Hi Guys,
Another book review.
I recently started reading Fallen by Lauren Kate. This is a young adult romance/fantasy novel based around the Biblical story of Lucifer's fall from Heaven.
I saw the film on Netflix and started watching it just from the description and I didn't really enjoy it. It had sounded very interesting and a bit like Hush, Hush, (which is also about fallen angels and is very good) but it was a bit slow for me and the script wasn't brilliant.
So, in typical ME fashion, I went online to read some of the reviews from critics and other people who had watched it, just to see whether I had missed the point of the film. I saw a lot of reviews from people on Goodreads and other websites, saying that the books were so much better and they hadn't liked the film because it didn't do the books justice. So, I was very excited, because, 9/10, I enjoy the book much more than the film and I find that the films often can't capture the unique nature of the book. (e.g. The Mortal Instruments, Eragon, The Percy Jackson Series ...
***Actually, on a side note, this is something that has always annoyed me about film adaptations of books. If a book is very popular and does very well with audiences, why would a film company think that they will have the same success by taking that name, (and everything that is associated with it) and changing the story line so drastically that it doesn't even resemble the book anymore. *cough, cough* PERCY JACKSON - SEA OF MONSTERS. That wasn't the ending in the book, why would you do that?! I understand that a film can't include EVERYTHING, obviously, but it shouldn't try and make a new story and new characters, unless it explicitly says that it is only BASED on the book, and not trying to make an ADAPTATION. And, along the same lines, if it isn't trying to be explicitly about the book, they should make that clear to the audiences beforehand.***
Anyway, rant number one over. Moving on to rant number two. :) So, Fallen. OF COURSE, IN MY REVIEW, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.
It is the story of a girl called Lucinda, (or Luce) and she has to go to a rehabilitation school, because of her association with the death of a boy that she liked. His name was Trevor. She can also see these strange 'shadows' that have followed her around for her whole life. She has been on medication for hallucinations and mental illnesses. At the school, she quickly meets two boys who both attract her, Daniel and Cam. Luce is almost immediately attracted to these two boys at the school. She feels a strange connection to Daniel but she can't explain it. He is also very mean to her. Cam is very nice to her and is clearly attracted by her in some way.
This was a very popular book when it came out in 2009. It was a bestseller and there was a lot of hype around the film etc. There are also great review in the book from other authors and so I was very excited to read it.
To be honest, I haven't finished reading the book and I don't want to make assumptions from the film but I have read about 2/3 and I have some opinions about it that I want to share. They know that they might be slightly harsh :/
1) I don't like the portrayal of the 'love triangle'. Luce is presented as a very insipid, needy, whiny kind of girl and all of her thoughts, all the time, are taken up either thinking about Daniel or about Cam. To put the extent into perspective, in one scene, she is at a funeral of a boy called Todd. Todd died in a fire caused by the shadows that follow Luce around. It is a very serious moment. It was the way that the other boy Trevor died. (Actually, in the film, this was one of the scenes I did like.) Luce's best friend, Penn, liked Todd and is distraught. And Luce is thinking about the flowers that Daniel sent her. She is still trying to choose between Cam and Daniel, right there in the middle of the funeral. I just find these types of female protagonists to be so annoying. I am not saying that every book needs to pass the Bechdel Test or be directed at a pure feminist crowd, but this persistent representation of (usually) girls who just lose their minds over a boy is just something so archaic to me that we should try and get rid of.
2) Daniel is so mean to Luce and Luce likes him anyway. In their first encounter, he gives her the middle finger and, every other moment they meet for about half of the book, he makes it clear that he doesn't want anything to do with her. She shouldn't like him or want to be in a relationship with him. It might sound very old fashioned or naive but I don't think that this is a positive message or positive idea about a relationship for our society. As they end up together, it almost 'justifies' the way he treated her and the way she obsessed over him and, personally, it just makes me annoyed.
I know that I am probably reading too much into it and, if that kind of romance genre and story line is something that you enjoy reading, then you may love this book. I will say that I have bought the second book in the series and I will finish Fallen, despite my complaints about it because I do want to give it a chance to redeem itself. However, I do stick by my opinion about the shallowness of the whole story, on the romance front and how much it annoys me. I just think that is perpetrates the stereotype that if a boy likes a girl, he has to be mean to her and that should keep the girl interested. I don't think that should be something that we promote.
Anyway, just some food for thought as always,
DISCLAIMER : I love books and I love reading and most authors work very hard on their novels and try and come up with something original and enjoyable and I commend that. :D
Clare