Review: Passion

'Passion' by Lauren Kate
Series: Fallen, book 3 of 4
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Sci-fi
Published: June 2011
Pages: 420
My Rating: 

The best book so far in the 'Fallen' series!

Again I could not wait until 'Passion' was available! The way things ended in 'Torment' led me to believe that Lucinda would embark on a journey through her past lives. Oh how I love to read about past lives and history! Luckily Lauren Kate didn't let me down,
I loved peeking into Lucinda's past lives also!

Some of those past lives did seem too good to be true though. I mean, what were the odds of being wealthy in the past? The odds of encountering someone royal? The odds you actually played an important part in history? (Besides Lucinda's link to Daniel, which I know will prove to be of great importance somehow.)
But I had a blast going through her past anyway. It was like reading all sorts of interesting and appealing books about different subjects I liked, without having to change books ;)

Russian Lucinda touched me much for example, as did the bratty Houston-based one. Every life had its charm, but of course it always had its downside: ending abruptly because of some interaction with Daniel. Somehow I had a hard time believing WHY Daniel would still fall for Luce in some life, because her behavior/character weren't that inviting or endearing. I mean, Daniel may have been attracted to the same soul over and over, but when that soul seems different in a bad way, why still the attraction?

About the whole soul thing: I get that through time, especially in different parts of the world, Lucinda's and Daniels appearances were different. That's how things go with reincarnation: the soul remains the same, it just travels from body to body. So why didn't their appearances change throughout their most recent past lives? Simply because there was no need for them to change because they still would have fitted in with their current habitat? That defies all logic...
And another thing Lauren Kate should have explained, which, apparently, isn't common knowledge to everyone, is that angels don't actually have an appearance. They are a sort of glowing energy shapes. However, does that apply to fallen angels as well? I don't know. Assuming it does, Daniel just shaped himself into something Lucinda would understand; a human shape. A manly human shape. Because angels don't have genders, either. So basically there was hardly any need for Daniel to change his appearance throughout his past lives. (Or rather, LIFE.) Unless geography required it.
Anyway, I sort of read over these aspects, not torturing myself about the 'why's' too much, maybe because I already knew some things about angels. Even if there will be a explanation in the next book, it'll be too late. Readers got lost in this installment already. I got lost in the story in a good way, but now the plot-holes are sort of gnawing on me.

As to Lucinda's little sidekick through the shadows: I had my suspicions... And I was right... I'm very curious what's going to happen next and whether 'Rapture' will prove to be an even better read, because the books improve with every sequel. Lauren Kate finds her voice more and more, the writing improves, the characters develop more.

Plot-wise there wasn't actually happening that much in this book, a much heard point of critique. I think of this book as sort of a break in the series as well, a breathing pause where more background info is given. Although I feel I didn't learn anything new from this book (we already knew Lucinda's still alive in this lifetime because of her non-baptism, we already knew Daniel would still choose to fall in love with her, over and over again) I enjoyed the read anyway. It wasn't until the end the set-up for the final battle was made, leaving us readers begging for more.

How is she gonna set things straight this time, on such an epic scale, with such high-ranked players involved? I'm going to have to wait until this Summer, unfortunately. Until then she leaves us (surprise!) with a kind of add-on novel in the series: 'Fallen in Love'. It features some love stories including several of 'Fallen's characters. I already pre-ordered mine, yay!

Have a nice day! :)