Torment Review

Torment by Lauren Kate

I honestly don't believe that Lauren Kate has a real plan for this series. There is practically no information given to the reader about what is happening. We are left as much in the dark as Luce about everything. I felt just as frustrated as Luce at the lack of information being supplied. Because it was written in 3rd person, we could have been given some information that Luce wasn't. Instead, we know only what Luce knows. I'm scared for the next book because I feel like it's going to be as vague as the last two.
Spoilers Ahead

The book starts off with another prologue. This didn't work so well for me in the last book and didn't in this book either. Cam and Daniel have formed a brief truce that for some reason involved killing someone. I don't know if that person was supposed to be an Outcast because Daniel seemed to be able to kill him with a tree branch. They also discuss sending Luce to some secure school. I was under the impression that Luce was supposed to look into her past there, but it seemed like they didn't want her to when she go there.

Luce is packed up and sent, without her parents' knowledge, across the country to a school in California. This school is the opposite of Sword & Cross- full of rich kids and Nephilim. Daniel picks her up at the airport and after descriptions of love, Daniel orders Luce to stay at the school and not leave.

From the beginning of this book, I had a huge problem with both Daniel and Luce. It only got worse as it went on. On one hand, Daniel is overbearing and bossy. He orders Luce around but won't tell her why he wants her to do what he says. There is nothing likable about him. On the other hand, Luce is whiny and childish. We are closer to her so we see her frustration over her situation and the lack of information she's given. Still, she knows she's in danger and doesn't seem to get it through her thick skull that staying put might be the safest thing for her.

I'm also still bothered by the "I can't tell her too much or she'll die" thing. I still believe this is just an excuse to take an idea that was a one book kind of idea and drag it into at least 4 (possibly more) books.

Anyway... apparently, Luce is a mini celebrity among the Nephilim. There are angel history books dedicated to the endless love between Luce and Daniel. People know more about her story than she does. Still, she knows nothing and can't seem to find anything out. It also causes some strife between Luce and her roommate, Shelby, when she finds out that Shelby and Daniel had a one night stand before he found her in this lifetime.

Luce also develops a friendship with Miles, who loves her after less than two weeks. She begins to wonder if the tragic love between her and Daniel is enough. This is really the only time that I kind of applauded Luce- only kind of because she was considering whether to leave Daniel to be with Miles, not to be by herself and grow as a person.

Because Luce inspired such devotion in Shelby and Miles in such a short period of time, they decide to help her discover her past by helping her manipulate the Announcers, or shadows as she calls them. While the idea was given to Luce by Francesca and Steven, it was actively discouraged. I was let down by this part because there was such an opportunity for them to help her, even on the down low, but there was only one instance of a half-ass conversation between her and Steven. And not much occurs with this other than Luce realizing that her past selves had people that were impacted by her death. For a less stupid person, visions of her death wouldn't be necessary to figure that out.

Everyone ultimately convenes at Luce's parents' house for Thanksgiving. There is a showdown between the angels and demons and the Outcasts. I do have to say that this battle was better than the one that took place in Fallen. At least this one was not off-screen. The Outcasts are after Luce and she believes that they want to kill her until they tell her that she is actually their key to getting back in heaven. They try to force her to join them and Miles uses his power of love to create a mirror image of Luce that they take instead. But nobody knows it's a mirror image, even on her side, and Cam kills her image in order to keep the Outcasts from having her and Daniel freaks out.

Just when they realize she's actually still alive, she uses an Announcer to escape into her past. This is without knowing what the hell she's doing. Seeing as everyone is saying that book 3 is a prequel, I'm assuming that she's just going to time trip through her history until we and she gets it all.

Personally, I liked this one less than the first one. For all the problems in the first book, I didn't hate the characters as much. It's bad when the two main characters that are supposed to love each other and the readers are supposed to love together are so hateable. 2.5 out of 5

My review of Fallen on goodreads.