Good evening fellow readers! So of course I found a new challenge to participate in the hopes of proving myself better than the last. I picked up this challenge from The Chronicles of Radiya and very much look forward to 30 consecutive (hopefully, gulp) days of blogging.
Day 11: A Book That You Hate
I really don’t like to say I ‘hate’ books because its kind of harsh but the book gods demand it so here I go. A book that I hated (or had a very strong negative reaction to) was Fallen by Lauren Kate.
Here is the blurb on the back of the book (nope, I don’t know what I still own it):
There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all sewn-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce– he goes out of his way to make that very clear. But she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to flame, Luce has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret…even if it kills her.
How do I begin? Lets start with the misleading synopsis. Daniel is ‘the only bright spot’ at Luce’s new school according to the blurb but from what I could tell that couldn’t be further away from the truth. When Daniel and Luce meet for the first time, he proceeds to flip her off.
Oh, it gets better.
Despite this incident she is drawn to him (because flipping off girls only adds to the mysterious factor apparently) and after several more incidents of Daniel treating her like garbage Luce decides to break into his school records to find out more about him, because for some reason (which isn’t obvious to the readers) Luce is intrigued by Daniel.
Lets review that for a moment shall we, a girl was treated horribly by a guy but decides to get to know him better anyway because he is cute and mysterious. That’s a great message to take to heart kids!
Secondly this book is 452 pages long. For 400 pages (literally from the first page to page 401) THERE IS NO PLOT! We watched Luce ogle Daniel for 3/4 of the book with stupid, insipid thoughts like what size shoe Daniel wears (WHAT?). Then the last fifty pages, Lauren Kate remembered she needed to finish the book and also make it somewhat about angels so she wrapped it up in the best way she could: by solving absolutely NOTHING.
You are one sly devil Lauren Kate. You got me. I saw Fallen on the bookshelves and was really attracted by the cover. (The only appealing thing about the book). I read the blurb on the back of the book and thought it was just okay, but low and behold, as I exit the store there’s a copy of Fallen in my hands, bought and paid for. If this doesn’t cure me of judging books by their covers I don’t know what will!
You know what the worst part of it is? Disney has secured rights to film THE WHOLE SERIES. Why Disney, why? Please for your sake, if you see this book– run in the opposite direction. You’ll thank me, I promise!
What book do you hate? Share it below and happy reading!
P.S.– A few of the links below express different opinions than mine just so you can see a different perspective.
Related articles
- Fallen by Lauren Kate (ifbookscouldtalk.wordpress.com)
- Book Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate (teacupstown.wordpress.com)
- Fallen Series (feminmission.wordpress.com)
- The Fallen Series by Lauren Kate (bizarreandcurious.wordpress.com)
swimlindsey.wordpress.com 
Wow, Lindsey, tell us how you *really* feel. LOL jk. But seriously, loved the “Oh, it gets better.” I definitely had a laugh out loud. I had never even heard of this series. Probably because I’ve steered away from book stores for a while now (so many neglected books on my To Be Read shelf
). The cover DOES look nice, so I can see how you’d be drawn in. But c’mon, Lauren Kate has to be a fake name! I dunno why, there’s something I particularly dislike about writers who use pseudonyms that are blatantly sappy. It’s like they’re trying to sell us not only on the story but the insinuated credibility of their “romantic” names *eyeshift*. But anyways, when I was reading the summary, it sounded JUST LIKE TWILIGHT. I was like “WHUT, isn’t this Pride & Plagiarism?” But then you went on to describe more of what happens and holy Halloween, Batman, Twilight sounds like a masterpiece in comparison. It’s a shame because the whole “angels” bit sounds like it could be really intriguing, and for some reason I LOVE stories set at boarding schools (i.e. the Blue is for Nightmares series by Laurie Faria Stolarz; which, btw, is an awesome series, I recommend it!) – probably because there’s little room for adult intervention. It’s a shame you got duped on this book, but it certainly deserves it’s slot here on your Day 11 Challenge!
Yes, I guess I was pretty harsh, but it always makes me upset when I pick a book thats going to be great but just falls flat on it’s face.
