Book Review: Passion (Fallen #3) by Lauren Kate

Title: Passion

Author: Lauren Kate

Publisher: Doublebay

Release Date: 14^th June, 2011

Rating: 3 stars 

Goodreads Synopsis:

"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 . . . 

My Thoughts:

Truthfully, I never expected this book to be exceptional, and I was not wrong. Although there were moments in the book which I enjoyed, the majority of the book was more of a ‘let-down’. The book itself was not entirely horrible (unlike Torment unfortunately) , but the lack of intriguing plotline and constant whining of Luce (He loves me….he loves me not) unfortunately ruined the book for me.

The Characters:

To my disappointment, the book focused almost entirely on Luce (including her past selves) and Daniel. The side characters, Cam, Arriane, Roland etc. were only mentioned in a handful of scenes, none of which lasted long enough for my liking. In the previous books, all my favourites scenes involved Arriane and the other angels so you can probably understand my utter disappointment and annoyance at the lack of pages devoted to their appearance. I was ecstatic when Cam was finally given a role (and not just mentioned) in the book but my happiness was short-lived when the book went back to Luce/Daniel. By the end of the book, I think I’ve already had enough of reading about Luce and Daniel…..and their love story.

I was also very annoyed at Luce and her constant whining about whether Daniel really loved her or that he only ‘loved’ her because he was bound to her by the curse. I also got pretty exasperated at the fact that after whining and complaining about how their love might not be ‘real’, the instant she saw Daniel, she started swooning and saying something along the lines of  “Daniel was even more gorgeous than she remembered. His skin was clear and brilliant”. I’ve really lost track of how many times the word “gorgeous” has appeared on the pages. Sure, I like a bit of flirting/passion/nice, heart-warming scenes between the main characters, but really, describing their love for each other on every second page is quite unnecessary.

The Plot

Unlike Torment, I was at least happy that there was more of a story to write about albeit the lack of enthralling plotline. The basic plotline was Luce going back in time to visit her past selves, hoping to find out more about the curse and break it. All 420 pages of book have been dedicated to that simple plotline. Basic plotline aside, some scenes were actually quite interesting. Kate has beautifully crafted some very amazing scenes in the book, rich with description and detail. For example, I particularly liked the scenes when she visited China and Mesoamerica. I won’t go into detail, but those two scenes were quite entertaining and kept me reading. The real action did not take place until the last ¼ of the book and even the action did not quite thrill me. Perhaps I was just expecting more.

I was also happy that some of the questions were finally answered. I won’t say what, but toward the end of 

the book, there were some very interesting answers that I was actually quite content with.

Overall, I must say that covers can be VERY misleading. This cover is absolutely gorgeous (this is how Luce describes Daniel in almost every chapter) but unfortunately the book wasn’t as good as it could have been. So, to finish, I think Fallen is by far the best in the series, and Passion is much better than Torment. I sincerely hope Rapture will be the best in the series!

Oh, and one more thing. Without revealing anything, I just want to reinforce this concept of “Stranger Danger”.  J