Author:  Lauren Kate
ISBN: 978-0-385-73893-4

Click Here To Purchase Fallen

Well…it had to happen eventually, guys.  Say goodbye to vampires and hello to angels.  Nah.  Don’t have a heart attack…I’m just kidding.  (Team Edward doesn’t need to show up at my house and take me out).  There is certainly enough room in the world for both angels and vampires to get along.  In fact, it’s refreshing.

Fallen is, for all intents and purposes, a love story that would rival ole’ Romeo and Juliet (and give Bella and Edward a run for their money, too).  In fact, on the back cover, the question is asked…What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours?  (Sound familiar?)

We find ourselves opening the pages into the life of a young girl named Lucinda.  Lucinda has had quite an awful year, to say the least.  From an early age Lucinda has seen shadows.  They move around her – dark, wispy shapes – that seem to hover in the air; block her way; scare her and/or warn her, depending on the moment.  Mom and Dad always thought Lucinda was a little “loopy” because of what she’d said about these things when she was a kid.  So after a lot of psychiatric visits, she decided it was better to just clam up and keep her strange goings-on to herself.  Unfortunately, one night she goes off with a young man for a lovely private kiss…and the shadows come; a fire takes the life of the young man.  Lucinda is not blamed, so to speak, but she is placed in a home for “troubled” teens called the Sword & Cross.  (I love that name, by the way).

This is a campus full of “hard-luck” and “hard-knock-life cases.”  And, worst of all for teenagers, no cell phones are allowed.  The author does a wonderful job of introducing us to fantastic characters, especially Arriane (my favorite) who is a smart-mouth young woman who seems to know far too much about far too many things.  We also meet Gabbe; she’s the lovely girl who’s always lovely and gorgeous no matter what she does – but Gabbe has a secret that Luce could never comprehend.  And…there’s Penn.  Penn is a research geek who is not only a fantastic friend, but a “normal” one, who wants to help Luce with anything and everything she can.

The main characters, however, who affect Luce’s life, are two completely different – yet unbelievably alike – young men.  First there is Cam: a blonde-haired god who makes Luce feel comforted, safe, and warm when he’s in her presence…until the dark side of him appears.  The other is him…the one…the guy…Daniel Grigori.  Daniel is perfect in every way.  When Luce first meets him, it’s like her insides explode and her brain goes crazy.  She knows him.  She’s seen him before.  And, from the look in his beautiful eyes, he knows her too.  Then why is he so mean?  Why is he avoiding her like the plague and flipping her off?  Luce is so confused.  In fact, she thinks she’s losing it so badly, that she could swear at one point she sees wings and an angelic violet light appear around Daniel’s perfect figure.

Yes.  That’s all I’m going to tell you.  Buy it.  (You know you want to), and fall into another teenage romance that will pull at your heartstrings.  The only downside I saw to this book is that adults are really being left out in the cold lately.  Angels are a brilliant subject (excuse the pun), and there are magical love stories that would make adults want to run out and find themselves their very own angel.  Here’s to hoping that the Random House Adult Department allows that to happen.

By the way, guys, there’s more good news.  Fallen is only book one of a series – so its time to “gear up” for another set of books that will make you turn to your own, boring high-school boyfriend and wish that he was Ed–.  Nope!  Wish that he was Daniel.  Have a blast with this one, and you should also know (just between us) that you may see Lucinda and Daniel on the big screen someday soon.

Click Here To Purchase Fallen