Passion
By Lauren Kate
Hardcover
384 pages
Expected publication:
June 14th, 2011
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN 0385739168
series: Fallen #3
source: publisher
3.75 stars
“Every single lifetime, I’ll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever.”
Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .
Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.
Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.
Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.
Sweeping across centuries, PASSION the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series hits stores Tuesday 14th June 2011
The first thing that drew me like a moth to the flame to the Fallen series were the covers. The first two are frame worthy and beautiful, even to the touch. The third one with a rose….not my favorite. It doesn’t really match the first two in the series. However, I will say that I enjoyed Fallen and Torment enough to get me out of bed early one morning at BEA to make the mad dash to the Lauren Kate signing table. And I was impressed that Delacorte Press was kind enough to give us all a hardback copy. That was above and beyond. Now, on to the story itself.
The pace of Passion is very slow with little action or tension which posed a problem for me since it’s hard to maintain my attention. This installment was snapshots in a travel log of the many different settings where Luce and Daniel have fallen in love across the ages. It is their story over and over exactly as it states in the book summary. You’ll get a short snippet of each new world and person involved. The interesting part for me was the actual setting and history behind each city where the announcers take Luce. Readers get a taste of Moscow, Milan, England, Prussia, Tibet, China, Egypt, South America and life in the prehistoric pre-civilized world. Lauren Kate takes you through the tunnels of time according to Luce’s heart’s desire and eventually, bent by the powers of her travel companion Bill.
Bill’s a newly introduced secondary character that I also struggled with. In my heart of hearts I missed all of the other characters from the first two books that I had grown to love. They are constantly lost in Passion, trying to catch up to Luce but never interacting in the storyline or given much face time. To me it seemed there was a lack of development of secondary characters. And I missed the competition Daniel faced in Simon and Cam. There’s no real force pulling Luce and Daniel apart other than Luce’s internal battle. Their story here seems repetitive. Does he truly love me or is his attraction to me simply an automatic response as a result of the curse?
Passion is told from two different points of view-Luce’s and Daniel’s, so if you are team Daniel you’ll be pleased to see things from his perspective. Ultimately, I was left with a lot of unanswered questions about who Luce really is, how the curse is overcome, what role the nephilim will play in re-writing history and how the star shots really work. Passion is great supplementary material, a companion novel, but not a star player for me in the grand scheme of things. I’m hoping book four brings us up to speed with the action and progression of plot I’m searching for. I can’t wait to find out more about Cam’s origin.
So when all is said and done, one question remains….will I keep reading the books? You bet! I’m hooked. I will be picking up Rapture when it comes out in 2012 with high hopes.
Be sure to visit Lauren Kate’s website for more on the Fallen series. And there is a play list folks. Click here to have a listen. Thumbs up on the book trailer, it is excellent.
Thanks to Lauren and Random House for being so generous.
Content: no warnings other than minor violence and a tiny bit of sexual tension. Recommended for ages 14 and up.
Tracy.H
I will admit that Fallen and Torment were not amoung my favorites, but everyone seems to raving about this book. I might have to give Lauren Kate one more try. :0)
Marg K.
I have yet to give this series a try. I’m not much of a fan of melodramatic love stories, but I’ve heard people raving & ranting about these books, so I’m feeling quite curious. Thanks for the review.