Thursday, May 31, 2012

Rapture by Lauren Kate


Rapture by Lauren Kate
ARC provided by Delacorte Books for Young Readers via Edelweiss
Release Date:  6-12-2012
Reviewed by:  Middle Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say:  A riveting end to the Daniel and Luce Saga
The sky is dark with wings . . . .

Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again.

Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen.

For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters.

In the fight for Luce, who will win?

The astonishing conclusion to the FALLEN series. Heaven can’t wait any longer.

In Rapture, Daniel, Luce, and the other angels must stop Lucifer from erasing history.  Lucifer plans on using an announcer to sweep all the angels from the infamous fall to the present, thus erasing Daniel and Luce’s past.

I will admit, I was wary of reading Rapture because I did not enjoy Passion—death after death after death.  But, I am glad that I put aside my judgments and went ahead and read the final installment in the Fallen series.  While not as good as Fallen and Torment, Rapture was still interesting and it definitely (I mean DEFINITELY) surprised me!  The twists and turns left me with a cartoonish O-shaped mouth.  There were hints in the book (which I am guessing were put there on purpose) and I knew about halfway through what the twist was going to be,  but still, looking back on the 3 books before this and I NEVER would have guessed that was how it was going to end.  It was an amazing way to end the books, and you will not regret spending your money on this one.

There was so much more action in this book than in Passion, which is great, because the slowness of Passion is what made me wary of Rapture.  But right from the first chapter, Luce and Daniel were in the midst of a war—everywhere they turned they were being chased.  Two words to describe the action:  Excitement and Intrigue.  I was clipped from the present and thrust into Lauren Kate’s world—flying along with Daniel and Luce.

Okay…so, why did I like this book as opposed to love it?  The romance.  Lauren Kate spent 3 books building up this epic romance, and all I wanted was to see that passion.  But I didn’t.  There were kisses and hugs and slightly intimate moments, but there was no grand kiss that took my breath away or romantic scene that made me wish I could trade places with Luce.  It was disappointing that the entire book focused on the war as opposed to the love that exists between Luce and Daniel.

As always with Lauren Kate, there were times when I breezed right over paragraphs and sometimes pages because it was just description after description.  I like description when it builds the scene, but there is such thing as too much.  I don’t need to know the color of the moss on the buildings or a three paragraph description of the heat of a desert.   If she would have cut out some of the superfluous description, the book would have been a much more readable 380ish pages as opposed to 430.  And, I would have enjoyed those pages much more.

So….let me answer a few questions for you.

Am I glad I read it?  Yes.  The ending took me by surprise, and I am still in awe at how perfectly she melded the story.

Would I recommend it to others?  If you are a fan of the Fallen series (even if Passion turned you off), you should definitely read this one!

Should I spend my money on it?  Yes—even if it is only because the cover is gorgeous.  I have an e-copy, but I am definitely going to purchase a hardcopy because of the cover.