story and, aside of the insight into Roland and Arriane’s histories, Fallen in Love annoyed me.

Rapture quite simply ticked me off. The promise of an interesting story has always been there but Kate hasn’t delivered since the first book in the series. Fallen angels living amongst us on earth, star-crossed lovers, a mysterious curse–I wanted to like this series. Despite the fact that I felt that Kate was just making details up as she went along, without ensuring that they tied into the story as a whole, the premise and a few of the characters wouldn’t let me give up on the series. Here’s a short list of what ticked me off about this book (believe me, it could have been longer).

Unanswered questions. We still don’t know why the fire started in Fallen, the one that killed Trevor and set Luce on her path to meet Daniel. This is a big deal. My guess is that Kate originally meant the Announcers to be something other than what they were; when she decided it was better to make them useful rather than malevolent, she either forgot that she needed an alternate explanation for Trevor’s death, or she assumed we no longer cared. Wrong.

Flawed mythology. The Fallen are angels who either sided with Lucifer right off the bat or didn’t take a side, right? What makes the Outcasts more lowly than the other undecided angels? Oh, and really, Luce is going to give God conditions for making a decision??? That doesn’t even work with mere mortals–why would it work on a being who can wipe out one’s very existence?

Flawed story. God never says that love is forbidden–so why the hell do Luce and Daniel have to make a decision between God and Lucifer all about them? This is the most annoying flaw of the storyline.

Kate really can’t keep her story straight. Previously in the series, we were given the impression that the Fallen didn’t have the option to return to Heaven, yet in Rapture, we’re given the impression that this happens from time to time. Daniel can’t enter a sanctuary submerged by the ocean but several of the Fallen can enter a sanctuary buried by boulders? God loses her temper before the Roll Call is even finished, so some of the angels didn’t even get a chance to vote? But they worked their way up the list–or down, I don’t remember? If they were working their way down from the highest, Luce was only third in line (yes she’s an archangel) and she didn’t vote so God must have lost her temper right after Gabbe, sending most of the angelic host earthward–but that couldn’t have been the order because Daniel was sixth on the list, I think, and we know what he said. If for some reason, God was working her way up from the lowest to the highest–which doesn’t seem likely given that the rank seems to be the heavenly way–and Daniel cast his non-vote, angering God, then a handful of archangels would have been kicked out without voting–yet Daniel acts as if several angels were affected. None of this makes sense.

Where did that come from? Luce was initially attracted to Cam in Fallen, then she hated him for the filler books, and now suddenly she cares about him? And Lucifer was her first love? WTH? I mean, I got the Luce/Lucifer love connection right away when I started reading Rapture but shouldn’t there have been some buildup from the beginning of the series? Instead Kate set it up to look like Cam may have been Luce’s first love. There’s misdirection and then there’s just poor plotting. I suspect that Kate originally meant for Cam to be Lucifer but maybe not. Either way, I wish that she had sprinkled more clues about Luce’s relationships with both characters throughout the series.

That’s predictable. It was pretty easy to see where Kate was going in Rapture. Luce is really an archangel, she was in love with Lucifer before Daniel etc. The only surprise in the book was that there was no big battle between the Fallen and Lucifer–just a lame conversation between Luce and Lucifer and a ridiculous scene featuring God, Luce, Daniel and Lucifer.

That’s convenient. Despite the fact that he’s an angel and a historian, Daniel’s memory can’t be trusted. I actually bought the bit about the trauma of the Fall but I simply don’t accept the rest of the conveniently forgotten history.

Luce loves Lucifer, Luce loves Daniel, Luce loves??? Don’t just tell me that Luce loved Lucifer until he got a bit full of himself, then she spotted Daniel and fell in love with him–make me believe it. As it reads now, Luce seems to fall in love based on appearances only–Kate spends a lot of time telling us that Luce and Daniel are in love with each other but the only thing we actually see is them looking into each other’s eyes, kissing, and declaring their love for each other. Is their love based on anything other than physical attraction? They’ve never had much time together in any lifetime to figure that out.

