Book Review: Fallen

I've been reading reviews of Fallen by Lauren Kate online for many, many months now. I had admired the cover and thought that this was going to be one of my all-time favorites. Well, my experience in reading this book did not exactly turn out as I had planned.

Which is not to say that I did not end up loving the book. It just took a whole lot longer than I had anticipated to care about the characters enough to be riveted to the page. It actually took me a good 250 to 300 pages before I really, truly was reading excitedly. But, once I was into it, I could not stop. The ending of this book actually has me wanting the next in the series, Torment. I hope that this next title doesn't drag as much as Fallen did!

A brief synopsis: Luce has just experienced some trouble. She has seen dark shadows all of her life, but when they cause a mysterious fire that kills her boyfriend, she is sent to a reform school for teenagers. Once there, she meets a whole host of distant, crazy-seeming rebels. She makes a couple of close friends right away, but isn't sure that she can trust anyone with the story of how she got there.

And, she can't get Daniel Grigori out of her head. Their first interaction? He looked at her and flipped her off. Even though he is sending very clear "stay away from me" messages, she feels a strange pull toward him. But, there's also another boy, who's much friendlier, and does not resist her efforts. Which one should she choose to pursue? And why does she feel like she knows Daniel?

I liked that there was a bit of a mystery included in this book. There was more action and suspense in the latter half of this book; Don't give up on it! And, take a chance. Some people have raved about this book. Maybe it's just me?