Torment



Torment is a 2010 young adult fantasy novel from the Fallen series written by Lauren Kate. Torment, the sequel to Fallen, continues the story of Lucinda "Luce" Price, a 17-year-old girl who is in love with Daniel, a fallen angel. In Fallen, Daniel reveals to Luce that their love is damned: she is condemned to fall in love with Daniel, die, and be reborn over and over until their mysterious curse is broken. The seemingly endless cycle of their romance is followed avidly by heavenly and demonic forces, who seem to have something big riding on its outcome.

Something seems to be different during this lifetime, and Daniel is determined to keep Luce safe from hostile forces while he teams up with other angels and demons in an eighteen-day long truce. He installs Luce at the prestigious Shoreline school in Northern California, where she meets a number of part-angel students who have yet to choose between good and evil. Luce is frustrated by Daniel's unwillingness to be honest with her and is determined to discover the truth on her own.

After the dramatic events which ended Fallen and during the truce between Cam and Daniel, Luce is hidden in Shoreline (on the coast of California), a prestigious private school where both human and Nephilim (creatures born from a cross between angels and humans) attend. There, away from murderous enemies, Luce begins to find out more about her past lives with the help of two Nephilim friends: Shelby, Luce's cantankerous roommate, and Miles, whose affection for Luce causes her to doubt her relationship with Daniel. There are still many things for Luce to discover; things that Daniel, for her own good, has decided to hide from her, and the shadows that have haunted her for lifetimes that may now finally have a positive purpose for her. Daniel will do everything to protect her, pushing her to remain confined at Shoreline to keep Luce safe. For some of these reasons, Luce and Daniel fight multiple times, increasing her doubts about their relationship. Discovering some of her past lives, Luce realizes how their love, yet so passionate, hurt the thousands of previous families she once lived with. During her time in Shoreline, Luce's clear division between angels and demons becomes blurry, especially when she discovers that Daniel and Cam are fighting side by side. She also finds out that not only the Elders want her, the Outcasts, beings who are neither angels nor demons, will continuously attempt to abduct her. To Luce's surprise, Cameron does not kill her, but protects her from the Outcasts. At the end of the book, Luce's parents have a thanksgiving party, where there are angels as well as Shelby and Miles. When her parents go out to take the dog for a walk, the Outcasts arrive in Luce's back garden where there is then a massive fight between the angels and the Outcasts. Luce then finds out that Miles has emotional feelings for her, as he is able to replicate a person, but only if he loves them. Luce is stressed from the violence and decides to find out more about her past lives by jumping through one of the shadows, leaving all her friends behind, calling for her.

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