Luce and Daniel are the two most self-absorbed, selfish protagonists EVER. Again, God never said that they couldn’t love one another so I don’t understand why a choice between God and Lucifer was answered with “we choose each other”. What I see here are two smug individuals, so caught up in their newly discovered “love” for each other that they want to make sure everyone knows how in love they are. Aside of Lucifer, I doubt that anyone cared. I would have liked God to say something like, “Well, that’s just fine and dandy that you love each other but that wasn’t the question. The question was Do you want to stay in heaven–under my protection, by the way,–or do you want to make camp with Lucifer? Who looks like he’s about to curse you, by the way? Even assuming God had forced the issue, shouldn’t Luce be concerned for her family and friends? They will simply lose her. For their choice, Luce and Daniel will die now and be reincarnated later as mortals. God makes no promises that they will ever find each other again, and, as they’ve never spent much time together in any lifetime, who really knows if their love will last once there’s no curse to ramp up the excitement.

[shady boots · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is also available over at my blog.

________________________

Actual rating is 2.5 stars. Yeah, I know right? I expected to give a lower rating.

So. That's it, then. I've finally ended this hot mess of a series.

And . . . surprisingly, I'm satisfied.

I will admit that I actually gave Passion, the third book in the series, a three-star rating. It was not as painfully horrible as the first two books, which I both gave one star ratings. But still, even though I did quite like Passion, my hopes for the final book in the series were still extremely low. Hell, my hopes for this series had always been low from the very start. I thought that Passion was just a brief ascendance in the series and that Rapture was going to take it right back down the hill again at full speed.

I was kind of right, in a way. But it only went downhill for about a few miles and then it just stopped. And very very slightly ascended again.

Basically, I'm surprised that I didn't feel disappointment after finishing this final installment. I felt relief, sure, that the series finally ended. But I also felt satisfaction, because I think the series ended in the best way it possibly could. I could think of several even worse endings.

So the main reason I'm giving this book a higher rating is because of how it ended. And well . . . I think that really is the only reason. Oh, and maybe Cam is one of the reasons too, even though there's barely enough of him in this book. I will admit now that I love Cam. I really do.

Anyways, now onto the fails.

As usual the writing is dull and lifeless, and painfully cheesy. You can't go through a single paragraph without seeing the word "love" or things of that nature at least two times. The whole romance in this series is one of the most ridiculous YA romances ever, and I really dislike how the word love is constantly thrown around like it means nothing. You can't fall in love with someone instantly over and over again. I know this is a paranormal romance, but if you're gonna make it take place in the 21st century, you could've at least made it a little bit realistic.

Luce during most of the book is pretty much the usual bleak, lost puppy that can't do anything without Daniel that we all know and love to hate. I feel like the author just threw in the few scenes where she did something helpful by herself just to make us believe that she isn't completely helpless, but even those scenes didn't save her. Luce is probably the most pathetic heroine in YA history. Most of the book she's just carried around in Daniel's manly arms, and during most of the action sequences she's always the observer or captive. But I guess since she's human she can't do anything among immortal fallen angels. At least that's realistic.

I have nothing to say about Daniel, really. He was just bleh in this book. In the first book he was a grade-A asswipe, in Torment he was super controlling and treated Luce like she was his daughter, and in Passion he was . . . well, I don't know, to be honest. I feel the same way about Daniel as I did when reading Passion. His personality just faded, and I pretty much stopped caring about him entirely.

As for the plot, I thought it was very tedious. Most of the time we just see the gang flying around looking for stuff. We meet a few new characters—one of them I actually liked a lot, but Lauren Kate decided to kill them off. Of course. But anyways, something happens nearing the end that made me go all "What the actual eff is going on?" at first and just didn't make any sense at all, but continuing further, I ended up thinking it was a pretty interesting twist. One I actually didn't expect.

