Torment (Fallen #2) by Lauren Kate

SUMMARY (from Goodreads): Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts - immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something - something dangerous.

What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? 

MY OPINION:

I absolutely loved Fallen. I read it last year, so it took me awhile to get into Torment because I had trouble remembering some details from Fallen. However, after the first fifty pages or so, the book pulled me in, and I could not put it down because I needed to know what happened next.

Although Torment is an absorbing book, I did not enjoy it as much as Fallen. I had expected to learn some things hinted at in Fallen, but Torment opens more questions than it answers. Kate remains very vague about both Luce's and Daniel's story on a minor scale and the fight between various fractions of angels on the major scale.

I was annoyed by all the non-communication and teenage angst, especially when Luce is concerned. I loved her character in Fallen, but this time Luce really got on my nerves because of various reasons. Firstly, she acts stupidly and irresponsibly and does not do what other people tell her to do. I am all for breaking the rules, but not in the way Luce does. Considering she now knows a little bit about the dangerous world out there, she should think things over, learn, and try to obtain information about the things she hears about. Instead she acts like a reckless, stubborn child.

Another thing that bothers me with Luce is that she is still set to seeing the world in black and white. She shows a kind of narrow-mindedness there, not allowing for the possibility of grey areas, and again not educating herself about things, but just sticking to her simply defined views of good and evil.

Speaking of good and evil, Torment does not clarify the issues opened in Fallen. The history of fallen angels and their disputes, as well as their future prospects, are again only mentioned, but not examined further. Hence, I felt let down by Torment.

Despite the fact that Torment falls short in comparison to Fallen, I will definitely continue reading the series. I hope the following books do shed some light both on Luce's and Daniel's story and on things concerning the fallen angels.

RECOMMENDATION: Although Torment was a bit disappointing for me, I still recommend it to those who loved Fallen and want to know more about what happens next.