sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

Fallen
  • Rated 0 stars
Read Fallen
Fallen: Book 1

Fallen (2009) (edit title/settings)

by Lauren Kate (Author) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

Some Angels are Destined to Fall

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one... read more

Summary edit see section history

Seventeen-year-old Lucinda (Luce) Price has seen the shadows for as long as she can remember. No one else seems to be able to see them. Scared and concerned for their only daughter, her parents got her a therapist, who put Luce on medication. This didn't help, however, and she continued to see... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Seventeen-year-old Lucinda (Luce) Price has seen the shadows for as long as she can remember. No one else seems to be able to see them. Scared and concerned for their only daughter, her parents got her a therapist, who put Luce on medication. This didn't help, however, and she continued to see the shadows. Eventually, Luce learned to stay away from the places where she knew the shadows were most likely to appear.

One night, at a party, Luce snuck out of the party with Trevor, a boy she liked from her school. But, upon kissing him, the shadows came. Suddenly, and like magic, fire appeared and engulfed Trevor, burning him to death. Accused of his death, but pleading her innocence, Luce is sentenced to complete her senior year of high school at the Sword & Cross Reform School, where she would live with other "troubled/mentaly ill/psychotic " kids.

Upon arriving, she meets a blonde girl with a southern accent named Gabbe, a boy named Todd, and a tall, dark, and handsome green-eyed guy named Cam. The four of them are led around the school for the tour of the campus by a stocky individual named Randy, whose gender is believed to be female. The grounds are uncared for, and resemble a prison. Randy goes over the rules, emphasizing the "meds," "beds," and "reds," as the security cameras that keep surveillance on all eighty students are known. Between the surveillance, the restricted communication (only one phone call home is allowed per week), and the dress code, which demands students wear all black all the time, Luce doubts that she will ever make it out of her senior year alive. At the end of the tour, Luce meets Arriane, a hyper, semi-crazy girl who takes an interest in her and "adopts" her, showing her around the school and giving her helpful advice, such as staying away from the "hard-cases" who could be identified by the metal bracelets they wore. These bracelets serve to both track the students who wear them, and also deliver incapacitating electric shocks when a student behaves disruptively. Luce later finds out that underneath her long sleeves, Arriane wears one.

Soon she meets Daniel Grigori. From the time they first meet, Luce immediately feels a strong familiar connection with him and is inexplicably attracted to him, though she's never even spoken to him before. Luce also meets Molly, a bully who dumps her lunch all over Luce's head in front of the entire cafeteria (until Arriane punched her in the face in Luce's defense, activating the metal bracelet Arriane wore and shocking her violently to the ground), and Pennyweather (Penn for short), who attended the school as the President of Sword & Cross's adopted daughter. She's the only student with access to the school's data and record files. Her attachment to the school lay in her father's memory, as he was the school's groundkeeper before his death and was buried at the cemetery within the school grounds. Luce becomes fast friends with Penn when she follows Luce to the bathroom and brings her shampoo to wash out the meatloaf that Molly dumped in her hair, saying that seeing meat all over a vegetarian made her sad. As Luce's first few days at Sword & Cross goes by, Daniel is extremely rude and cruel to her, throwing her scowls and piercing looks. But she continues to be drawn to him despite his attitude, feeling certain that she has seen him before. At the same time, Luce is attracted by Cam, the green-eyed boy she met on her first day. Charming and flirtatious, Cam is very kind to her and she is surprised when an innocent friendship seems to take a turn and she starts to fall for Cam as well. Now she is drawn between the two boys; Daniel, whom she can't even begin to explain her strange attraction for, and Cam, whom she dubs the "good guy she should be with." Things start to take a turn when Daniel, even while evidently trying his best to avoid and ignore her, starts treating her in a familiar, kind way that Luce is sure she knows all too well. Even though it is obvious that he is trying to push her away, Luce can't help but try harder to get closer to him. She feels she needs to know more about Daniel.

In an effort to learn more about Daniel, Penn sneaks Luce into the school's record files storage area. They are disappointed by Daniel's file, containing only a single sheet of paper with just the barest information. As Penn and Luce dig deeper into Daniel Grigori's history, they discover a book of fallen angels, written by Daniel Grigori, who they assume must be an ancestor of Daniel's. When they go to retrieve the book from the school library where Penn told Luce she had discovered it, they find it is no longer there. Inexplicably, the shadows come again and the library is suddenly engulfed in fire. Luce loses Penn in the smoke, but finds Todd. Together, they make their escape, guided by a mysterious violet light. But just as they are about to escape the building, the shadows swoop down on them, sending Luce flying and knocking her unconscious. Luce wakes up in the hospital to find out that Todd broke his neck fleeing the library. Again she is questioned by the police, linking yet another mysterious death by fire to Luce.

