By: Cynthia Ayala

Author: Lauren Kate

Published: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Series: Fallen

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Fantasy, Angelic Mythology 

Lucinda Price loves Daniel Grigori with all her heart and would die for him.  Of course, she had before, repeatedly, and that is the problem.  Since the beginning of time, and Daniel’s fall as an angel, their souls have found each other again and again, but each time, their meetings end the same: with Lucinda dead and Daniel heartbroken.   But this time, things have been different, and Lucinda seeks to unlock the past, seeks to unlock the curse that keeps her from living.  However, for Lucinda, there is more to her quest.  She seeks understanding, seeks answers to why they find each other, what pulls them together and why she and Daniel were cursed to begin with.  But there are those who want to capture Lucinda before she travels to far into the past and risk a butterfly effect that could destroy them all.  And with new players of darkness entering the folds, Lucinda realizes that it’s her soul that could save or undo everything.

The third novel in the Fallen series, Passion finally brings back the spark that was lacking in Torment (Fallen, #2).

Picking up where the last book left off, Lucida is traveling through Announcers, shadows that watch and capture life-like a camera.  However, for Lucinda, they serve as portals through time.  Her goal: to discover the ins and outs of the curse that keeps her from Daniel and life.

This book was incredibly more interesting than the last one because Lucinda is traveling through time, discovering more about her past lives, her families and her deaths.  What was so off-putting in the last book was the love between Lucinda and Daniel.  The first books shows readers how they found each other and sets up the premise that their love is supposed to be this powerful theme to drive the story.  However, in Torment all Daniel did was keep secret after secret from her and treat her like a china doll, which effectively turned her character into this sniveling brokenhearted girl.  All the passion was gone, but like the title suggest, it has returned.

Through Lucinda’s passage through time, readers see her growth as she seeks to understand the love she has for Daniel and the love he has for her.  The same goes for the chapters that follow Daniel around as he chases after Lucinda.  Readers are given details and scene specifics that allow the readers to attach to the characters as the pain and love jumps off the pages.  Readers are sympathetic and grow to care for these characters as they experience, from an outside and inside perspective, each tragic death that Lucinda goes through.  Through these experiences, Lucinda has regained her strength and Daniel has regained his, finally providing these characters with growth.

However, that character growth coincides with the growth of the story.  The time traveling aspects allow Lucinda to evaluate her decisions that would otherwise be reckless.  While she’s still reckless, it’s not the reckless that borders on stupidity which no reader enjoys reading.  She’s not doing stupid things in this novel or being annoying; Kate has finally begun to turn her into a well-rounded character as she moves through the story.  That goes for Daniel as well.  Lauren Kate made a good choice in giving Daniel his own perspective because, as stated above, readers can finally understand and feel for his character.

As for the detail and scene specifics throughout the novel, Kate did not miss a beat.  Her descriptions of the different eras were spot on, from Russia to London, and ancient Jerusalem and Mayan empire.  They were brilliantly showcased, vivid in the mind and so beautiful that they will captivate readers all on their own.  The readers and fans of the series can truly appreciate this novel. ★★★☆☆ (B+)