For What It's Worth


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Review: Torment by Lauren Kate

Torment

How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for? In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean - and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future...and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened...what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else? YA (September 28, 2010)


WARNING:  Spoilery if you haven’t read Fallen yet!

Torment is the second book in Lauren Kate’s fallen angel series and it picks up right after the events of Fallen. Luce has discovered her true love Daniel – a fallen angel. They are cursed to meet every 17 years, to meet and fall in love over and over again only to have a tragic outcome each time.
Now that Luce knows about the existence of her past lives and fallen angels, she and Daniel should finally be able to have that chance at love but Daniel is still as mysterious and illusive as ever, insisting on secrecy for her own protection. The warring angels have called for an 18 day truce to band together and fight those who have come to hurt Luce now that news of her mortality has spread. Daniel has moved Luce to a new school that should keep her shielded and help her “develop” until the time that he can be with her again.
Torment expands on the angel mythology and gives glimpses back to Luce & Daniel’s past. There is a lot more going on in this book than in Fallen, both emotionally and action wise. Luce has to deal with a lot of conflicting emotions in a short time without the help of Daniel who becomes a constant source of frustration instead of the comfort she thought he would be.
I have mixed feelings about Torment. I enjoyed it more than the first book simply because it was more complex and delved into the larger story a bit more. I love fallen angels and the battle between good and evil, so I loved learning more about that aspect of the story. Luce is a bit stronger in this one also and begins questioning everything, which I liked, BUT this is where I also grew frustrated.
I really do understand that all this true love/reincarnation/fallen angels/fate of the world is a lot to take in all at once but she continually got mad at Daniel for not telling her everything even though she understood why he couldn’t just yet. They keep having the same exact fight over and over again. I definitely see both sides, but it got a little repetitive for me. She also complains a lot about no one telling her the truth but several of the other angels (including Daniel) reveal quite a bit to her – if she would just listen and fill in the blanks.
*SPOLIERS  FOR TORMENT AHEAD*
And oh my….the bane of my existence – the love triangle *shudders*. If you read my blog you know how much I have come to hate love triangles…lol. So this will shock you….I kind of didn’t mind this one. Don’t get me wrong; I still don’t think it’s necessary to have every story involve two boys (why can’t a couple just have issues?? There are already some big ones here. And why does a girl always have to have a boy to make things ok??) but I can see the frustration with Daniel and the attraction to Miles – the boy at Luce's new school. Miles is just cute enough for me to believe in her attraction and just geeky & sweet enough to make me like him. The other thing I like is that neither is merely a hormone induced attraction. This is about fate and friendship – not lust. I’m ok with this one; even though I would rather she found her own way or maybe relied on a girlfriend more. My only peeve with this is how fast it happened – 18 days. Can’t Luce give Daniel that long to explain things? He is kind of busy protecting her! I would have liked it better if this aspect was introduced in the next book…. it was a little too soon for me. I was just learning about Luce & Daniel’s connection.
I’m really liking the supporting players in Torment. Most of the angels from Fallen are back: Cam, Gabbe, Roland, Molly & Arriane along with the addition of new players. It will be interesting to see what Kate does as the series progresses – it could go a few different ways as the stakes get higher. The sudden love triangle and Luce’s lack of patience is what keeps me from really loving this series vs. liking it so we’ll see.
Loved: I like all the angels and the bigger battle between good and evil, the moral dilemmas were touched on more in the this book which I liked. Good supporting characters. That cover!!
Nitpick: While I understand Luce has to mature and come to terms with things in her life – some of the scenes with her complaining seem repetitive to me and I would like her to rely a little more on herself rather than need a boy. 

3 out of 4 If you enjoyed Fallen – you will like Torment. There is more of everything in this one!

Author's website: http://laurenkatebooks.net/
Pre-order Torment! Torment

Thank you to Kate from I Just Wanna Sit Here And Read for letting me read her copy of Torment!

30 comments:

  1. I really cant wait to read the book!

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  2. i really enjoyed fallen, so i'm really excited about this one. great review- but i skipped through the torment spoilers, haha :)

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  3. oooooh everyone is telling me to read this!!! thanks for the review and the spoiler alert!

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    1. so my friend from chicago gave me fallen the first book in and she said this boook is really good. she said here read the first page and i did i didnt like it. but then i found out i bought it an remembered that it was the book my friend read so i read it and half way thru i fell in love. i finished the book in a day! it was amazing and every tme my parents bugged me i yelled at the for interupting me in my reading mode. haha but i love the fallen series. i love the house of night sereis. and i was reading vampire academy definitions on google and it seems good and aslo i love the series of delerium and many more. so many good books i have "fallen" in love with! haha :)

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  4. HAHAHA, I read the review, saw "Torment Spoilers" and scrolled down to the comments ASAP. Didn't want to spoil it before I read it.

    Goooood review. I can see how Luce and Daniel fighting over and over about the same thing can be annoying. "Luce, don't fall into blind faith, but don't be so annoying either." :P

    *claps*

    Can't wait for Torment to come out!

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  5. Thanks for the review! I'm happy that it's got more action than book one, bc Fallen had a great set-up, but not all that much actually happened. I am not surprised to learn that Luce is still annoying.

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  6. Torment definitely sounds a little more interesting than Fallen, but ... I don't know ... it's kind of the same set-up, really ... apart from Luce knowing a little more than before, I guess ... (do we ever find out whether she set her ex alight, or whether it was *something else*? I'm kind of stuck on that, lol :o) ... she's now in another school, dealing with another love triangle, with a person that wasn't around before ... hmmm. I've decided that's what annoys me about love triangles ... I like them when I get to know all the people involved, and can pick my fave and root for them ... but I don't like it when random love interests are pulled out of nowhere just to keep things interesting (think Sookie's Quinn) :s That's just a little too contrived for my liking.

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  7. I couldn't really read your entire review because I didn't want to read the spoilers since I haven't read Torment yet but the parts I did read and of course your overview at the end were great, I'm really anxious to read this one and hope it's as good as the first in the series, thanks for the rec!

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  8. OK, I read Fallen and I was intrigued because Kate Lauren really knows how to lay on the mystery BUT LUCE!!!! My dear, find your inner kick a$$ woman in there ... forget about the reincarnations, just find some confidence.

    Ummm ... thanks for letting me get that out. And, I read the spoilers ... hee hee hee sounds good.

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  9. wait.......who is luce REALLY meant to be with if it wasn't Daniel then?

    I love this book, but I'm a little confused on that point above

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  10. Just a bump in the road to true love I'm guessing. Personally I thought it was a little too soon to add that type of thing in and it keeps me from truly believing in Luce/Daniel and from loving the series. I think there is enough going on without a triangle.

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  11. So, does Cam figure at all... as Fallen kind of hinted at something and when I first read that perhaps Daniel wasn't who she was supposed to be with, my immediate suspision went to Cam???

    I'm waiting for Torment to be released, but kinda wanted the whole 'Cam' angle to be explored??

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  12. Anonymous - Cam is in Torment but ****SPOILER**** not as a love interest. There is a new one and that just is kind of a "jump the shark" thing for me. I no longer believe in her and Daniel if she can hop around so fast to new guys. I could have handled the Cam angle because that sort of makes sense and like u said - it was hinted at. I think Torment should have stuck to the main story and then split them up in bk 3. I like evryone else & the bigger story but it's not good when you don't like the MC :-))
    It was more action packed than Fallen though.

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  13. Thanks for the review, Karen! I have to admit that this one sounds MUCH better than Fallen!! The (second) love triangle is a bit far fetched, will there be a new alternate boy in each book? I'm so glad to hear that there are flashbacks!! I loved it whenever they gave those few sentences of past lives in the first one. Is it faster paced than the first?

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  14. wait. so is Torment out yet?! otherwise how do u no what happens?
    not liking this idea of 'miles', would have preferred the connection she has with Cam to develop! :)

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  15. No- it's not out yet, it comes out in September. I read an ARC. Miles is very nice but I would have preferred she stuck with Cam also and not add another boy so soon. Cam is there though so there's still hope. I think I'm going to wait until the series is done and read them together to avoid my frustration w/Luce.

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  16. Thanks heaps for the review :)
    I'm curious to how you got an ARC?
    I didn't even know what it was until I googled it lol.

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  17. Torment was so such better than Fallen! I love that Lucinda questioned her relationship with Daniel and admitted that she felt something for Myles who is the perfect rival for Daniel since he is somewhat human. Can't wait for the third book!!!!

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  18. I have reccomended this to all my friends- I really enjoyed fallen and have found this better. 10/10. Would reccomend to anyone, but read fallen first :)

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  19. I wanna know what happends with miles i really like him and im not sure daniels that goody goody i like cam best is so dark and sexy i lovge the way kate describes him like emo angle :D ............ I love fallen and im 1/4 way through torment i love this book but now i have to wait till summer next year coz it only takes me 1 week to read it im a total book worm i dont want it the be a movie though i can only imagiane it being a book but i like that because i dotn like the actors i just like makin up an imagianary character in my head :D
    Thanx Lenah

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  20. I liked Torment much more than Fallen! Don't get me wrong, Fallen was a great book but I found it a little too slow paced. I found Torment to be more intriguing and enticing partly because of the faster pace and partly because of the new love interest.

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  21. What i don't get is why the Outcasts after after Luce? Why do they want to take her with them???

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  22. I read fallen an di love it! i read it in two days.Im about to go get torment right now.the third ones goin to be called passion.(i wonder what that means(:hehe!)CANT WAIT!!!! (i wish daniel and luce would not fight about annoying stuff and just be happy already!

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  23. i LUV this book i read in 2 days and im going 2 read it again as soon as i finish the book im reading now woooo i LUVED it

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  24. wish there were more of Arriane...
    she was really a badass.

    its really interesting to see that despite the fallen angels are on opposite sides, they are pretty close to one another like those two teachers and Roland and Arriane.

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  25. i think i liked fallen better than torment. it was more intresting it had enough things happening at one time but it wasnt to much to take in but thats just my opinion (:

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  26. Let me say Great review since this book put me to sleep, and triangles ugh. I tried to read this book , really tried but sleep was more important and there are lots of other angel books out there. Unearthly or Angelfire :)

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  27. As the story unfolds you begin to understand the decisions being made and why it is so important to maintain safety. This book brings you on a journey of discovery and leaves you wanting so much more as the battle begins. . . .

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  28. I was completely hooked. This book is amazing. The plot is one that kept me awake all through the night trying to devour every sentence as fast as I could. The characters are very thought out and relate able. The book is majestic and draws you into their world.

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