Fallen by Lauren Kate

2 1/2 cookies out of 5.

I really wanted to love this book, I mean look at the cover, it is beautiful. And the whole idea of fallen angels and angels on earth is a favorite of mine, going way back to the first time I read This Present Darkness in high school (and currently kept alive with the TV show Supernatural-awesome show!). But, I was underwhelmed. It kept me interested enough to finish it and leaves me thinking the second book will probably be stronger and continue the series in a good way, so I look forward to that.

The story is of Luce, a girl with a past of seeing shadows her whole life. These shadows are ones that only she can see and they have haunted her since she was a little girl. She gets sent to reform school after a boy she was sneaking off with during a party died in a suspicious fire. The one thing that I felt never got fully explained was why she saw the shadows (and ultimately why she is so important to the war between the good angels and the bad angels).

At reform school she meets a variety of characters, some involved in the fight and some not, including two different boys--Cam and Daniel--one who vies for her attention and one she is very drawn to but will not admit he feels the same connection. Of course it's plain as day the one she will be with and one good thing I will say is that although Luce and her true love and the book apart, they don't end the book with having to be apart. So, the second book is set up for them to be able to explore their relationships--past, present and future. I did feel that there were many things that did not get explained--spoilers, highlight to see: why was he cursed to keep losing his love? why do they keep finding each other? why were they fallen anyway?

Overall I can't put my finger on why I was disappointed and because most of the reviews on good reads are so positive I do wonder what I was missing. But, I do look forward to the next book because the author is a fine writer and I always feel like they are given more leeway in sequels to really flesh stuff out and I do think this will happen.

Did I miss something in my reading, something that explains some of the big questions, or is that being saved for future books? If you've read it let me know what you think!