I was going to give this probably 1.5 stars, or at the very most 2, but the end made me raise it a little higher because I'll admit it was a pretty decent way to end a series. If I had to rate the series as a whole, I would probably rate it about 2 stars. Ish.

All in all, this series was a hot mess. It was filled with lows, but it had a few highs as well, and it wrapped up nicely. I don't think this is the worst series I've ever read, but I can't say that it wouldn't be on my top five. If you haven't read the first book, I suggest you avoid it, though.

But if you really wanna give it a try, then help yourself. I made it out alive and with barely any bruises or scratches, so maybe it'll be the same for you.

I warn you, though, you have to prepare for the worst when starting. Don't come yelling at me if you find yourself losing several of your brain cells.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read full Review at Bewitched Bookworms

I am in awe of this series... If there is any epic love story, then it's the one from Luce and Daniel. Fallen was one of the first books I read after my Twilight Obsession and I love this series ever since. Funny enough, I fell in love with Daniel the minute he flipped Luce off when they first met in Fallen. This series broke me heart so many times, I cried so many times and I swooned so many times. Finally, with Rapture we get closure. We had a wonderful time together...

This is the most epic love story ever!
Yes I mean it!
Epic!
True Love!
True Soul Mates!

The End

Last books are always hard. There are so many loose questions that now finally need to come to an end so that the reader gets closure, so that we can finish this series and feel satisfied. Lauren Kate gave us all this - she went beyond from what I first expected when I picked Fallen up a few years ago. The mythology behind Daniel's and Luce's love story was so incredible and epically heartbreaking. During every book throughout the series we learned more and more, new layers and mysteries were revelaed and each left us breathless with the enormity of this epic love story.

..this story finally came to an end, some things I suspected, some surprised me. However, this was a fitting end to an beautifully woven love story that is beyond everything I read before ...

I'm glad and sad its over! This was an emotional roller coaster and my heart needed Luce and Daniel story to come to and end, I was ready....

Dear Mrs. Kate:
Please,please please I want, no - I need a Cam spin off!
Thank you very much!
Yours,
Danny

[Lissa]

Oh man, this cover is so gorgeous I feel bad that I'm not going to read it!

After the travesties of Fallen and Torment I refused to read any more. But just looking at this beautiful cover makes me want to eat my words. I gave my copies of the books away and now I want to go and buy hardcover versions! And I HATED the books and was miserable for days after I read them.

A pity the Passion cover was so crap, because this one is up to the same standard as the first and second and it's so beautiful I want to cry!

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite and ending to a wonderful series, and I have to say that Rapture really tugged at my heart. I didn't think I would have this reaction. I didn't think the end of the series would affect me this much, but it has. I am saddened to know that Rapture is the final book *actually crying here.* And no one will understand this more than my fellow readers *sniff sniff.* I really hate saying goodbye to characters that I have grown to love over the years. We have shared some good times, and bad. We have fallen in love, over and over again, for a millennia and we have challenged evil, for the sake of the world. This story really was something special *sighs.*

I really don't think I should give an outline as to what happens in the story. Let me just say that you will all get the answers you need and more. So much goes down it really is hard to divulge without spoiling it, so trust me, if you are a fan of the Fallen Series, Rapture will not disappoint. The only thing that made me sad the most was the ending just a little, only because I didn't want to say goodbye. Not to Luce and Daniel, or Arianne and Roland, or Annabelle and especially not to Cam, my sweet but oh so devilish Cam :( Oh how I wish that Lauren Kate writes his story. Cam, has so much to tell and it sort of felt like the best was yet to come with him. And, it was a scene with Cam and Luce, right at the end that made me start to cry. I had to share it here. "He drew her close, and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Her heart pounded as his lips bypassed hers and came to a stop, whispering in her ear: 'Don't let him flip you off next time.'" I just lost it here when Cam said this to Luce :( He may have chosen the side of Lucifer, but he still knew what it meant to love and lose it. I love you Cam!

