Kate, Lauren: Torment
Torment (2010)
Written by: Lauren Kate
Genre: YA/Paranormal Romance
Pages: 452 (Hardcover)
Series: Book Two (ongoing)
When I read Fallen, I knew I had to pre-order the sequel, despite the debut's flaws. I mean, it's all fluff, but I thought the first book had some serious, real-world plausibility issues, even though I loved the supernatural world-building. But my interest was snagged and I loved the cover, and since Amazon had this book on pre-order SUPER CHEAP, I had no qualms about ordering it. Nor did I have any qualms about reading it right away, because sometimes, I just want to read some fluff. :) And I mean that as a compliment, not an insult.
The premise: ganked from BN.com: Hell on earth.
That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.
It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts-immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.
At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something-something dangerous. What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?
Review style: This book is both very similar and quite different from Lauren Kate's debut of Fallen. I want to talk about those differences that a lot of reviewers seem to hate and explain why those differences work so well for me. So yes, expect spoilers. If you want to remain spoiler-free, skip to the "My Rating" portion at the bottom of the review.
In some ways, this book is starting over: it's Luce at another boarding school, only this one is something special: her classes are taught by a demon and an angel (who seem to be an item), and her classmates are Nephilim--part angel, part human. I didn't mind this element of starting over. I much preferred Shoreline to Sword & Cross, and Luce's place at Shoreline made more sense than her place at Sword & Cross. Sure, she doesn't get that she's special (she thinks she's just there because of Daniel), but she does seem to have some kind of magical talent, as evidenced in her growing ability to summon and manipulate the Announcers. If I had to place bets now, I'd say that Luce isn't fully human. And I wonder, especially given the scene at the end when the Outcasts reveal they're at her beck and call, if SHE isn't the angel who's supposed to turn the tide, not Daniel. After all, that starshot isn't supposed to hurt mortals (it didn't hurt Callie), but it destroyed Luce's projection, which would indicate that the projection, like Luce, is made up of more than simply mortal stuff.
But I'm getting ahead of myself: while the set-up of the boarding school, making new friends and meeting guys who are into her is the same, Luce is quite different. And I like that difference. A lot. She's starting to question her relationship and her past with Daniel. She's starting to look at it through cynical and realistic eyes. After all, because he couldn't stay away, he's condemned her to death and her past families to suffering every seventeen years. Isn't that selfish? You know the phrase, if you love something, you have to let it go, and if it comes back, it's yours? Maybe Daniel thinks that by killing her, he's letting her go and her coming back every seventeen years means they're fated, but he'd be made of stronger stuff if he could duck out the moment their paths crossed and let her grow into an adult who could actually have her own life, you know?
The fact that Luce is thinking about this is why I was so thrilled. She's not falling for the traditional YA romance mentality of "Oh, you're my one true love and I must love you but I have no idea why!" She's questioning it. And the author wants us to pay attention: remember the scene where she's trying to set things straight and Daniel thinks she's breaking up and with a touch, all of her doubts go away? That's creepy, and it begs the question of what exactly is Daniel hiding from her. And not just her past, but her role in the war. Luce asked a very smart question in this book, and that's why Daniel fell in love with her the very first time. More to the point, what was it about their relationship that CURSED him and made him lose his place in heaven? After all, other angels have affairs with humans. If Luce was human, why was Daniel's relationship with her so different?
I know that, on some level, these romances in YA are wish-fulfillment, and we shouldn't mess with that. I think that's one of the reasons the reviews for this book haven't been quite so rosy. People are mad that Luce isn't listening to Daniel, that she's not being patient, that she's not staying in love with him like she should. Oh, and they're also mad that Cam no longer seems to be a part of the triangle picture (me, I was quite relieved--it gave him an identity outside of Luce), and that Luce "threw" herself at poor Miles.
Okay, yeah, it seems like any guy in this book who's a major player is somehow smitten/in love with Luce. But I really like Miles. He's pretty normal, and he seems to fall for her for who she is, not what she was or what she's supposed to be or any of that. So I had to giggle during the hair-dying scene when Shelby and Arriane make Team Daniel and Team Miles t-shirt jokes. It's a nice nod at pop culture.
