Hello fellow reader,
It’s been a while since we’ve last spoken, but that does not mean that I have been all that slumped. Actually, I took this summer break to enjoy some of my favorite genres of literature–genres I actually think might be underground for some of you and not a trope I hear about often on social media like BookTok and Bookstagram.
I’m of course talking about the 2000’s fad of paranormal urban fantasy books that contained many an Angel love interest. To be honest, I was not aware this was a whole genre, so let me tell you how all of this began.
Last November I moved. This meant having to put all my books in boxes and actually register what books I was in possession of. Also, in my old house my family liked to use my bookshelf as the communal bookshelf, so I had a bunch of books I had never heard of and had not bought myself. Within these random books was “Fallen” by Lauren Kate–the Portuguese version, to be specific.
I asked my sister if the book was hers. It was. She then informed me she owned the first three books of the series and that I should give it a go, since it was one of her favorite books in middle school. I then reminded her I was 17, but by then she had put the rest of the books in my arms, and what am I going to do, say no to free books? Ha! You’re funny.
Fast forward to March of Junior year. The time where any Junior who is in three AP classes (or more) begins to slightly spiral and lose their sense of self. I was right in that boat rowing along mindlessly toward a finish line I began to doubt was even real. On the other hand, this is also the time when you find you would rather do absolutely anything than study for that APUSH test you already failed.
That’s where I was when I dove into the world of the “Fallen” series.
To be honest, the book itself was not something I would particularly enjoy if I were in any other mental state. The storyline was basically spoonfed to the reader, and the plot-twists were barely even half turns. Needless to say, it was a book written for middle schoolers, but at the same time, it had been so long since I had finished a book. It felt really good to finish it in two days–I felt proud of myself.
Ok, let me actually tell you about this book. (Mild spoilers ahead)
The story revolves around two characters (mainly): Luce Price and Daniel Grigori. Luce is just a regular human girl…NOT! Luce is unlike the other girls. She is mysterious and tortured by shadows that only she can see and that she has seen since she was in a house fire that killed a boy she had a crush on. She blames this fire on herself, and this trauma gets her sent to Sword and Cross, a reform school.
There she meets Daniel, a super gorgeous, super artistic, super RUDE JERK. The first time they meet, Daniel gives Luce the middle finger and does everything possible to keep her as far away as possible because she is absolutely repulsive.
And then there’s this other guy: Cam. Cam is your stereotypical bad boy–he steals cars, wears leather, and is just really popular and cool. He is super into Luce and treats her like she’s actually different from other girls, but (shocker) he’s not the love interest of this story.
Ok, so this book does actually have a storyline. To be honest, it’s not like I remember it in crazy detail, but here’s the gist. Daniel and Luce have met before. Actually, they’ve met several times because they are both stuck in a curse. Basically, everytime they fall in love and have any sort of physical contact, Luce blows up in flames, and Daniel is forced to wait 17 years until she is reincarnated and they eventually meet again.
Luce sees shadows because those are actually all the shadows of her past life warning her or guiding her or something like that. This series is five books long, not including Cam’s novella, and I only got through the first three, so I guess I’ll never know how it ends.
Anyways, Daniel was the highest ranking Angel, but he chose love with a human (Luce) over serving God. And this is all happening right after the first ever fallen angel, or the Devil, is banished from Heaven, and he’s building his army to fight against God. Daniel is the last angel that needs to make his decision, so basically he has the fate of the world in his hands, and honestly, giving up all his power for Luce is not worth it.
I know I sound harsh, but I enjoyed this book while reading it. It made me laugh amidst the dark tortures that are Junior year and was quite entertaining. So even though it is definitely not for my age group, I had a fun time nonetheless.
I will follow up this article once I finish “hush, hush,” another paranormal urban fantasy with an angel love interest to be able to have a well rounded view of the genre itself. But needless to say this is a whole genre of urban fantasy that did not have long enough of a run and in my opinion should be re-visited. #BringBackHotAngels
Overall, the “Fallen” series was two and a half out of five stars. A fun time for those who need some stress relief and books where you don’t have to think at all. If I were at a fully competent state, then maybe the author’s inability to write a plot that is not completely spelled out would have offended me and my cognitive ability, but it was fun for the time being.
Who knows, maybe I’ll finish the last two books if Senior year AP’s end up being anything like Junior year… No, nothing could be that bad… right?
XOXO
Maya