Ok, on that note, while I wipe the tears away, I am signing off and saying goodbye to a wonderful series that will forever be in my heart, and made me believe that no matter what, I'll can and always will choose love! Beautiful!

[Saniya]

God saved Lauren Kate from readers like us by making a pretty cover for her last book.
Now God, save us by giving us a nice ending by Lauren Kate for this disastrous series.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the mostly underwhelming plot so far, this turned out to be surprisingly good. This was the best of the bunch. A great read. I loved it. Yes finally it happened.

So much happens in this one book. In fact, I felt like more happens in this book than the last three combined in the series. We get almost all the answers except for the one involving Trevor from the first book. I don't know if I missed the answer about him but I am pretty sure that it wasn't answered. If anyone else has the answer why Trevor was burnt, please feel free to let me know.

As for Lucinda, I still didn't like her much but I was happy with the decisions she made in this book. I know a lot of people wanted Luce and Cam's pairing but I didn't.

I loved Daniel, Cam, Ari and Roland in this book. I couldn't get enough of any of them and I wanted more and I wish the author had done such a good job in the previous books as well.

I almost cried at the end. Cam's goodbye made my heart ache, not to mention when they were made to forget everything about their past including the other angels not to meet them. It left me sad for days. But other than that I loved this book.

4.5 stars

[Deni · Rating 3 out of 5]

based on the reviews from the previous books, hope it's that last and that it answers our questions! I have only read the first book, I'm planning on checking out the 3 books from my local library. Honestly why do authors make the main female character so ANNOYING! -.-

[Charissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the last installment for the Fallen series, Lauren Kate did a truly spectacular grand finale for one of the best YA book series. It made me feel a lot of emotions like happiness, sadness and a mixture of both. It made me laugh, anxious and cry. Now, that's the true definition of an unforgettable story.


What I Love:

[_] The plot. Ever since I had read Fallen, I know there's something worth reading in it. Have you ever read a YA book where there are two lovers and the girl keeps on dying at the age of seventeen? And despite of the 'dying' part, they still love one another so much the guy is willing to wait for more thousand years and still love the girl for a thousand more even if there's a chance that they will never end up together? (Ok, I got that from my favorite song "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri.)

Now, that's what I call a unique and beautiful plot every girl (especially hopeless romantics like me) would truly want to read. An everlasting true love- a love that never dies and will stay bind together no matter what happens and succeeds in the end.

[_]The ending! It should be given emphasis for how brilliant, astounding, amazing and wonderful it is! The ending is truly unpredictable and gives a loud BOOM (or explosion) to the whole plot of the story. It is one of the BEST endings I've ever read that made me feel so happy and sad at the same time. And it also made me bawl my eyes out for crying over Luce and Daniel. D":

[_] The characters! Sure, Luce can be Bella-like sometimes but I still adore her in some ways.

And Daniel, goodness! Don't even get me started on Daniel! He is the ideal guy every girl will die for! I've never seen such loyalty and devotion he showed to Luce and take note: He's willing to wait and suffer for her just to show how much he truly loves her! Ahh! That is truly romantic! I wish there's a real Daniel still present in this world!

Arriane: tsk tsk, at first, I really like her but after reading Fallen in Love, it is revealed that she is actually a lesbian and her lover, who is a demon, already died of blood loss , I don't like her that much anymore.

Gabbe: I already like her since the first book. I know there's more to her than good looks. And I grieve so much when she died protecting Luce and Daniel. R.I.P. Gabbe. :'( .

Molly: At first (by Luce's description in Fallen), I dislike her but after reading that scene where she, together with Gabbe protected Luce and Daniel from the deadly starshots and getting killed in the process , I like her. She's one of the least persons I'll ever think that will do such a thing! And I'm pretty sure Gabbe and Molly knew what the price is when they saved Luce and Daniel.

