Finishing up the Paranormal Collection

As you may recall from the last posts, by the time November was drawing to a close, and with it my review of the paranormal fantasy genre, I had been overcome with pretty strong paranormal burnout. Thankfully, my final reviews ended on a high note, thus restoring some of my earlier enthusiasm. Here is where we ended:

Title(s): Fallen
Torment
Author: Lauren Kate
Reading dates: 11/28/10-12/3/10 & 12/3/10-12/7/10 respectively
Book counts: 78 & 79

This new series is another spin on the fallen angel approach and I admit that the early chapters of the first book combined with my afore-mentioned genre burnout had me wanting to put the book down and walk away. So glad I didn't. Despite a slightly strange and rocky beginning in which the lead character suddenly finds herself in a rather rough reform school and in which the male lead unromantically flips her off, this series grew into one of my favorite finds of the genre. Kate seems to settle into her story as it progresses and what began as slightly awkward and uncomfortable moves gradually into cute and kind of kitsch before finally maturing into a story that has a lot of strength. The initially unsavory male lead, fallen angel Daniel, becomes quite appealing as the pages fly by. The quirky cast of supporting characters similarly finds footing by the second half of the first book and the diversity of the group makes for one of the better story structures I have read in this genre. At the core of what makes this series so appealing, in fact, is the close proximity of good and bad. You can't help occasionally being deliciously drawn to the bad guys and often the good guys make questionable decisions. Best of all, at times they must work together. I love it!

Besides the oddity of the first book's setting, something which is remedied in the second book, my other complaints are fairly minimal. As mentioned, the first book matures as you go along and I am not entirely satisfied with the way in which the lead characters transition from seeming hatred to deep-rooted love. But then again, especially for teenagers, that is such a fine line in truth, isn't it? Wow, I hope my skepticism on that part doesn't represent getting older?!?

Kate still has some room to grow in her writing, but she has great stuff with which to work and two more books scheduled for this series, so she has time. And honestly, I am kind of looking forward to the release of book three this coming summer. And, of course, no surprise, this series too has been picked up for a movie, this time by Disney. Hmmm, maybe I will see it??

Ok, FINALLY, that concludes the paranormal fantasy genre review. I didn't hit NEARLY everything, nor did I even hit everything that is headlining at the moment. I am still curious about some of the other titles out there, both in YA and in adult fiction, so perhaps I will revisit it at some point, but for now I need to read something with normal humans. I am starting to see fantastical creatures in everyone I meet. That's not normal for grown ups. Moving on...

OH, almost forgot:
Grade for this series: A
Would a grownup enjoy: Yep, more so than some of the others. Less high school routine and more good vs. evil philosophy. That seems to be the recipe for adult interest in these YA books.

Ok, that's that then.

Keep reading!
Sarah