As the pieces of the puzzle start to come together, more questions are raised. Now as Luce begins to realize that she truly loves Daniel, her vague dreams about him become startlingly clear. At the same time, Cam makes more advances on her, suddenly making Luce feel uncomfortable in his presence and an intuition awakens within her telling her to stay away from the sly and cunning Cam. However, her intuition cannot overpower her emotion, stirred each time she looks into his angelic and hypnotic face. It also becomes clear to Luce how Gabbe appears to distract her each time she is with Cam, thoroughly annoying Luce as she is convinced that Gabbe and Daniel are already in a secret relationship.

Luce also begins to theorize that Daniel can see the shadows that haunt her. He seems to know everything about her. She is mystified by the occasional appearance of a violet light that engulfs him. While Luce struggles to find some answers, it seems that everyone--Daniel, Gabbe, Arriane, Cam, Molly, and even the old librarian, Miss Sophia--knows more about her life than she does. Luce is desperate to be together with Daniel, even though everyone, Daniel included, seems to be against them becoming involved with one another. Luce is determined to find out why their love is forbidden.

Characters edit see section history

  • Lucinda 'Luce' Price: Luce is the main character in the book. Moves to a new school, unaware of why she was sent there. She has hazel eyes and short black hair.
  • Daniel Grigori: A male student at Sword & Cross who Luce finds to be strikingly handsome, but extremely cold to her for reasons unknown. Still, she is drawn to him, no matter how hard he tries to push her away...
  • Cameron 'Cam' Briel: Luce meets him at the reform school. She thinks he's 'hot', and he flirts with her a lot, but she can't seem to get her mind off of Daniel....
  • Arriane Alter: One of Luce's first friends at the reform school, although Luce can never tell if she should trust her or not....
  • Pennyweather ‘Penn’ Van Syckle Lockwood: Luce's friend at the reform school
  • Gabrielle 'Gabbe' Givens: A southern-belle type who Luce meets at the reform school (Sword & Cross). Luce has a hard time telling if she's friend or foe.
  • Roland Sparks: A student at the reform school (Sword & Cross) who can smuggle in anything you want. He always gives Luce a hard time about Daniel.
  • Mary Margaret 'Molly' Zane: One of the meaner students at the reform school (Sword & Cross). Gives Luce a really hard time and tries to keep her away from Daniel. Nicknames Luce "meatloaf"
  • Miss Sophia: Is a teacher at sword's and cross, seems kind of friendly.....
  • Randy: Randy is an attendant at Sword and Cross. She is described as being very masculine – even confusing Luce as to which gender she was.
  • Callie: Callie Luce's best friend back in Dover. She is the typical best friend type who is obsessed with boys and love. She still writes and calls Luce at Sword and Cross, mostly asking her about the boys there.
  • Todd Hammond: Todd is one of the three other people that entered Sword and Cross at the same time that Luce did. He has brown hair and spatters of freckles over his face. Penn has a little crush on him.
  • Mr. Cole: A teacher at the reform school (Sword & Cross). He teaches history in Luce's morning block.
  • Trevor: A boy that Luce was interested in at her last school.
  • Annabelle: She is a punky looking girl who is Arriane's older sister. She comes to the parents evening at Swords & Cross.
  • Dr. Sanford: Luce's old doctor who told her parents she was basically mad. Luce's parents send her to Swords & Cross mainly on his words of 'wisdom'.
  • Harry Price: Luce's father. He's more of a tough love parent.
  • Doreen Price: Luce's mother. She's a bit softer than her husband.
Show all 18 characters
Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “It made Luce want to stand up next to him and fight. Fight to stay alive long enough to live out her life next to him. Fight for the only thing she know that was good enough, noble enough, powerful enough to be worth risking everything. Love.”
  • “Either Luce had been right, and her memory of Daniel had come from a forgotten trip to a Savannah mall, where they'd posed for a cheesy dress-up shots at Ye Old Photo Booth that she couldn't remember - or Daniel had been telling the truth.”
    Lucinda Price
  • “What if the one you were meant to be with, could never be yours?”
  • “He’s so focused on that hamburger, he wouldn’t hear the call of Satan.”
    Arriane Alter
  • “Trust is a careless pursuit at best. At worst, it's a good way to get yourself killed.”
    Miss Sophia
  • “Not so long that I've forgotten that you're worth everything. Every sacrifice. Every pain.”
    Daniel Grigori
  • “The good news is I kissed you, and you're still here.”
    Daniel Grigori
  • “What if the one you were meant to be with, could never be yours?”
  • “" I don't get tangled up in trivial matter of the heart"”
    Miss Sophia Bliss
  • “Fight for the only thing she knew that was good enough, noble enough, powerful enough to be worth risking everything. Love.”
  • “I know that whenever I feel my world turning upside down, nothing grounds me like a manicure.”
  • ““Forever,” he whispered back.”
  • “Luce felt Daniel’s hand wrap around her waist instantly, tightly, like he knew exactly where she began and where she ended.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • Fight for the only thing she knew that was good enough, noble enough, powerful enough to be worth risking everything. Love.
    Highlighted by 319 Kindle customers
  • He kissed her as if she belonged to him, as naturally as if she were some long-lost part of him that he could at last reclaim.
    Highlighted by 230 Kindle customers
  • “I think you’re the smartest person I know. And the kindest. And”—he swallowed, opening his eyes to look directly at her—“the most beautiful.”
    Highlighted by 199 Kindle customers
  • “I do all of these things,” Daniel said, leaning into her so that their foreheads touched, “because you’re my love, Lucinda. For me, you’re all there is.”
    Highlighted by 184 Kindle customers
  • The softest, featherlight touch of their lips was all that connected them, but a fire Luce had never felt before coursed through her, and she knew she needed more of—all of—Daniel. It would be too much to ask of him to need her the same way, to fold her in his arms like he’d done so many times in her dreams, to return her wishful kiss with one more powerful. But he did.
    Highlighted by 176 Kindle customers
  • You’re my love, Lucinda. For me, you’re all there is.
    Highlighted by 144 Kindle customers
  • But paradise is locked and bolted… We must make a journey around the world to see if a back door has perhaps been left open.
    Highlighted by 130 Kindle customers
  • Grigori, D. The Watchers: Myth in Medieval     Europe. Seraphim Press, Rome, 1755. Call no: R999.318 GRI
    Highlighted by 91 Kindle customers
  • hear him in the loud room. Those lips looked almost tasty, especially when they said things like “I jumped up every time someone knocked, hoping it’d be you.”
    Highlighted by 82 Kindle customers
  • TORMENT THE NEXT BOOK IN THE FALLEN SERIES SEPTEMBER 2010 www.fallenbooks.com
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
Show all 23 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Savannah, Georgia
  • Sword and Cross: The reform school Luce attends
  • Dover: The name of the school Luce attended before attending Sword and Cross and where Callie, Luce's best friend goes. A private boarding school.
  • Heaven
  • Georgia: where the reform school Sword and Cross is located

