A review by nightshade_novels
Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate
5.0
This little novella comes between the third and last books in the Fallen series. It is split into four small stories each centered around the love of one of the main characters on a Valentine’s Day in the medieval period. Although it makes a good story I find it a bit unrealistic that in the whole of the time between the Fall and modern days, Arriane’s only love, Roland’s only love, and Daniel and Luce’s only Valentine’s Day (clearly not including all of the ones they will spend together as mortals, so as not to give away the end of the series) all occurred in the same year. Not only that but it is the day that Shelby and Miles happen to land in when jumping through the announcers, just at the point when their love blossoms! I did like the way in which each of the four stories are at the same time very separate and yet link together to form one intricate tale.
I found Miles and Shelby’s story very cute, the way they each went out to buy presents for Daniel and Luce and came back with presents for each other. I like the way that the moment Shelby realises how much Miles’ hat means to him she becomes single-mindedly determined to get it back for him. The way that Kate made Miles’ lose his hat and then Shelby trade her hairband meant that they each got to see the other as more open than they usually would. This helped in symbolising the way in which they were starting to see the real person in each other that is normally kept hidden.
Roland’s story was interesting as within the series Roland is a mysterious character and you do not learn that much about him. It was set out like a typical Romeo and Juliet come Rapunzel tale. This was my least favourite of the four stories, but was still enjoyable to read.
Arriane’s story took me surprise because I had not realised that she was a lesbian, I am not sure that it was mentioned outright in the series. I enjoyed her story though; she and Tess made a really cute couple. Somehow their being on opposite sides just made their love even more precious. It was nice to finally know how Arriane got the scar on her neck and that there was a heart-breaking story of lost love behind it.
Daniel and Luce’s story seems like just another in the long list of the lives together. I appreciated the small hints at the true nature of “Bill” that were scattered at the start. This was quite a good story, but not as good as some of the other past lives that the couple have spent together. I liked the scene where Daniel presents Luce with the clearing full of peonies and candles. It annoyed me that it was written from the point of view of the modern Luce coven into the medieval Lucinda. I would have liked it to have been just from medieval Lucinda’s perspective but I can see how having Luce’s cloven perspective makes it fit in with the rest of the stories and the series as a whole.
Although a lovely little book, it is not quite up to the standard of the rest of the series and therefore loses a star and receives four stars.
I found Miles and Shelby’s story very cute, the way they each went out to buy presents for Daniel and Luce and came back with presents for each other. I like the way that the moment Shelby realises how much Miles’ hat means to him she becomes single-mindedly determined to get it back for him. The way that Kate made Miles’ lose his hat and then Shelby trade her hairband meant that they each got to see the other as more open than they usually would. This helped in symbolising the way in which they were starting to see the real person in each other that is normally kept hidden.
Roland’s story was interesting as within the series Roland is a mysterious character and you do not learn that much about him. It was set out like a typical Romeo and Juliet come Rapunzel tale. This was my least favourite of the four stories, but was still enjoyable to read.
Arriane’s story took me surprise because I had not realised that she was a lesbian, I am not sure that it was mentioned outright in the series. I enjoyed her story though; she and Tess made a really cute couple. Somehow their being on opposite sides just made their love even more precious. It was nice to finally know how Arriane got the scar on her neck and that there was a heart-breaking story of lost love behind it.
Daniel and Luce’s story seems like just another in the long list of the lives together. I appreciated the small hints at the true nature of “Bill” that were scattered at the start. This was quite a good story, but not as good as some of the other past lives that the couple have spent together. I liked the scene where Daniel presents Luce with the clearing full of peonies and candles. It annoyed me that it was written from the point of view of the modern Luce coven into the medieval Lucinda. I would have liked it to have been just from medieval Lucinda’s perspective but I can see how having Luce’s cloven perspective makes it fit in with the rest of the stories and the series as a whole.
Although a lovely little book, it is not quite up to the standard of the rest of the series and therefore loses a star and receives four stars.