Audiobook Review: Torment (Fallen #2)

Author: Lauren Kate

Narrator: Justine Eyre

Audiobook Length: 9 hours 47 minutes

Hell on earth.

That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous. What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? 

Even though Fallen was not my favorite novel, there was something about it that made me want to read its sequel, Torment. Since this is a continuation of the first novel, readers should read the stories to avoid spoilers; however, for me, I could have picked up this novel and put together the gist of the story easily. To shield Luce from the Outcasts and Cam, she is sent to Shoreline, a school for mortals and Nephilim (half-angels) near San Francisco. Daniel and Luce are separated for eighteen days and in this time, Luce questions who she is outside of Daniel. Here she meets two new characters, Shelby, a Nephilim and her roommate, and Miles, another Nephilim with a crush on Luce.

Throughout Luce’s time at her new school, she learns more about the mythology and her past. Although Daniel is supposed to stay away, it is difficult for them to stay apart; however, the two of them fight constantly as Luce wants to know more and Daniel is unable to tell her anything. This repetition did become frustrating as there did not seem to be any growth from it. Instead, it came across as the author needing this part of their relationship to be stretched out to properly fit the series’ timeline. This was also the case for Shelby and Miles and how their relationships develop with Luce. Both had potential, but they were each sudden in their development where it did not come across as a natural progression and instead felt forced.

I guess I need to give the author a lot of credit as both this novel and its predecessor have not been the best yet had an ending that made me intrigued to try the sequel. I am not sure if I missed it or if it is still to come, but I truly want to learn about the foundation of the love between Luce and Daniel. I want to see how it all started and why it matters so much, so I keep holding out hope that it will be presented. This series continues to be frustrating as there is so much potential, yet it just continues to fall short for me. Even though I would not go back in time and reread either this novel or the first, there is a huge part of me that wants to continue the series in hopes that eventually all the major questions will finally be answered!