First Sentence edit see section history

Around midnight, her eyes at last took shape.

Table of Contents edit see section history

In the Beginning
1. Perfect Strangers
2. Fit to Be Tied
3. Drawing Dark
4. Graveyard Shift
5. The Inner Circle
6. No Salvation
7. Shedding Night
8. A Dive Too Deep
9. State of Innocence
10. Where There's Smoke
11. Rude Awakening
12. Into Dust
13. Touched at the Roots
14. Idle hands
15. The Lions' Den
16. Hanging in the Balance
17. An Open Book
18. The Buried War
19. Out of Sight
20. Daybreak
Epilogue: Two Great Lights

Glossary edit see section history

  • Announcers: AKA, by Luce, as Shadows. "They look bad, but they can't hurt you. All they do is scope out a situation and report back to someone else. Gossips. The Demonic version of a clique of high school girls"

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • The snake necklace: Cam = snake (read the spoiler section for a more indepth and thoroughly written explanation)
  • Temptation of Eve theory: Cam invites Luce to a picnic of deviled eggs and apples. They also encounter a snake, which prompts Cam to present her with a snake necklace.
  • Good vs. Evil: Good vs Evil - One of the first things we read in the book is Luce walking into Molly and Molly putting meatloaf over Luce's head. Luce doesn't worsen the issue and Molly leaves her after standing on her hand with her heel. This shows Luce being good and Molly being bad (evil). *Read The Spoiler Section For More Info*

Errata edit see section history

Sulfer

error:
"It was almost as if he wanted her to how him first" p.g 328
correction:
"It was almost as if he wanted her to show him first"

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 5 in Fallen. (standard series)

Followed by Torment.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Lauren Kate (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Fernanda Brussi Goncalves (Cover Artist) - Jacket Illustrations Copywright 2009 By Fernanda Brussi Goncalves
  2. Angela Carlino - Jacket design by Angela Carlino

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: December 8, 2009
ISBN: 0385738935
Page Count: 464

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: 2009030600
  • Dewey: YA FIC K1956fc

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Not appropriate for anyone under 12. Has a lot of advanced words that are hard to understand and a bit of profanity but it does have a lot of suggestive dialogue

Movie Connections edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Remembrance
  • Hush, Hush
  • Need
  • Evermore
  • Beautiful Creatures
  • Angelology
  • Halo
  • Dead Beautiful
  • The Eternal Ones

We’re hiding the organizations, links to supplemental material, books with additional background information, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

© 2006-2012 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close