You are so right about ‘Lauren Kate’ what is that? How come they need all these stupid marketing ploys to sell books nowadays? Just put your best work out there and let it sell itself!
I thought it sounded like Twilight too! That’s partly why I was intrigued and why I stuck through the whole thing but literally, Twilight is a classic American piece of literature compared to Fallen. Literally.
Trust me this boarding school does not deliver. First of all, its actually a reform school for bad kids and Luce is there because she is suspecting of burning a house down with her boyfriend inside. She gets over that quickly. The security at this school is a JOKE. The faculty are more like distracted babysitters, I mean Luce breaks into the school records like it’s easy peasy. This boarding school has no appeal, trust me. I pretty much pictured a blank landscape while Luce follows Daniel around, who is giving her the finger. That’s how well the setting was described.
That’s what really gets me, is the idea of the fallen angels. It had so much potential but ‘Lauren Kate’ couldn’t pull it off. Couldn’t even come close.
Thanks for reading, if you ever read this book I would love to know what you think and find out if I’m overreacting. 🙂
I’ve never heard of this book, but thanks for the warning.
I can think of two books I hated passionately which are The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie and Red Lotus by Pai Kit Fai. Both were so shockingly bad and they actually made me angry with their misogyny, racism and the stereotypical discrimination against the disabled as one features a villain who’s crippled. Original. I’m actually getting wound up just thinking about them. If you’re at all curious what I REALLY thought about them, you can find my thoughts on Goodreads. Just note that my thoughts on Red Lotus are spoilery. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/591913208
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/599415028
I’m going to have to go read something nice now that I’m all worked up. 🙂
I just read your reviews and I’m so glad I did because I was actually considering buying Red Lotus for a while now, YOU SAVED ME!
I mean, killing yourself and abandoning your child and husband because you’re embarrassed about your now scarred looks? That right there would of done it for me!
I have to go read something nice too, I’m worked up just thinking about it! Thanks for reading! 🙂
I’m glad that I was there to rescue you! I love historical books about the far east so I had really high hopes for it. Once I finished it I looked up the author and found out that he’s an older white dude from Australia or S. Africa and pretty much had no experience being a young Asian woman. There are some people who can write the opposite sex really well but some people should just stick with what they know.
The Red Chamber by Pauline Chen was really good if you want to buy a great story that takes place in the far east. Not the happiest reading but it’s very moving. 🙂
Thanks I’ll check it out! Also The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is a great historical fiction novel. It doesn’t take place in the far east, it takes place in England but his character writing is fantastic and his female characters are GREAT! 🙂
Thanks for mentioning that. I keep seeing that book but have never picked it up. I’m going to put it on my tbr list right now!
Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
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‘We watched Luce ogle Daniel for 3/4 of the book with stupid, insipid thoughts like what size shoe Daniel wears (WHAT?).’
LOVE IT.
You were not in any way too harsh on this book, it was awful!
This book was so terrible, I think I’ve only ever come across one or two others that beat it. I don’t remember it that well, mostly because I don’t think all that much happened! But yeah, as we were saying before, I got completely reeled in by the prettyful cover, I was searching for my next Twilight read and this one tricked me into buying it! Amazingly I gave the second book Torment a go (I think because the second cover was equally pretty) and it was just as terrible as the first so I gave up after that.
Truly, truly terrible, I don’t understand how people like this book, but hey if they love it then great for them! I just couldn’t get on with it.
Thank you and I feel the same way, if someone was able to take something from this book then props to them because it just left me with wanting to bang my head against the wall.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Lol, I love your rant. I just finished the second book not too long ago and it just dawned on me all the crap Luce and Daniel go back and forth over. It’s starting to seriously get on my nerves.
And haven’t we learned from Bella and Edward, that when guys ignore girls it only makes them more attractive? Lol.
Haha too true and thanks. I may give the second one a try just because I have an annoying to urge to finish all series that I start. Thanks for reading! 🙂
Wow. Old Walt Disney must be rolling in his grave right now. I was attracted to the cover also, but fortunately for me, I had GR friends who were quickly able to steer me away from the book
You have really good friends! I know, if Walt could see his empire now… Thanks for reading! 🙂