Independent Reading Checkpoint
Chris Peterson
Torment by Lauren Kate
A novel about an angel who fell in love with a human and was banned from heaven for it.
Characters
Lucinda "Luce": Human who is cursed for falling in love with an angel
Daniel: Fallen angel who's still on Heaven's side; fell in love with Luce thousands of years ago
Cam: Charismatic fallen angel who sided with the devil, also has a thing for Luce
Arriane: Fallen angel on Heaven's side, close friend to Luce
Shelby: "Nephilim" (Has angel blood); Luce's Roommate
Miles: "Nephilim"; is probably the most normal guy in the book; also has a thing for Luce
Setting
Set in modern day Shoreline Academy, a sophisticated, school on the California coast. Luce was sent here to be protected while both "sides" of the great war truce to fight a greater enemy.
Plot
Basically, after the events of Fallen (essentially a giant battle between Daniel and Cam), both sides truce to protect Luce from the Outcasts, rogue angels who sided with the devil, but never entered the underworld. While at Shoreline, Luce meets Shelby, Miles, and others who have odd connections to Heaven. Luce discovers more about the shadows that had plagued her past, learning they are actually quite harmless, and are called Announcers. However, Luce uses these Announcers to open up her past, which proves to be a mistake as it leads the Outcasts right to her.
What does it have to do with our unit?
- Obligation: Luce feels an obligation to continue finding out about her past lives
- Values: Luce and Daniel value each other
- Philosophy: Daniel's philosophy is to protect Luce by not telling her about her past
- Authority: Luce has to "attempt" to listen to Daniel for her own safety, but refuses to
- Morals: The Nephilim have to make a choice based on their morals to side with either Heaven or Hell
- Norms: A norm Luce learns about is that Announcers are very common tools in the world of the Angels
- Ethics: The Fallen angels who side with Heaven have very different ethics than those that sided with the Devel
Rating
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars because it is very interesting, funny, and dark, yet at the end of the day it is still too much like other Young Adult Romance novels.
*cough* Twilight *cough*