Cam: I like him and it is a pity he didn't end up with anyone. :'(

Roland: I like him too! And here I thought he and Arriane will make a good couple! His love life is truly tragic and even if he's a demon, he's a really good person and doesn't deserve such a thing (I'm talking about his valentines day in Fallen in Love).

The characters are really likable and everyone can relate to them.

[_] Writing style. I love Lauren Kate's writing style! The words flow freely like the river peacefully flowing to the waterfalls. I also love how the scenes harmonized together.

[_] Cover! The cover is very catchy just like the other three installments and like the other three, Luce was shown. Truly artistic.


What I dislike:

[_] Lucinda is kind of a Mary-Sue. Lucinda Price is actually an angel favored by God and the third archangel. Ok, that's alright but that's not the reason why I called her a Mary Sue. The only thing I couldn't understand is that why Lucinda is actually a lover of Lucifer. Seriously? Does it sound good to you? I mean, come on! I didn't ever think Lucifer can actually know what love is! And also according to this book, Lucifer invented Love. Oh great. But since it's fiction and a fantasy YA novel, anything's possible. So yeah, that's my only problem but now that I'm thinking of it, it did add a spice on the story. But I still dislike it. Sorry. :/

[_] There are some things that up till to the fourth book, Lauren Kate didn't clear up and will possibly stay vague and a mystery to all of us.

[_] The ending! I dislike how cliffhanger-y the ending is! It is a major case that made me want to bang my head countless of times!

(Oh, that reminds me what Rick Riordan did on The Son of Neptune that I needed o wait a WHOLE year just to know what happened next! Argh! **bangs head* But at least, The Son of Neptune still has a sequel while Rapture is already the end which up till now, by the way, something I can't accept.)

Yes, I know that it is really good and that's why I put it to the things I love but what Lauren Kate did to the ending is unforgivable! Waaahhh! Lauren Kate should really make a sequel to this series!

I need more Luce and Daniel moments in here! Like how did Luce and Daniel now as ordinary human beings develop and end up together? Will the newly born Luce and Daniel still recognize Arriane, Roland, Cam, Shelby and Miles when they meet? Or will they ever meet them again? What'll happen when they died? Are they going to Heaven and still be together? Argh! *bangs head* I. NEED. MORE!


Conclusion:

Rapture by Lauren Kate is a really great book with a great plot and a spectacular ending that will always stay not only in my mind but also to the other YA readers who'll never forget the strong and everlasting true love Luce and Daniel shared. And the ending is truly breathless for it gives you this feeling that they're finally allowed to be together up to the end of their lives.

Even if Luce is kind of a Mary-Sue and there are still some questions that are left unanswered and will stay as a mystery, I'm giving Rapture by Lauren Kate five stars. :)

[Tye · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, we have the conclusion of Lauren Kate's Fallen series.

I have to say: as much as I trash this series, it does hold a place in my heart. It's like that annoying sibling you love, but want to punch so damn bad.

I stared out LOVING this series so much, I shoved it onto my friends (sorry guys). They didn't like it as much as I did, and all I had to say was "Whaaaat?"

The second book, I still liked, but not as much as I remember loving the first. It took me a couple tries to get into.

Third is where I started to see why so many people hated this series. It was between Torment and Passion where I started to get into the mythology of angels and demons, and saw the terrible flaw in Kate's mythology.

I have to say, though, Rapture was a teeny bit better than Passion!

Okay, so now that Luce and Daniel are back in the present, they have to stop Lucifer from once again falling from Heaven and sending time back to before the fall. In order to do this, the team must split up into three groups to find the three ancient relics. In doing so, they will find the site of the Fall and will be able to stop Lucifer.

Short summary, but that is the main point of the final novel. Pretty interesting, no?

Well, unfortunately that brings our main problem. Remember those three groups? Well, it turns out that Daniel and Luce are in a group of their own (shocker). You know what that means~!

Boring, sappy romantic time!!! Woo!

Oh, wait, that's bad.

Luce and Daniel make the most insipid couple ever! They are so boring together, I felt myself wanting to just outright skip most of the scenes (I didn't, though).

