I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving! I'm avoiding Black Friday by all costs. Mostly because I don't like the crowds and I prefer sleeping in. ;) I finished Torment, the second book of the Fallen series by Lauren Kate late last night and didn't have the energy to post a review. While I thought Fallen was a decent read that held my interest, I'm sorry to say that besides its gorgeous cover Torment did the total opposite and left me frustrated. 

Description: After the disaster that took place at her last boarding school, Sword and Cross School, Luce is shipped off to the pacific coast called Shoreline that hosts humans, Nephilim, and angels. Without being told why she must leave, Luce begins on her own quest to find out about her past and learns how to use her own supernatural skills.

Review: I tend to be lenient on my critical analysis of the first book of a series. I understand that in the first book the author has to set up his or her world building, characters, as well as introduce a plot arc, which most often than not slows down the plot and pace of the book. However, when I read the second book in the series, I would like to think that the story and its characters can move forward but Torment did not.Torment begins where Fallen left off. You could possibly read Torment without reading Fallen, but you may be a bit confused when events at Swords and Cross are mentioned.
   The intriguing aspects of both reincarnation and fallen angel mythology that were introduced and held my attention in Fallen were not explored in Torment at all. In fact there are no answers given at all in the sequel. For 400+ pages, Torment revolves around this tiring dialogue of: "I can't tell you what's going on because it's not safe for you, but know I have your interest at heart and I'm doing this for you." Not only is this dialogue cliche, but so repetitive in the YA paranormal romance genre. I wished the characters could move beyond this and man up to their vulnerabilities. Enough with the melodrama! Thankfully, Luce felt the same way and at least attempted to find answers, but it always seems like the reader catches on much before she does. There were a few cool scenes where we see Luce learn about her supernatural power. As for Luce's main love interest, Daniel, I didn't care for him. His character arc didn't grow and I frankly don't understand why he loves Luce. We're just told that they have a strong bond over long periods of time, but that's about it. I needed more evidence. His actions in with holding information from Luce makes me not like him and be suspicious about his intentions. 
  What annoyed me about Fallen is the sheer amount of new characters that I didn't get a chance to meet and know. Without fleshing out these first set of characters, we are introduced to more new characters in the sequel. I'm just glad that I actually liked a few: Shelby, Luce's cheeky roommate and friend, and Miles, the sweet, friendly normal guy who provides Luce with another love interest. Thus we have our requirement of a love triangle. I liked Miles simply because I got to know his sweet and friendly nature. He is actually the sole reason why I rated this book 2 stars instead of 1. 
  With all said and done, there is not much new learned in Torment. I could have easily skipped this book and read the last book without being worried that I missed out on anything. I do plan on reading Passions, the third book in the Fallen series, just because I already invested time in reading the first two. I just hope something happens in the last book to make my time worthwhile.



Rating: 2 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language in the book along with violence. Recommended for strong 7th grade readers and up.

If you like this book try: Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick