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** spoiler alert ** As I read Fallen it became quite apparent that it didn't have much going for it except the ever pressing questions of "What is Daniel all about?" and "Is Cam good or bad?" It was these two questions (as well as needing to find out the meaning behind the shadows) that kept me reading Fallen and to eventually finish it.
As for the characters, they were under developed for the most part. Cam was the only character that I really liked. And I'm yet to know if he is truly good or bad. It seems that he wants Luce for his own selfish ambitions...only time will tell! I liked Luce for the most part but her cloying reactions (especially at the end) to Daniel (and even Cam) were enough to make me roll my eyes several times as well as the many cliched conversations and situations throughout the book. Penn played the part of the smart, good girl who didn't quite belong socially. I found her some what annoying and I was glad to see she was killed off. And Daniel? I know nothing about him...even after his secret was exposed! I believe Kate means for Daniel to be the one that we root for but how can we when we don't know anything about him and have no connection with him? Hopefully she will rectify this in the sequel.
The premise of the story is quite intriguing but the delivery...well it left a lot of room for improvement. Kate did a great job of building mysteries that made you want to keep reading to find out what they were but in the end I just ended up feeling let down.
I also found a few things unrealistic. For example, the book takes place in a reform school. However, these kids seem to be no different from the kids that you would find in an average school. For all the monotoring that claimed to be going on, they were able to get away with quite a bit of partying, sneaking contraband, and even skipping classes (much of the same that you would find in your average school). I also found the parents reaction to the fire that had killed a student and landing their daughter in the hospital a little too nonchalant for the seriousness of the matter. And what's with Gabbe's statement to Daniel "I'm the only one you got."? Didn't he have Arriane? Roland (well until he turned obvious traitor at the end)? One more thing that has me puzzled is what was with the whole Trevor thing?
For a book that was set in a reform school and about fallen angels I would have expected more dark, edgy, and bad behavior.
In spite of all these shortcomings, Kate has still been able to spark my attention that I'm looking for to and will read the sequel...there are still a lot of unanswered questions that I'm needing to know the answer to. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she capitalizes much better in the 2nd book on what I believe to be a very promising plot!