Book Review: Passion by Lauren Kate

Passion (Fallen #3)

By: Lauren Kate

Published by: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: June 14, 2011

Page Count: 420

Buy it at: Amazon, or Barnes & Noble

Source: Purchased by Reviewer

Genre & Audience: YA Paranormal Romance

It has been about a year since I read Torment, book 2 of this series. I have been madly in love with the series, with Lauren Kate's writing, and with Daniel and Luce since the first page of Fallen, book 1. So why so long to jump into book 3? Life? Other books? Your guess is as good as mine. But this I can tell you. From page 1 it was as if no time had passed. Falling back into this series was like coming home to one of those life long girl friends who you can not see or talk to for years, but then when you see each other again, it's like no time has passed. I was hooked, immediately drawn back into Luce and Daniel's story. In fact, I picked up Passion around midnight and literally could not put it down. I read the last page around 6am and had to force myself to go to sleep. The story, the characters, the writing, were all swirling around in my head shouting at me, demanding I write my review and talk about this book immediately. My body, however, insisted that I need sleep more.

So, a recap. In Fallen we meet Luce and Daniel. While others I know had a hard time falling for Daniel, I fell immediately. What can I say? The dark, surly, jerk is my type? Perhaps. Physically he's not my type at all, all blonde and violet eyed. Cam was much more my type, and I will admit that while Luce felt conflicting feelings for Cam and Daniel, I did as well. But the more we learn, the more it's obvious that Daniel is THE one. We learn that Daniel and Luce's story is one of soul mates destined to part. Each life time Luce's love for Daniel kills her. He has to watch her die, wait for her to be reincarnated, wait to meet her again. It is their curse. His curse, as a Fallen who refuse to chose Heaven or Hell, but chose his love for Luce over both sides. But this lifetime is different. Somehow, Luce knows more, remembers more, and her love for him didn't send her to a fiery death. Torment is a learning experience for Luce and for the reader. Luce and Daniel are apart for much of Torment, which really frustrated me. But what I loved about Torment was that Luce began to question. Did she love Daniel simply because she "had to"? Did she have a choice in the matter? Would she choose him if she had the choice? And that brings us to Passion.

Passion is a prequel of sorts. But yet, not really. In Passion Luce travels back in time to learn about her love for Daniel, and his love for her, to find out if there is a way to break the curse, and to find out why this lifetime is different. Luce, and through her we the readers, watch bits and pieces of Luce and Daniel's story all the way back through to the beginning of time. During some lifetimes, we see them meeting, but most life times leave us witnessing Luce's death, and Daniel's pain, over and over again. Luce has a "guide" on this quest of hers and while his identity is somewhat predictable, it still leaves room for surprise. I loved how Luce and Daniel's story was interwoven into so many pieces of history. Somehow, Luce and Daniel's love played a part in almost every major world-changing event. As Luce died, empires fell, wars raged, and historical figures changed history. Through Luce's travels, and Daniel's as he follows her through time, we witness sort of a reversed birth of the world, from present time all the way back to Lucifer's fall. The end of Passion is satisfying, but also left me anxious to being Rapture. Perhaps that was the underlying reason for my waiting a year to fall back into this series. Because if I don't have to wait for Rapture to be released. I can jump right into it.

So what is it about this series that I love so much? Well, without a doubt, Lauren Kate is one of the best YA authors I have ever read. Her writing is effortless to read; her story just pulls me right in. Most importantly though, it is Luce and Daniel's story. The hopeless romantic in me absolutely loves the idea of soul mates. True love that repeats lifetime after lifetime after lifetime. I love that through the series Luce finds her own free will, questions this pattern, and finds an even stronger and truer realization of her love for Daniel, and his love for her. I love the idea of Daniel, the Fallen hero who waits after each lifetime for his love to be reborn; waits for those precious weeks or months to hold her again, love her again, before she is taken from him. By the present lifetime, the beginning of the series with Fallen, he has started trying to break the pattern, trying to stay away from her and watch her from a distance to lengthen her life, but their souls are drawn to each other. Luce recognizes him each time. It's the idea of this never ending love that pulls me back in each and every time. So with a dreamy sigh and fingers itching to pick up Rapture, I leave you with my two favorite quotes from Passion. Two quotes that sum up perfectly what it is about this series that I cannot get enough of...

"He never died. He had always been there. He was always hers and she was always his." pg 26

"That's his soul you recognize. Regardless of how you two may look on the outside, you'll always know each other's souls." pg 282 

Summary from Goodreads:

Luce would die for Daniel.

And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn't need to be that way....

Luce is certain that something - or someone - in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime...going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel...and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames...forever.

Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.