Passion (Fallen Book #3) by Lauren Kate

“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.

Personal Thoughts:

This is the third book of Fallen series and having read the first two books I wanted to know how the story will progress. Torment, the second book of the series left me with many unanswered questions about Luce and Daniel curse and what is Luce’s role between the battle of good and evil. So I hop on to Passion expecting few more explanations for those hanging questions. As well as my curiosity to know how Lauren Kate will deliver the time travel plot of Daniel and Luce unending love story.

I really enjoy reading the scenes from Luce travels. From Moscow, to Milan, Helston (England), Tahiti, Prussia, Tibet, Versailles, London, Greenland, Chichen Itza (Mesoamerica), Yin (China), Jerusalem, Memphis (Egypt), and back to Savannah, Georgia. These places and their distinct culture and people were capture precisely by Lauren Kate’s descriptions. She easily weaved the scenes and time vividly, which makes the historical aspect of the book breathtaking. Lauren Kate must have been done a tremendous research to execute all the past events perfectly.

I like that some chapters were told from Daniel’s point of view, in fact I like it more compare to Luce. While Luce point of view is necessary to show how much she is learning from her & Daniel past lives, I find Daniel narration much more interesting. Because he knows and understand more what is happening. Visiting their past lives reveals a lot of Daniel character and his love for Luce. And no other character from the book could ever describe the dept of how he feels every single lifetime of loving and losing.

If you’ve read my reviews for Fallen and Torment you know that I have issues with Luce for being the dependent girl most of the time. While I see a little growth in her character in Torment I expected more from her in this book. When she step to the announcer in the last part of Torment I almost cheer for her because I assumed she is trying to be independent for once. She step into unknown with a goal to discover her past and understand the future. What surprise me is, most of her past version is more daring and dependent than the present Luce. I find her past character much more interesting than the present Luce.

Daniel is as passionate as he is with Luce every lifetime. You will feel his love for Luce each past lives. Each lifetime reveals a different sides of Daniel and you will sympathize for him every time Luce dies in his hands. Painful is understatement to describes how he feels every time he loses Luce.

While I anticipated the time travel plot I didn’t expect that majority of the story will be set on the past. With Luce diving into their previous lives nothing is really happening in the present which makes the story stagnant. While the past scenes were important to discover the root of Daniel and Luce curse the overwhelming scenes of their past lives seems repetitive. Luce going back to the past, watch the past Daniel & past Luce meet, fall in love and die. The same tragic ending of their curse. And the worst part is, they are not even closer in breaking the curse.

Also, having set in past we don’t see much of the other characters from the previous books until few pages in the end. The villain and his real identity wasn’t surprising. It is easy to guess, but I must say that he is an interesting addition to the plot. He makes Luce’s travel more fun to read. There’s also a little glimpse of Cam past which gives arc to Cam’s character. I may not be fan of him in the first two books but with that little information about his past I understand more where he is coming from.

Overall, Passion is a nice ride to Daniel and Luce past lives. Lauren Kate pull of a thousand years of unending love story brilliantly. Each lifetime shows how creative and vivid her writing is. Though my expectation of more development in the story isn’t delivered, I still find Passion a nice addition to the series. A nice bridge between Torment and Rapture, the final book to Fallen series.