Review: Fallen in Love

'Fallen in Love' by Lauren Kate 

Series: Fallen (#3.5)

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Supernatural, Romance, Fantasy

Published:  January 2012

Pages: 201

My rating: 

The Blurb: Unexpected. Unrequited. Forbidden. Eternal. Everyone has their own love story.

And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories intersect over the course of a romantic Valentine’s Day in medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding and losing love. Arriane pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first-and last-time, Daniel and Luce spend a night together like none other.

Lauren Kate’s ‘Fallen in Love’ is filled with stories… the ones everyone has been waiting for.

Despite the dissension surrounding the ‘Fallen’ series by Lauren Kate, I’ll gladly admit I enjoy the series. I’ll also gladly admit I had some trouble finishing the first book. However, the concept of 2 lovers who are destined  to meet, fall in love, yet never survive their love (until now!) is heart breaking.  Yes, haters, it is. Even though Daniel Grigori is a drag, I get why Lucinda Price loves and chooses him every single lifetime, despite the collision course she’s headed on.

*Love where you least expect it. The Valentine of Shelby and Miles.

I loved ‘Passion’ with all its peeks into Luce’s former lives, because I love reading about the past. There are many eras that still could be explored in Luce and Daniel’s history, and hopefully will be.  Which is why the tale of Shelby and Miles was –besides being a good point to start- right up my alley. However short and sweet it was, it developed very natural, credible and slow-paced. Maybe the magical setting of the Valentine’s Faire in medieval England contributed to Shelby and Miles’ change in perception of one another and the shifting of their feelings, who knows. Despite the harshness, or maybe because of the simplicity in those days, I felt the happiness Shelby must have felt just being around Miles. I guess you could conclude that Shelby and Miles found love when they least expected it, not where. 

At first Shelby feared for a dreadful outcome though: 

‘Thrilling. Twenty-four hours of feeling especially single and pathetic…medieval-style.’

Especially when she was reminded several times that her lack of knowledge of the past was eclipsed greatly by Miles’ scholarly mode. 

‘Traveling with him was like carrying around an encyclopaedia.’

*Love Lessons. The Valentine of Roland.

Once Roland’s story began I was pleasantly surprised Lauren Kate wove these 4 stories together the way she did: each one is sort of a follow-up of the next, set in the same time and place, only seen through someone else’s eyes, dealing with someone else’s love life.

A quote that best describes the way Roland felt about his former love Rosaline is this one:

‘He might have been experienced at war, at rebellion against the divine, but when it came to romance, Roland’s heart had been the heart of a child.’

Next, add the advice of someone who didn’t have any luck with his own relationship (Cam) and you’ll understand what happened to Roland. Or rather, what Roland made happen to Rosaline. That it took him several centuries to finally come to peace with his past, was –despite my lack of affection for / interest in the guy-nothing short of heart breaking.

*Burning Love. The Valentine of Arriane.

Arriane’s story has two sides, like good and evil, day and night, darkness and light. I should have expected a lover like Tess I guess, but I still found myself pleasantly surprised. The sugariness was too much sometimes, but the daring proposition and consequences of the offer Arriane’s lover did, made up for that big time! This story had all the ingredients that lacked in the other stories. More spunk, more action, more epic-ness. And a devastating ending…

'As far as possible, Arriane realized, each soul had to be content alone before plunging into love, because one never knew when the other would move out of that love. It was the greatest paradox: Souls need each other, but they also need to not need each other.’

*Endless Love. The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda.

This story actually takes place during ‘Passion’ (‘Fallen’ #3) which is a fun bonus in its own way. The soul-clefting with Luce’s own old selves stays amazing. Of course, the readers already know about Bill’s intentions by now, which makes it feel like an inside joke.

Other than the fact this Valentine has been the only one Lucinda and Daniel ever shared (and Cam’s cameo), nothing interesting happens. No new realizations for Luce, simply more Luce and Daniel in their own sappy way…

Yes, our medieval Luce was a broken-hearted but wise girl. 

‘The idea that a stroke of chance could decide my heart’s destiny does not appeal to me.’

*My overall impression of ‘Fallen In Love’.*

Sugary sweet ‘n easy: as in easy to read, but also easily written.

Honestly? Most side characters never interested me that much. Besides Cam, obviously. Who happens to be left out of this novel, much to my regret. Then again, given the high doses of sweetness presented in this novel (yes, I’m aware it’s about Valentine, but still…) Cam’s absence is probably a good thing.

At times it feels like Lauren Kate knows her characters too well and they’re not exciting to her anymore. (Enter the ‘easy’ part!) Which is why my favourite, most surprising and most epic story from this novel, has to be Arriane’s story. Because despite the fact this Valentine was the only Valentine ever Luce and Daniel got to share, the story wasn’t refreshing and shared no new insights. Same old Luce and Daniel.

Even though I enjoyed the setting (the medieval Valentine’s Faire in England), it felt easy too. Some parts were described vividly, but the entire setting felt shallow and functioned like a backdrop rather than a well-described, detailed society.

Also, it struck me that some sentences that could have been beautiful, life-altering and epic, failed to deliver their message because it was like Lauren Kate couldn’t find the right words to express her feelings. She simply told the stories she felt the need to tell, but neglected to use the prose it should have been accompanied with.

Enjoyable but slightly disappointing, fluently but shallowly written, a nice bonus but abundant in some ways, extremely sweet… but average. I'm giving it 3 stars because I like the series as a whole and this book adds some background.

To my regret… I haven’t ‘Fallen in Love’ with this book.