They are alone together for about a third of the book. Ugh.

My second complaint: Cameron. Cam is not a bad character, not at all. Cam is the best piece of work Kate has come up with. It's the LACK of him I have a problem with! He wasn't really even there until the last third, and even then, he rarely spoke.

It's like Kate realized that most of the people reading this series are doing so, so we can see Cam, therefore took him out of most of the series. Makes no sense considering he was a crucial part of the first book.

I'm pretty sure that was my ultimate downfall with the series--when I realized Cam was barely in it.

Now, the mythology still bugged me, a lot, but I will not go into detail on it. I did enough of that in my review of Passion and I don't want to get too repetitive.

What I will say is that her change of the people in the archangels really, really bothered me. *twitch*

It seemed that Kate tried to make Luce "tough" in this novel...It didn't work.

There was one scene where Cam was in trouble. They made it seem like she was the one to save him, when all she did was, well...get up and nearly got hit with a starshot. It was Roland and Cam who really solved all this.

Yes, Cam saved HIMSELF before Luce could do anything.

"You're so brave."~The single most stupid thing I have EVER heard Cam say...

And one other thing...when did Cam and Luce become BFFs? She HATED him through the first three books, and all of a sudden she couldn't stand to lose him?

Girl has issues.

The "big reveal" was also pretty dumb. I won't spoil it for you (surprising, right), but I will say that it made me scratch my head and roll my eyes.

Oh, and God is female in this book. Right. So THAT'S why us women bleed through our woman areas ever month and go through painful childbirth. Because God is a WOMAN!

Spiteful, I tell you.

The ending was sweet, though. Like, the very ending. By the ending, I mean the last two chapters and the epilogue.

Just one question...WHERE'S CAM?!

Honestly, the way the ending was left, I could see a spin-off for Cam. I hope that happens.

Then again, he may end up like...*shudder*...Daniel.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I'm hopeful for is that Luce ends up with Cam. I just adore him! Daniel is so cut and dry in his manner. I might be missing the whole point of the series but it annoys me to no end that he won't choose a side. Cam is more shades of grey that I think compliment Luce better. I think there is something more there than Luce wants to admit. Plus I'm so sick of the whole obsessive love that transcends all reason (think Twilight). Plus it is insanely predictable that the "good" guy gets the girl. I'll be satisfied if Lauren finally answers all the questions I've had since book 1. *crosses fingers*

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was not my favorite at all. I totally loved the first book, but the second and third sequel took me forever to finish. But I think "Rapture" was able to redeem itself. I admit that I was totally lost with some recap scenes, but I think the story was good. Although I never expected the ending to be good.

I totally loved Cam. I was really hoping he could atleast have a happy ending for himself, but I was wrong. Coz' until the end, Cam's love for Luce was sad and wasn't returned. I was really thinking that the first love of Luce will be Cam. But I was totally wrong. AGAIN. So you see, this book has lot of twist and turns. I think this sequel is a worth to read after all.

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

THAT was the series was about?!?! All the bloodshed, all the heartache, and THAT was the cause of it all?!?! I'm truly flabbergasted! And then to say, "Perhaps I didn't want it after all." What. The. Heck?!?! It's just with all the trouble everyone went through, I was just expecting it to be some apocalyptic battle at the end, and it ended up being an anticlimactic um, agreement? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that basically nothing happened, but at the same time, I'm disappointed because the series built up to that deciding moment, and I was left wondering, "That's it?!?"

Deep breaths. I hope the rest doesn't come off as a rant, because that's not my intention - just the first part. :P

I remember liking the first book, but I think I read the next two books just so I can find out what happens next.

First of all, wow, I don't remember the books being so overwritten. I like descriptions to allow me to picture the scenes in my head, but the writing was so bogged down with details on surroundings and each little thing about someone's appearance or action, and then it goes an extra few miles to tell us how the character feels. Okay, I get the point. I really just wanted to find out what happened next. But I think I summarize everything and put it in an novella, and the reader wouldn't miss a thing. This is not to diss on Kate's writing because I know she put a lot of work into it, but I just don't think her effort helped her in this book.

