Fallen and Torment by Lauren Kate

The cover is what first pulled me in to want to read this book. The tale alone that picture tells is absolutely phenomenal. And then the prologue was enough to seal the deal for me, I knew that I wanted to figure out just what this whole book was about.

Lucinda Price, or Luce, starts out being enrolled at Sword & Cross, a boarding school for troubled teens, as a last resort. Yet, it becomes very apparent that Luce isn't like the others. If anything, it seemed like she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She doesn't really remember what happened. Only that there was a fire that killed the first boy she had liked and Shadows, the same Shadows that have haunted her for her entire life. What really happened? That's the question everyone has been asking her, but she doesn't know.

When Luce finally meets Daniel, everything else changes. She wants to understand why the shadows are chasing her, but more than that she wants to figure out why he seems to hate her so much. They've only just met right?

Lauren Kate builds a fantastic tale with Fallen, bringing in a wonderful cast of characters that help set the stage for Luce and Daniel's story. She never could have imagined falling in love so deeply, and with a fallen angel no less. Luce also learns there's more to her than she realized. Something that's a danger to her.

Again the cover is what first pulled me in, absolutely beautiful. I also love that the Prologues and Epilogues are in Daniels points-of-view.

The sequel to Fallen, Torment, picks up right where the first left. Luce finally knows the truth about Daniel, but he's not telling her everything. There is still so much that Luce doesn't understand and she's willing to find out from anyone who will tell her.

In order to protect Luce, Daniel takes her to Shoreline, a boarding school for Nephilim. Along the way he only gives her parts of the story, hoping to satisfy her curiosity for the time being, but Daniel should have known better.

Each new bit that she learns, Luce only wants to find out more. Her curiosity is piqued, and with a chance to better understand why Daniel chose her, why wouldn't she take it.

Again Lauren Kate lays a beautiful foundation for her characters, answering some questions, but leaving more left. Luce is growing into her own, wanting to figure things out for herself instead of blinding following the others along for once. I loved the "backbone" Luce seemed to grow in this book and definitely wanted to see more.

Yet at the same time I felt for Daniel. All he wanted was to protect her, for fear of losing her again. Luce is the love of his life, the one person he risked everything for.

The ending of Torment left me begging for more and I honestly can't wait for "Passion", the third book in the series to come out. There's only so much I can say in these reviews without giving away the entire plot, I want to leave that up to you guys. And I can honestly say that if there is one series that you won't want to put down, it is the Fallen series.

For more information about the series and author you can check out her website and blog at: http://www.laurenkatebooks.net/ or follow her on twitter at: http://twitter.com/laurenkatebooks