Fallen discussion

Hey y'all! Here is where we can chat about the things we liked and disliked about this book.

Is there anything that we can like about this book?

I do like the setting-- I think it's much more interesting than Twilight. It's set at the reform school, and I'd much rather read about that than a random school in Washington.

Well, the stereotype EVERYTHING aside... we have 2 hot guys, a dumb main character and a stereotypical setting.

True-- it's just a little less stereotypical than a typical high school.

Yup. What's left is to correlate every character so far with a Twilight character. . . Here we go.

Daniel: Less Mature Edward
Luce: Slightly More Bearable Bella
Molly: A Rude Jessica
Penn: Angela with Allergies
Roland: Maybe Jasper
Arianna: Crazy Alice
Cam: Creepy Jacob

Did I miss anyone?

I have to argue on a few points:
Cam is WAY better than Jacob, Luce is definitely better than Bella. Aside from that you are correct.

Oh, and Daniel isn't really like Edward; Edward is obsessed with Bella, Daniel seems to hate Luce's guts.

Okay, yeah, I agree with those two statements. Though, I think it is the third perspective that makes me think of Luce differently. She just seems . . . weak to me, in a way. I don't know why. She just comes to me as not a very tough main character who would rather go into flight than fight, and I don't necessarily like that.

I can understand that, but she is still better than Bella who would trip over her own legs trying to run away. ;)

And to your second comment about Daniel and Edward, I have a suspicion that Daniel doesn't actually hate her guts. I predict that he is like Edward, just acting like he dislikes her. Maybe Daniel makes it more prominent, but I think he is just like Edward who hides it.

Yeah, Luce is better than Bella. XD

That is also maybe probably true, but you can tell that at least some of the time his frustration with her is real. It would be hard to not be frustrated at a character like that.

So, so true.

What else did you guys notice about the first few chapters?

Is it just me or are you guys getting reincarnation vibes from this too?

Is this a private discussion??

I don't know how to make it a private discussion.

I like how Daniel and Luce have more of a past and backstory than Bella and Edward in Twilight. While we still don't know all the details, I think it's intriguing how they knew each other a while back in England, then were reborn or something.

--Spoiler Alert if you haven't read up to chapter 9--

Okay, what the heck was going on with chapter 9? Everything just did a 180. Daniel was being nice to Luce for literally no reason. Why did he bring her into a forest?

ALSO, before I go any further, the FOREST!!! There was a forest that the main characters had to trek through to get to a beautiful place... just like the MEADOW in TWILIGHT!!!!

K, back to the forest. I'm very confused. After the ball hit her head, Daniel just walked up and was like, "Okay, I'm nice now," and just immediately abandoned the whole, "I hate you please stay away from me" charade. Why did he even decide to bring her into the forest in the first place?

See? It's like Edward. I told you my prediction would come true. :)

What do you guys think about the shadows that Luce talks about?

I have no idea what they are yet, but I'm glad that they're there. It's a fun little side plot. Unlike Twilight, it makes it so that the story isn't just a boring romance. Since we kind of already know that Daniels is a supernatural being, the shadows add a bit of mystery and intrigue to keep us engaged.

I don't know guys... I feel like reincarnation is a real possibility for this one...

I think it has to be. How else would they be together in England all those years ago?

Time travel. But Daniel knows about it and he gave Luce a memory serum before dumping her in the 21st century.

Hmm... interesting theory.

Haha it's probably reincarnation though.

Oh, and with the initial theory he planted memories of someone else's childhood so she would think that she belonged there.

And the best friend is fake...

And he did all those stupid crimes like jaywalking (seriously, that is not a crime) to get into the same school as Luce so he could be with her again.

Indeed! He loves being in control of the situation so this happens over and over and over...

Hmm, I don't know. From the preface/prologue thingy, it made it sound like it was the shadows who were wiping her memory, not him. It didn't necessarily sound like he liked it. Then again, your theory could be correct and I'm just interpreting wrong.

I was just trying to cover the plot holes in the time travel theory... ;)

BTW, did you even understand what happened in the preface/prologue? I was just super confused about Daniel's perspective and what he was trying to hint at.

He was drawing her, but couldn't draw her when she was there for some reason and got mad that she loved him and said that he was leaving without her. Did I miss anything?

Not that I know of. Thanks for explaining that! I was just weirded out by the whole scenario that I had a hard time interpreting it.

Yep, it was pretty funky!

What do you think is going to happen to Cam in the future? I kind of think of him going completely nutso being the third person in a love triangle since, you know, he's in a school for psychotic children and he seems to have some sort of attachment towards Luce.

Okay, so I just finished chapter 5, and let me say this: what in the world?! I now have to disagree with you Addie a little bit. Honestly, Luce is one of the most annoying characters I have read, and she, in my opinion, is way worse compared to Bella. It doesn't help that she's conflicted between two guys. At least Bella had her mind made up for the most part; there were a few parts where I questioned which side she was on, but they were very limited and short. On the other hand, it's a few chapters in and Luce is already proving to be extremely fickle, which I find very irritating on my part.

And, honestly, I don't feel like a lot of the characters act as crazy as they're promoted to be seen as. I mean, I could understand Arianne a little, but the rest of them? They just seem like the stereotypical kids you'd find at any school. Really, there doesn't seem to be anything crazy about them, yet.

I'm on chapter 9 right now, and I have to admit, her character goes downhill from chapter 5. Although I still wouldn't say she is worse than Bella, they are about even.

You know what, I'm going to say it: this book is worse than Twilight.

I actually disagree-- while they both suck, there's something about this book that makes it more interesting. There's more than just Bella describing stuff weirdly; there's the mystery about the shadows, and the mystery of Daniel and Luce's backstory. Luce is also a bit more bearable than Bella. Her personality is a bit more than "clumsy." She has more (and by more, I mean a very, very small sliver of an amount) spunk and loyalty to her friends. Even though she's still a pretty bland character, she's better than Bella.

I agree completely!

A quick note about a phrase a stumbled upon in Chapter 21:

Daniel LITERALLY SAYS (to Luce), "You're not like the other people here." Seriously. Can the writing in this book be any more bland?

Heavens to murgatroyd. What kind of world do we live in where authors are becoming way too clichéd?

So, thoughts on characters? 1-10. Here's my thoughts:

Luce: 2--about equally as insignificant as Bella.
Daniel: 3--just as fickle and annoying as Edward.
Cam: 6--stereotypical third person in a love triangle.
Arianne: 8--adds a little more excitement to the story with what seems like the only actual crazy character in the book.
Penn: 9--great friend.
Gabbe: 5--okay nemesis.
Molly: 5--reasonable bully?
Roland: ?--haven't seen enough of him to determine.
Tod, Tom?: 5--poor kid just makes me think of how awkward I once was.

Elsie wrote: "You know what, I'm going to say it: this book is worse than Twilight." You said it all! Thanks

I'm very confused by Arianne's character-- the book started out with her becoming great friends with Luce, but then, out of NOWHERE, the author just abandoned her. Sure, she pops up every now and then, but why? She was a big part of the story at first, and I'm kind of annoyed and disappointed that she's not really mentioned much anymore.

So true! Arianne seems like a really good character despite her insanity-like nature.