There will be a few spoilers in this review, so don't read it until you finish the series.
We all know what happened in the first book. I couldn't put the book down once I'd started reading it. I knew that Daniel was a fallen angel because I'd overheard a girl in my class talking about the book, but that still didn't ruin the book for me. I think the only thing I didn't really like about the book is the protagonist's name. Luce. Now, I get Lucinda. I think that is a very pretty name. But I think that if a girl is named Lucinda, the first rational nickname to give her is Lucy. A lot of people were confused about her name because it is spelled like it should sound like loose, but that doesn't make much sense, so they thought it was pronounced like Lucy. I was one of those people. Why would you call a girl Luce(loose)? That's not a good nickname to have at all. But that's the only thing I really don't like about Fallen.
I can't say the same for the second book, Torment. It was...okay. I liked that Luce got to learn more about the announcers, but it just went too slow for me. There was barely any action and at least one of the things they didn't figure out until it was too late really annoyed me. Phil. The outcast who was posing as a human to get closer to Shelby and then closer to Luce. How did they not figure that out? I figured that out as soon as they mentioned that his eyes were weird looking. Also, there were maybe three or four parts in the book that had Daniel in them. I thought we'd be seeing more of him in the second book, not less. The only really interesting part of the book - that involved Daniel, that is - was when Miles kissed Luce and Daniel saw it. The ending of the book was disappointing compared to the first book. How were Luce's parents gone that long just walking the dog? That made no sense. How could Miles turn into Luce and suddenly all the outcasts were focused on him? At the very least, the girl who had been "looking" at Luce the entire time they were talking should've know something was wrong.
Passion, the third book in the series, was a little dull. Yes, we get to learn a lot more about the curse by seeing Luce's past, but it was very repetitive. It got to the point that I was groaning when I turned the page and saw that we got to look at yet another life. And what was the deal with Bill? How did Luce not see that something was off about him the first time they met? Obviously he liked making her uncomfortable because he knew that seeing Daniel would shake her up and did it anyways. Why did he take on the shape of a really disgusting gargoyle? And is there anyone else out there who saw that Bill was just a little too anxious for Luce to drag that starshot across her chest? Who didn't know that Bill was bad at, at least, that point in the book? Okay, and here's a thought, why would Lucifer tell Luce what his plan was? That part just doesn't make any sense. If he kept his plan to himself, he wouldn't have to worry about it not working.
Even though this isn't really part of the series - it's like a novella, even though they still call it a novel - but I'm going to write about it anyways. Fallen in Love is a short "novel" that takes place while Luce is going through her past lives. In short, it is all about Valentine's Day. We get to see the one and only Valentine's Day and Daniel and Luce get to share. Shelby and Miles get together in this book. We see who Arriane and Roland love. It's four short stories all in one book that come together in the end. It's a lot like the movie Valentine's Day.
The last book that brings everything to a head is Rapture. Again, I felt that all up until the end was a little slow. Maybe I felt that way just because I was ready to find out all about this curse and how Daniel and Luce got involved in the first place. They go through a lot to find the place where the angels fell because Lucifer is going to open an announcer into the future there to catch all the angels in, effectively erasing time between the fall and right now. We don't really know why he is doing it until the end of the book, when we find out what brought the curse about in the first place.
It turns out that Luce is actually a fallen angel, too. In Heaven, Lucinda was God's (who is a woman in the books, by the way) third angel. She was very special to God. Lucifer was God's first angel, and Gabbe her second. When the angels were created, they all adored God and God alone. No one ever thought twice about showing anyone else the affection that they thought could only go to God. But one day God left to create the earth and stars and humans. Lucifer was convinced that God loved his new creatures more than he loved the angels, so he turned his attention to Lucinda.
He taught Lucinda how to love someone other than God by kissing her and showing her affection. She was happily in love with him until he started to become someone else. Instead of talking to her or listening to her, he would just go on and on about how he would have his own realm where he and Lucinda could rule. He didn't want to be stuck in Heaven where they said he could love no one other than God. But Lucinda didn't want to go. She was sure that she could love God and Lucifer at the same time.
Time went on and soon Lucifer would only talk about the roll call - the time when all the angels would declare whose side they were on. It was taking a toll on Lucinda, and she soon found herself crying all alone. A shadow cast over her and she looked up to see Daniel. She told him to leave her alone, but he was fascinated; he had never seen someone crying before. He asked her what was wrong and she told him. It made Lucinda feel so good to tell someone her problems without them interrupting her. It made her feel love toward Daniel, too, and (we have to assume here) Daniel wanted to know what love felt like, too. They wound up kissing and fell in love right then and there.
Lucinda spent time with Daniel, falling more and more in love with him. Lucifer didn't know because he was too busy making plans for Hell. When it comes time for the roll call, Lucinda has no idea what she is going to do. She doesn't want to go to Hell with Lucifer, but she doesn't want to stay in Heaven either because that would mean she couldn't love Daniel. But Daniel fixed that problem for her; when it came time for Daniel to come up (they called the lowest angels up first and worked their way up; Daniel was the sixth angel, so he went before Lucinda) he told both Lucifer and God that this fighting wasn't necessary. That they didn't need anything but love, and that was what he chose. He chose to be with Lucinda, no matter what happened. She flew up next to him and declared that she, too, would go wherever Daniel went.
God decided that they would both fall, too, because they weren't allowed to be in Heaven if they loved anyone other than God. But Lucifer wanted them to be punished for not making a choice, and we have to assume that he really did this because he was upset about Lucinda loving Daniel. God and Lucifer decided that Daniel would remain an angel, but Lucinda would be human, reincarnated over and over again. When she hit adolesense, she would burn up and die. But the real horrible thing about this curse is that they were to find each other, again and again, falling in love over and over, only for her to die. The curse could only be broken when Lucinda was brought up without a religion and she figured out - by herself - who she really was.
In the end, Luce gets her wings back and has to fly up to Lucifer before they hit the ground so that she can try and talk him out of his plans. She tries to let him down easy, telling him that she loves him but she loves Daniel more. They argue and God intervenes. God stops Lucifer from fulfilling his plans and asks Daniel and Luce to make their decision again now that they have broken the curse. Of course, they both choose each other again.
God tells them that if they really do choose to be together again that they will have to be punished yet again. This time the punishment is that they will both be human, they will not be reincarnated, and they must find each other on their own before they die. Heaven and Hell will not intervene and bring them together again. They accept the punishment.
The epilogue is in Luce's point of view. She is in another life and is going to college. She goes to a party with her roommate and, when it gets too packed, she decides to go downstairs for some fresh air. She sits down next to the garden outside and is smelling the white peonies when someone walks up and surprises her. I don't think I need to tell you that this is Daniel. They hit it off right away.
The very last sentence in the book is, "...Luce and Daniel fell in love for the first - and the last - time."
I think that this series is incredible. The story is amazing and, even though it can get a little boring in parts, it is definitely worth reading. When I read that Luce is really an angel, too, it surprised me and I thought it was a little anti-climatic, but finding out that Luce was with Lucifer first really made up for it. And the end was a little iffy to me too. They're human? Why didn't God just realize that she should change the "you can only love me" rule, and let them stay in Heaven? I mean, Luce just got her wings back! But, what can you do? I don't think God would've changed the rule even if it were in real life. The ending was good, even if it did make me a little sad. I think I was just sad because the series was ending.
So, if you haven't read the books, you should even though you already know what happens because they are just that good. I give the series 4.5 out of 5 stars.
I don't know if anyone will actually read this, but if you do, just let me know if you want me to review something and I will. Hopefully this will help someone with something. Well, that's all.
~Oblivious
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