YA Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen by Lauren Kate (Delacorte, Dec. 2009, 464 p.)

Product Description: There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.


Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.


My Thoughts: There is something basically unfinished about this book. I know that it is the first of a series but I miss the world-building that usually goes on in the first of a series. Luce Price sees Daniel Grigori and is immediately enchanted. He blows hot and cold and through it all she perseveres. (I ask myself "why?"). The book has a lot of interesting characters from teachers who all have interesting quirks to the other students at this very special reform school. The setting is predictably spooky. There are a lot of positives here but my overall take was that the book was so-so. I will be looking for the others to see if I finally get the whole story.


Here is a trailer from YouTube:

Here is an interview with Lauren Kate that tells more about this series of books.

BTW: Disney has apparently bought the option to make a movie of the first four books in the series.