Fallen by Lauren Kate

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OK. So I've been meaning to read this book for a while, managed to get myself a copy of it last year, which I did not get the chance to read until early this year. To be honest, it was not so much the storyline that got me hooked (because I didn't know what it was about), but it was actually the FRONT COVER that drew me in. A couple of people have joked with me when I've told them the story that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I have to say that the story is just as good as the front cover that adorns it.

The story is about 17 year old Lucinda Price (Luce for short), who is sent to a reform school after a dreadful accident which happened to her would-have-been boyfriend, none of which she has ever recollection of happening, but which the authorities believe she is in someway responsible for. We learn that ever since she can remember, she has been followed by these supernatural creatures called "shadows", who continually pop up just when something dreadful is about to happen either to her or one of her friends. Determined to stay off the psychotic drugs she had been forced to take as a child because of these sightings, she lies to her parents and to her doctor that she has stopped seeing them. However, they still haunt her, and they appear to be haunting her more frequently now that she is away from home.

Then from day one when she arrives at the school, she meets the most handsome young man she has ever seen named Daniel, who she feels a strange connection to. Sometime, somewhere, they have known each other before, but Luce is unable to pinpoint where, and how this is even possible. But Daniel knows her all too well, and is initially unprepared to tell her anything. That is, until strange events begin happening at the school, and Luce insists on knowing what the shadows and her de ja vu feelings for Daniel have in common. The truth which she eventually finds out in the end is both beautiful and unbearable. To find out what that truth is, you will just have to read on for yourself...

Lauren Kate sets up this book quite nicely, detailing the scenery of Sword and Cross and of what it is like to live there. The gives subtle hints as to where the story is about to go, without giving too much away. Her description of "the shadows" and their appearance at various stages of the book come at times just when you are feeling "comfortable" with the narrative, shocking you back into a feeling of uneasiness and suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense I was feeling all the way towards the final chapter.

While this is definitely catered for young teenage girls, guys such as myself can appreciate its slightly dark undertones, not to mention the little bit of violence that is contained in it. As a romance novel, it does not go "mushy" or "over the top" with its romantic content. As a contemporary gothic novel, it has all the makings of a good horror story.

In short, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is into either of those genres.