Besides, Daniel's kind of an ass in this book. He won't tell her anything (I guess that's against the rules or something, I'm still not clear), and he gets pretty bossy. Wait, bossy isn't quite the right word, controlling is. If he explained why she needed to stay on campus, it wouldn't be bad, but he's treating her like a piece of fragile glass that'll shatter any second, even though it's obvious that THIS time, this incarnation, WILL be different. So like Luce, I didn't care for his attitude. Stuff whole "Daniel has to be patient every 17 years!" crap. That's abstract to Luce, who's living in the NOW and needs to know what's happening to her life NOW.
Speaking of NOW, talk about getting NO answers whatsoever. We learn more about the world-building, but not really about how anything works and why things are the way they are. But the author does give us clues, and I think, short of the Outcasts viewing Luce as their ticket back to Heaven, that Luce's questions about why Daniel fell in love with her to begin with are more important than her being ungrateful or something. I'm also wondering (and hoping) that perhaps the author is setting up the revelation that in order to break the curse, Luce must not continue the cycle. Not just with her living, but with her not choosing Daniel. Wouldn't that be fascinating? Yeah, Daniel's really not high on my favorite heroes for heroines list, but even Edward the Stalker is better than this. Daniel's just being an ass. At least Edward backed down when Bella would confronted him.
And really, why is it that Luce having doubts is a bad thing? Why is it that Luce wanting a NORMAL life is a bad thing? The doubts are good to show because even if Luce ends up with Daniel when the series is over, the target audience finally gets to see a heroine who questions the love-at-first-sight feeling. The target audience is going to see a heroine go beyond that and find the true feeling behind the love-at-first-sight. Luce, if she ends up with Daniel, will have to earn Daniel's love, and vise-versa, not have it handed to her on an expected silver platter (and I say expected in regards to ALL paranormal YA romance heroines who fall in love at first sight).
I do wish we knew what really happened to Trevor, Luce's first kiss. Why did he burst into flames? Because it was supposed to be Daniel? Or maybe Daniel's responsible for taking out Luce's first loves until he comes along (and has been doing so all through the ages?). I can be strung along for a little while in regards to answers, but I hope that's one that delivers.
Nitpick: page 178, the author made me stop and think about the mechanics of a couple being in the backseat of a car, making out, and whether or not the windows would be rolled up (aka closed) or down (aka open). See, CAR windows (at least in the US) roll up to close and down to open. But HOME windows are UP when they're open and DOWN when they're closed. And apparently, the car Luce is imagining would have it's windows DOWN while a couple would be making out in the backseat. :-/
Sorry, told you that was nitpicky.
My Rating
Fine a Cheaper Copy: I actually liked this book a lot better than the first, but fans of the Cam/Daniel/Luce love triangle are going to be disappointed, because not only does Cam have a diminished role in the book, but he no longer appears to be part of the triangle. There's a new player in town for that role. That said, Luce isn't stupid-in-love with Daniel any more either. She's asking questions about him, her differing pasts with him, and she's starting to wonder about the inherent selfishness of him always coming into her life when he knows it'll kill her and ruin the family she's part of at the time. Me, I applaud this, but I'm an adult reader who's getting a wee bit tired of the paranormal romance formula as it's applied to YA. Luce isn't just following her heart. I think she knows she's supposed to be with Daniel, but she's got very good reasons to question why this must be so, and me, I'm not so in love with the idea of them as a couple that this breaks my heart.
That said, don't approach this book looking for any answers in the mythology. Lauren Kate gives us none. What we get instead are more clues and some interesting developments to the world-building and quite the cliffhanger ending. We meet some interesting new characters, have fun with some old characters, and learn a tantalizing bit more about the war that's coming and what Luce's role in it is. I was quite happy with this submission, as it didn't make me stop and ask the same kinds of questions as the debut did, and it seems to be catering to my "I'm tired of paranormal YA romance" tastes of late, though I suspect when it's all said and done, Luce and Daniel will be a couple. I'd like to be wrong. But I'm happy to keep reading, as this is fun fluff, but not worth the full hardcover price. However, if you liked the first book and can get this book on sale? Go for it! Just bear in mind my earlier warning about the love triangle. :)
Cover Commentary: Oh, love, love, LOVE. I love how gothic and moody these covers are, and this doesn't disappoint. I don't even care that the heroine's hair isn't as long as it's depicted on the cover. Why? Because the cover is GORGEOUS. Seriously, if I could buy these book covers as art, I would frame them on the WALL.
Next up: Joker by Brian Azzarello