Book Review: Passion by Lauren Kate

Title: Passion
Author: Lauren Kate
Series: Fallen #3
Pages: 420
Publisher: Random House
Date of UK Publication: 23rd June 2011
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: "Every single lifetime, I'll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever."

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.

My Thoughts:
I have a confession to make. I didn't like Fallen, the first book in the series, all that much. Luce annoyed me, and the whole thing to me felt like a copy of Twilight (which I loved, and everything else paled in comparison at the time). I've recently reread it, and I'm happy to say I don't feel like that anymore. And now, having read Torment and Passion too, I'm going to take back what I said and say that this series is awesome, and if you haven't read it yet, what have you been doing for the past two years?! Because it's a series that you shouldn't miss.

I liked Luce in this book. I really think that she grows up a lot in this book, and I think she realises that moaning about things is not going to help anything or anyone, and she seems a lot less self centred and a lot more mature to me, which is something that I really hoped would happen in this book. She's a completely different person to the girl that she was at the beginning of Fallen, and I think travelling back in time to all her past lives really helped her become the young woman she is changing into.

Because the book is about Luce travelling backwards in time and visiting all her past lives to try to find out more about the curse and find a way to break it, and Daniel following her to try and make sure she doesn't rewrite time and change the future, I also learnt a lot about Daniel. I don't think I ever realised how much pain Lauren Kate has put Daniel through; every time Luce dies in each reincarnation his heart breaks again. I felt sorry for him, and it made me like him a lot more because of it. It helped me to understand why he was so flippant and rude to Luce at the beginning, and some of his actions made a lot more sense.

My favourite part of the book was the plot. I really enjoyed every single one of Luce's past lives, and finding out a little bit about each era that she visits. I especially liked the story of Luce's life as a member of a Mayan tribe, and how they made sacrifices to the Gods, in the hope that it would rain. I also enjoyed the past life Luce had in Helston, in England, with amazing balls with huge gowns. I love reading about events like this, and while this was only a small part of the book, it was one of my favourites. For a history geek like me, this whole book was awesome.

Passion is like the perfect game of cat and mouse through time. It answers a lot the questions that I had at the end of Torment, and also raises new questions that will hopefully be answered in Rapture, the last book in the series. I'm so glad I enjoyed this book, I was hesitant at first, but the beginning blew me away, and the rest of the book didn't disappoint. I can only hope that Rapture will be just as good, and I'm not going to enjoy waiting for it; I want it NOW.

*Thank you to the publishers for sending this review copy for free in exchange for an honest review. In no way has this affected my opinion of the book.

My Rating:

I give it 4 Feet!

Challenges:
2011 Paranormal YA Reading Challenge #29
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #51