Let's just start with the fact that I cut my YA teeth on Fallen by Lauren Kate. I was a newbie to this genre and I was browsing the very lean shelves when I saw that gorgeous cover of Luce. How could I pass that up? I was so tired of reading the same tired mysteries and I wasn't interested in other adult genres or Oprah's latest pick. I devoured that book and fell for the storyline instantly. But almost six years later.....it is a newbie story to my tastes now. I will always have a special place in my heart for Daniel and Luce's story, but let's face it, I didn't even read the last book, just the last few pages to see if I got my HEA.

Cam was never ever a factor for me but I was hoping to recapture some of that newbie magic. It didn't happen. Lauren Kate doesn't seem to have developed much as a writer from Daniel and Luce's story. Maybe she intended it to be very much like their story. The story though is weak and sappy. Bad boy Cam is so against his nature in this book, it's really hard to buy. And then, there is my biggest problem ***spoiler alert**** a rumor is spread that Cam's last girlfriend killed herself when she and Cam broke up. The kids at school and Lucille, the girl he is trying to win over, all shun him and blame him for this. This is an extreme no-no in my opinion. NEVER, EVER should a writer use this tactic to shun a character. If you have read my reviews in the past you know I get upset about the way mental illness is shown in books, but in YA? It's the worst! To blame someone for another person taking their life because they broke up? It wasn't a case of bullying or something like that. It was heartbreak and I don't believe we should start blaming people who become depressed and commit suicide.**** End of spoiler.

So, yes, I had a huge problem with that part of the book. However, Kate shows that appearance doesn't matter when it comes to love in the same book. Lucille never notices changes in Cam's appearance that others are grossed out by. So on one hand she's teaching the lesson that love is more than looks but on the other that it's okay to blame another person when a couple breaks up and one who needs help doesn't get it and commits suicide. There's a lot more to who it is that commits suicide but suffice it to say that this will not be on a favorite or even on my keep shelf.

Authors, please, I beg you, think about what you write. No you don't have to teach a lesson in your book but every time you perpetuate a misrepresentation or a lie about mental illness, you are contributing to the problem. And it sticks with your young and old readers. Stop it please! If you can't find something better to use than a tired misconception than blame the boyfriend for a girl's suicide then you need to go back to the well.

I gave this two stars on Goodreads. It is okay. But not really. I finished it because it was a mindless read for me and I could get through it. I did not have to think at all reading this it. Usually I want to be carried to another world when I read but this one didn't take me anywhere but out of my reluctance to write a review because I was so riled about the spoiler thing I wrote about. I think Lauren Kate is an okay writer, much better than this book.

I really don't recommend this one. If you are a die hard fan of Cam, you won't see him in this book. If you really must read it, go ahead. I don't have a rating bar for this one. So I'm leaving it off.

Fallen was the first YA PNR book that I read. Okay, it was actually Torment, book two, which my fellow blogger Lillian lent to me over lunch oh 4 or 5 years ago. Being new to the genre, I couldn't discern bad from good, mostly because I didn't know the tropes of PNR that were all the rage at the time. I loved the whole Luce and Daniel story and in order to not ruin that image in my mind, I didn't reread the series leading up to the release of Unforgiven. Cam was supposed to be evil guy number 2 throughout the Fallen series, but that wasn't why I disliked him in Fallen; I disliked him for trying to steal Luce away from Daniel and though his (and the rest of the demon's) motives are revealed in Rapture, I was forever left with the impression of him that I got from Fallen.

Fast forward to today (or a couple months ago). I'm not exactly sure where I saw the news about Lauren Kate releasing a new Fallen novel. I want to say it came across my goodreads dashboard, but I'm actually pretty sure that it was an advertisement on some non book related site (Ik kind of creepy how much the internet can find out about me). I was pretty excited at first b/c I thought it would be like Luce and Daniel's Earthen lives. Then I saw that it was about Cam and Lilith (um who?) and I wasn't sure if I should put in my to-read shelf or not. My love for the Fallen series convinced me to give it a shot in the end.

I was pretty lucky actually to stumble upon the audio book when I was scrolling through new releases in OverDrive. This was like right before the holiday season so I had lots of time to listen to audio books. I finished it in one day with earbuds in the whole day so I suppose this is a testament to how captivating Unforgiven is. The book is told in two (three?) perspectives: Lilith, Cam, and past Cam. How this worked out was that Lilith and Came would each get a chapter or two and then we would get a flash back scene to the Cam and Lilith of Israel which come to think of it, was mentioned back in Passion I think. These flash back scenes were a bit awkwardly weaved in as they couldn't really line up with present time events but I liked that events that happened during the flashback could explain things about Lilith that I had just read or was going to read in the next chapters or so.

