This book, as fair warning to the reader, is not the book you want to start with in this particular set of books. It has snippets from the lives of many of the characters we meet in "Fallen", get to know a bit better in "Torment" and gives us the background of where they came from. For some, it details the journey of trying to find Daniel and Luce across time from a different perspective. Those who were frustrated with "Torment" where Luce goes through time seeking more information about the epic, star-crossed love she shares with Daniel, this will likely be even more frustrating as it does little to move the story arc along. If Torment tormented you, this might drive you nuts. It feels like a cross between a Valentine story and some of the author's character sketches- though the focus remains on Luce and Daniel.
If you want to get to know the supporting cast a litte better, you will enjoy this- it does answer some questions about what the other 'teams' were doing searching for Luce through time- for example Miles and Shelby. It also develops the characters of Cam, Roland and some of the others of their kind.
The best part of this brief(it is a short book of short stories) book is the bonus at the end- THE PROLOGUE AND FIRST CHAPTER OF "RAPTURE".
Of course, you can always wait until this summer to just read Rapture but for me, this book was well worth it.
There was also a story about Luce and Daniel and I enjoyed that. While it was frustrating for me to read Torment, in some ways, it really fleshed the characters out- and like in Torment, "Fallen in Love" does give some vital understanding to the characters we came to know in the past couple of books.. "Fallen in Love" fills in more of the pieces around the ending of Torment and I could see a number of wonderful spin-offs coming from the characters and their lives that surround Luce and Daniel.
Overall, it tides me over a bit as I wait for the next book but enough already! Let's get to it!
If you came across this book and have not read "Fallen" and "Torment", STOP!! Go read those first!! For other Fallen fans, beware that this is sort of a time out to tell a Valentines Day story about the main characters in Fallen and Torment. Honestly, aside from the slice at the end of "Rapture", some fans will be disappointed and frustrated but since it is short, not nearly so much as in Tormented. :)
Lauren Kate holds very true to her writing style and while this book might not be absolutely necessary to move the series along, I think it was well worth it and will make future installments only better. It did feel as if Lauren Kate wanted to take a time out and give, however brief, some relief to her characters who have suffered so much over the centuries for their everlasting love. The book is broken into sections, four chapters long on the characters of Miles & Shelby, Roland, Arriane and Daniel & Lucinda, followed by an epilogue- then there is the advanced, 'sneak-preview' at the end.
All-in-all, a fun, quick, up-all-night read- especially the gift at the end of a glimpse into "Rapture".