PASSION by Lauren Kate
Series: Fallen, #3
Publication Date: June 14th 2011 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Rating: 
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Summary: “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 . . . forever.
Review Overview:
- Luce definitely changed as a character but it felt really abrupt
- I loved the time travel aspect; the feel of this book is more historical than paranormal
- Exceeded my expectations; after disliking Torment so much, PASSION took me by surprise
I was absolutely dreading PASSION. After being terribly disappointed with Torment, I was not even planning on continuing with the series. However, when I received an ARC, I knew I couldn’t just leave it unread. I had an obligation. So I reluctantly picked it up. Surprisingly, I devoured it in two sittings.
Luce felt like a completely different character for me in PASSION. While it was fantastic for me since, to be honest, I could not stand her in Torment, it also felt like there was no transition from one book to the other. She was just suddenly agreeable very early on in PASSION. She was suddenly just so understanding of Daniel and she just quickly brushed aside her little affair with Miles as if it were nothing. It was pretty hard to believe that someone so immature and selfish in the previous book could have undergone such a change in a matter of hours. Despite the major inconsistencies with Luce’s characterizations, I admit that it was easy for me to look over because it made Luce just more likeable, thus making PASSION a lot more readable.
In terms of the series, PASSION will stick out like a sore thumb. The book takes place in different settings in the past and the whole novel is centered around time travel through the Announcers. Luce is determined to understand her love with Daniel. She wants to know how deep it runs. Daniel has had lifetimes of their love, while Luce has to constantly start fresh with each reincarnation. She gets a glimpse into her past lives in PASSION. As an avid lover of time travel and historical fiction, I was instantly captivated by PASSION. I thought that PASSION could have been a wonderful standalone. Take out the prologue and epilogue and I think this could have been a fantastic novel about reincarnation and lost loves.
For the most part, I thought Kate did a wonderful job sending readers into the past. Kate managed to capture the distinct qualities of each time period to make it feel realistic. However, I thought that the setting lost its strength in the last three and earliest reincarnations of Luce. I think this was partly due to the staggering amount of time that had past. A jump from 17th century to around 500 C.E. was quite staggering and it was a completely different change of setting. There was really no transition from the European to the Mayan culture so it really came as a shock. Luce’s and Daniel’s reincarnation became less believable, but I was happy at Kate’s attempts to make their reincarnations more diversified.
I think this book could have had potential to be a four-star rating if it weren’t for the fact that it is part of a series. I have to think about the fact that it doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the books, but it was a massive improvement on the second one. Luce’s character definitely grew too quickly as a character, but as a reader, I’m glad that she finally got some sense knocked into her. PASSION definitely exceeded my expectations and I am actually strongly considering reading the final installment in this series!
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Book Review, Three Stars - Author: Lauren Kate, Book: Passion, Genre: Historical, Genre: Paranormal, Genre: Romance, Publisher: Delacorte Press, Romantic Read, Series: Fallen | 
882 words
A weekly meme on the books on the top of my list to read and books recently acquired, borrowed, or bought. Inspired by the Story Siren’s In My Mailbox.
Top of the Shelf / Currently Reading
What’s next on my to-read list for the upcoming week.
Won
Shout out to Farrah and Britney from I Eat Words! Thanks so much for hosting Elizabeth Scott week! (This is just a few highlighting the books of Elizabeth Scott’s that I am excited to read!) Thanks to Hafsah from IceyBooks for Entwined and Random Buzzers for Passion.
From Internship
One of the perks of the job…
Vlog Edition
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Memes, Top of the Shelf - Author: Elizabeth Scott, Author: Jennifer Echols, Author: Lauren Kate, Book: Endless Summer, Book: Entwined, Book: Fade, Book: Gone, Book: Passion, Series: Wake Trilogy | 403 words
TORMENT by Lauren Kate
Series: Fallen, #2
Publication Date: September 28th 2010 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Rating:
Summary: 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? The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.
I am honestly still trying to make up my mind about this book. I feel so torn on whether or not it was a “good” book, but I do have to admit that I enjoyed reading it. TORMENT picks up where Fallen leaves off, with Luce fleeing Sword & Cross. She travels all the way to California to attend another boarding school, but this time without Daniel.
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Book Review, Three Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Lauren Kate, Book: Fallen, Book: Torment, Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Publisher: Delacorte Press | 327 words
- Action Packed
- Borrow It
- Hahaha Funny
- Keeps You Guessing
- Heartwarmer
- Makes You Think
- Masterful World-Building
- Must Buy
- Page-Turner
- Poetic Prose
- Tear-Jerker