And I really struggled for the majority of this book because I couldn't figure out which "side" the Scales were on and the Outcasts, and how they all fit into the whole "Fall" story. It's not that I didn't understand the story. I just didn't get what was the point of those little episodes and how they helped lead to the end.

What's more, the thing that was great about the previous three books was the reader had a chance to learn more about Luce's past (why I like reading time travel books). However, in this book, the majority of the memories were short glimpses. Nothing in depth except the original life, which we don't see until near the end.

Sadly, I didn't connect with the characters in this book. Daniel wasn't very swoony in this book, and Lucinda made me want to shake her more than once. I really liked Gaby and Cam, but they weren't even in a good part of this book. And I know Luce and Cam had a "past," and Dee kept alluding to there was more to their relationships (not necessarily romantic), but I'm still confused on that. Even when Cam leans in to whisper in her ear, Luce thought he wanted to kiss her. What was up with them?

Having said that, I didn't totally hate the book. I liked that Luce was finally - yes FINALLY - able to find out the real story behind that. And aside from the reason of the fall, I thought who Luce really was and how she and Daniel first fell in love was really interesting. I just thought the whole "feelings" description was a bit over the top and even a bit cheesy, but tone it down a bit, and it could be a really good romantic story. Like I said earlier, the reason for all the bloodshed was just kind of lame, and the way it ended was like, "Wow, all those people died just for that, and you're just going to just shrug and say, 'Oh well,' and it's over?" Still, like I said, it wasn't to the point where I hated the story.

Just a little additional note. Kate made Plano, Texas sound like a country hick town in the boonies, but it's actually a rather sophisticated suburb of Dallas. And the weather is actually dry heat compared to Austin or Houston's mugginess. Which is why I'm surprised to find out Kate went there for high school.

Also, about the reader. Like I said, the book was a bit overwritten, and the feelings descriptions were a bit over the top and cheesy. However, the lady who read the book greatly added to that "oh come on" thought I had as I went through the book. Maybe it was a talent that she was able to dramatize the words, but the writing itself did enough of that. Just not a great combination, in my opinion, when I already thought it was melodramtic enough.

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y por fin logré terminar la saga, después de varios años!

Desde el comienzo ya sabía que no iba a tener un final épico o memorable, pero necesitaba darle un final; aunque no niego que en la relectura, los personajes me parecieron planos, insipidos, algunos tediosos, muy por el contrario que cuando los leí por primera vez (también era consciente que eso ocurriría).

Qué decir del final, la autora quiso colocar un plot twist con algunas revelaciones, pero ya se venían venir por algunos guiños que fue soltando en la cuarta entrega. El principal problema que me ha pasado con estos libros, son los diálogos, que son tan planos, cero emoción, tan politicamente correctos en muchas ocasiones, sobre todo con los protagonistas; que no consigues conectar con ellos y ese amor tan incondicional que supuestamente tienen.

Sin embargo, lo peor para mi fue ese final abierto (es que de verdad odio los finales abiertos, me cargan) y si bien este tiene vibras de que va por un final feliz, nadie puede cerciorarlo porque no esta escrito xD y mi mente rara vez crea finales felices :P.

Tengo ganas de leer el spin off de Cam, recuerdo que cuando leí por primera vez los primeros tres libros (varios años atrás) era mi personaje favorito; en esta relectura claramente no lo fue...

[Nele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Review: better than 1 and 2, though I find 3 the best one in the series. The ending seemed a bit rushed to me. However, the books do read easily.
I can't say that I'm sorry to see this series end. I'm glad I bought them as a bargain, and that I've sold them again for the same price.
Nope, I will not read number 5 from Cam's point of view, nor will I read the short stories. I'm done with the series :p