Review of TORMENT

One of the most gorgeous covers of the year, hands down. I could just stare and stare at the gorgeous image. So evocative, so full of longing. This is Book II in the Fallen trilogy by Lauren Kate, I liked this installment better than the first. This book, in cover images, tone, and release dates shares so much with the Hush, Hush series - both are about bad boy fallen angels in which the girl main characters are magically entranced by the beautiful boys, even when it endangers their life.

In Torment, suddenly the main character, Luce, realizes just how quickly she "fell in love" with Daniel, how little time they've actually spent together, and how superficial it might all be. A similar thing happened in Crescendo (Book II in the Hush, Hush series) that was recently released. As a result, I thought Torment presented much more complex characters. Luce seems like a real girl who starts asking real questions about this suddenly consuming relationships. Some reviewers have thought that Luce makes stupid decisions throughout this book, but I didn't find that at all. Her decisions in this book actually make sense. I was so bummed by the lack of time spent on Luce and Daniel's connection in Book I, that I was fine with Luce's wavering here. It made the ending of the book feel real, and fought for. I hate easy outs, and I was glad the author is willing to continue developing Luce, and that she is letting Luce finally discover herself, without Daniel around treating her like an infant. In a manner generally unlike myself (I love me the romance!), what I found most interesting about this book was Luce's personal development, not her romantic connections. Four out of five stars.