What I thought was amazing:
\-nothing. This is a good story, but there wasn’t anything that actually amazed me.
What I really liked:
\-Luces characterization. She’s not a blank slate for teen girls to project on to. She knows Latin and French, had a 4.0 gpa, loves swimming, can be fiesty instead of meek, and while not always making the best decisions, she has a solid moral compass. She’s her own person.
What I liked: Most of everything.
\-The setting was interesting enough to not be boring, with a creepy graveyard and a hidden lake. -Luce’s parents still obviously loved her even though they were scared of her.
\-The descriptions of the angels and Helpers.
\-The slice of life student moments like being forced to watch boring movies and partying
\-The other characters were interesting and colorful, adding humor and life to the bleak and boring school.
What I thought was just okay:
actually not much. Most of this book I either liked or didn’t like, and surprisingly didn’t feel middle-of-the-road with this book.
What I didn’t like:
\-in chapter 19 Luce had just seen her best friend get her throat slit and was now tied up about to be murdered, and she’s way calmer than anyone would be in real life. She was able to have a coherent conversation when really in that situation anyone would be more desperate and animalistic, begging to be let go or not be killed.
\-Cam came off as kind of a simp and a creep. Most of his monologues focused on saying he could love Luce best and want to kiss her like she deserves. Mind you, Cam is an immortal fallen angel, why is he fawning so hard over Luce, who’s 17 and he just met her. He seriously needs to get laid.
\-The epilogue kinda gave the reincarnation part away too early. And the book was very on the nose, with angel statues, Daniels last name being Grigori, the snake references, and the title literally being Fallen. It’s not subtle.
\-The decision to have important battles offpage. It’s not the worst, since The Hobbit was the same way, but Tolkien was a war vet who understandably really didn’t like battle scenes. Here it felt like we were missing out a little.
by justkeepbreathing94