Rapture (Fallen Book #4) by Lauren Kate

“Was their love worth the erasure of the world and all its stories?”

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.

Personal Thoughts:

I remember picking up the first Fallen book of this angel series by Lauren Kate few years ago. It all started with an intriguing and gorgeous art cover of the book that caught my attention. Then the author book tour went in my area which actually push me to wait and read the whole series. Now I’m on the fourth and final installment and I have to say the journey is quite worth it.

“Tell them it’s happening. That an endgame has been initiated”

Since this is the final book, I won’t discuss here anymore the characters. I think I pretty covered their development from my reviews for the first three books of this series. We all know how Luce, Daniel, Cam and the other angels, nephilim and mortals behaved and grow. I’m also pretty sure I already told my opinions for each of them, specially the major characters. So in here, let me discuss more about the plot and how the turn of events evolved throughout the story.

As every reader of this series know, the story focus on Luce and Daniel finding a way to end their curse. The unending curse of their love story that is meant to end tragically every lifetime. They are lovers since old days who happens to always find each others in every life. But in this present life everything has change because Luce and Daniel might only have one last chance to be together. In this life they need to end the curse before it ended them and the whole world or its history.

From the previous books we know that Daniel is an Angel and with all the hints we also know that he is one of the highest rank. We also get to know that his decision to choose love or Luce between Heaven and Hell is the start of their curse. But what we don’t know is what is Luce’s exact role in all these? That’s the major question always left hanging from the previous books. So now that we are on the final book, of course we all expect that it will finally revealed. We expect Lauren Kate to deliver us the whole story – how the curse started, how will it end and how Luce become part of it.

So in order to know all those things Lauren Kate put Luce, Daniel and all the other angels in a mission to stop Lucifer from erasing history. The strange alliance of angels have nine days to find three artifacts that will lead them to the exact place of the original fall. A place where Daniel and Luce can possibly end their curse.

During the quest, Lauren Kate introduced some nice crafted plot devices like the three relics and patinas. Personally, I like the concept of patina, I think it is a pretty clever little addition to the story. Lauren Kate also brings us to different beautiful places such as Italy, France, Austria and Egypt. Like in the third book, Passion, she creatively use each place and its history to merge in the story. She also introduced new characters like Dee and bring back some of the old and important one. There were the Fallen, the Elders, the Scales, the Outcast, the Throne and Lucifer which all played important roles in finding the relics and ending the curse.

Being the final book, I expected Rapture to answer all my questions from the previous books. Though it holds most of the answers there were few things that’s still left hanging. Some revelations were surprising, like the most important angel that can tip the scale between Heaven and hell. All along I assume that it is Daniel who holds that power but I am surprised when it was revealed in here. Though I see what Luce real identity ahead of time I didn’t expect what her true value is. I under-estimate her, because from the start of this series I am not really a fan of her. Rapture also finally reveals how and where Daniel and Luce first met as well as how their curse started and how important their choices will be.

I don’t necessary like everything portrayed in this book especially the religious part, but I think the way Lauren Kate crafted the soul mate story is beyond the usual. The choice between the Throne and Lucifer, and how mercy played in the story is neatly layout. The story also shows that sometimes the price for love and happiness is not simple. Daniel and Luce as well as the other characters faced Heaven and hell literally. It cost them too much but just like in any situations, sacrifices are necessary in order to get our happiness.

Rapture is a fitting finale for this angel series. I am glad that Lauren Kate didn’t push the story too long. Her writing grew incredibly well from the first book, Fallen. The only issue I got is the lack of development for the side characters. As much as I want the story to focus on Daniel and Luce, I also want to know what happened to the other characters specially Cam. I did expect that Cam will get a bigger role in this final installment. His tortured past from Passion seems a nice plot to follow. There are many possible character arc to be thrown in him but unfortunately this final book didn’t give much room to Cam’s story. I didn’t see enough of him in here. Either Lauren Kate don’t have much time to developed Cam’s character or she’s planning to create a spin-off story for Cam. Whatever the reason, I really think Cam deserves a proper closure.

More than the angels plot line, Fallen series is really a story about Love. A love that spans eons of years and countless lifetimes. No matter what it cost Daniel and Luce are bound to find each other and fall in love again and again. It is a love that is meant to be no matter what.