The most annoying part of this book has to be Lucifer. I mean dude, can you back the fuck off? Lucifer does so much to poor Cam and I know this is because only one of them can win in the end and he's Lucifer so of course he plays dirty but still, I just wanted to kick his ass so hard that he would get stuck in an infinite fall and so we never have to deal with him again.

Onto some things that I liked. It was nice that there were some noticeable similarities to the original series like each chapter starting with the countdown (also in Torment) and how Lilith was innately connected to her past lives by her love of music. However there were some similarities to Fallen that I really didn't see the point of such as the Cam's choice to keep Lilith in the dark about everything. I get that in falling there is the whole problem with Luce burning up and everything and having to discover things on her own but we didn't get any indication of whether this was necessary for Lilith. This whole book probably could have been finished with five days left if Cam had just told Lilith about their past, tried to explain what he was and why he did everything, and showed her the wings just to convince her of the truth. I mean he left her in the dark basically till the last day and i get that it's supposed to be like a big reveal or something at the end like that but it just seems weird for him not to do so earlier.

Lilith was difficult to like at first though even though I could feel sympathetic for her. Though I understand where her despondence about her life comes from, it is annoying to have to sit through at least half a book of Lilith moping about thinking that she was not capable of being successful. I also didn't like how she was couldn't see how helpful some of Cam's actions were. It was nice to see how she grew into a more confident person by the end of the book but it only made my happy in the, *sigh* finally, sense.

The ending felt a bit rushed and predictable but nonetheless, it probably contained the best moment

Spoiler

where Cam's wings go white and we get a whole exciting declaration of love

Overall, this book was enjoyable if only that I learned about Cam's background and why he does all the things he does. At times it felt incredibly rushed and at other times it seems like the characters are being unbelievably ignorant or stupid with their decisions. Still, the revealing of Cam was refreshing and does save this book. Next stop, the Fallen movie!

LOVED THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A sweet story

It was nice to see Cam get his HEA. The storyline was a bit juvenile but overall it was a cute story

This book is amazing. The cover is from another planet and so is the content. I read the whole series but this one really stands out for me. It's the perfect combination of romance mixed with a good dose of tension!

3.5 stars

I didn't hear many positive things about Unforgiven, but I decided to read it anyway, as I've already read the rest of the series and wanted to see it for myself. What I found surprised me. The main thing I'd heard from multiple people and reviews is that Cam's character changed. Personally, I felt like the basis of his character was still there, but distant. He definitely changed; I think some of it was due to him seeing Lilith again, in the sense of "love can change people". His cockiness just wasn't present, and he handled the situation in a very out of character way.

I didn't hate Unforgiven, but I thought it lacked something. not creativity, but maybe authenticity. The story line wasn't bad, however I disliked how things played out, a lot of new things were revealed and I didn't think they belonged in the Fallen universe. Unforgiven is good if you want another tricky, slightly rushed love story. I don't think it captured the meaning of Fallen, so I wouldn't recommend it as a must read after Rapture.

In my opinion this was just a tad better than Rapture, making it the best book in the Fallen series.
One of the reasons why I liked Unforgiven so much was probably the fact that I love Cam. He is one of my favorites in this series and to read his story and see a different side of him was great to me.
What I did not expect was that this book really had me on edge, especially the last few chapters. I was very nervous because I could not foresee whether he would win the bet or not, whether he would get his happy ending or spend all eternity in hell. And even if I got very frustrated sometimes because of this, I was very pleased that it had that effect since none of the previous books did.
I also liked Lilith more than I liked Luce. I believe there was more depth to her character, her passion for music and the songs she wrote really brought that out. Eventhough I was really annoyed with her for a short while, it faded quickly and I have grown to like her. Her and Cam's story is a really beautiful one, and to see that both of them would literally sacrifice themselves to an eternity in hell just to be with each other is really touching.
Of course there were some flaws. The beginning was kind of hard to get into. It's not that it was boring but it was quite slow-paced but after that was over, I couldn't stop reading.
And as I have stated before, Lilith got a bit on my nerves. The fact that she kept kicking Cam out of the band was quite annoying, along with the fact that she always blamed everything on him when he showed her nothing but kindness.
Lucifer was also really annoying by trying to manipulate everything, but I guess that's expected of him since he's the devil lol
Arriane and Roland's appearance of course was a delight, I love them, and I have grown to really love them and Cam together.
So to sum it up: It was a very nice book and it was good to finally read more about Cam, since we did not get much of him in the other books. It was thrilling and touching and quite a roller coaster ride I'd say. I'd definitely recommend if you liked the rest of the Fallen series.