Fallen, by Lauren Kate

As a merry band of book critics who spend a lot of time pondering young adult literature, we found it impossible to read Lauren Kate's novel Fallen without thinking about Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. Admittedly, Kate has written a better book, but there are some striking similarities between her work and Meyer's, and that has us worried about where this series is going.

When Luce Price's parents ship her off to to Savannah's Sword & Cross boarding school, her life changes completely. Sword & Cross is a reformatory school, and Luce is there because of her role in the mysterious burning death of a classmate—an accident that even Luce, the only witness, can't begin to understand. Her new school is miserably strict, but it does have two major things going for it: campus playboy Cam, and Daniel, the gorgeous boy who can't seem to leave Luce alone, even though he makes it clear that he'd prefer to avoid her.

Fallen has a great Southern-Gothic setting, a theology-tinged supernatural premise, and a heroine who isn't half as mopey as Bella Swan (even though she has a lot more to be mopey about). Unfortunately, the things it has in common with the Twilight books are the same things that make Meyer's series so irritating: a confusing mythology, and a supernatural love interest whose hot-and-cold attitude makes him seem less like a teenage dreamboat and more like a condescending, emotionally manipulative jerk. It is possible that both of these problems will be successfully addressed in future installments of this series, but our experience with Meyer's books has taught us that it is always best to be cautious. Sure, we enjoyed reading Fallen... but who knows what betrayals—ahem, supernatural baby plotlines, "imprinting", etc.—Kate might have in store?

Review based on copy provided by publisher.