Passion by Lauren Kate | Rating: ★★★☆☆

"Fear has envy in it somewhere. You may not believe it, but there are many who wish to wield the power that I wield." 

Finally, the Fallen series has picked up a little more and actually developed itself. Passion captures many of the elements that made Fallen and Torment fail in my eyes, but for the most part--I felt like I walked away knowing something more in this installment. One of the things that made me less than keen on the previous two books in Lauren Kate's bestselling series was that we know very little of Lucinda's past lives, the curse, the angels and demons, or her relationship with Daniel.

We know virtually nothing besides the present and every time we get a little closer to learning something, we get tossed into this back-and-forth of love and angst that gets a little tiring. Fallen's lack of development and the trope of instant-love just didn't mix well with its premise and, frankly, kept tripping over itself. In Passion, we see Lucinda's past lives as she travels through them with a new-and-mysterious companion who may or may not have the best intentions for the series' heroes. To say it straight, Passion (though flawed) lives up to the groundwork that Kate has been setting up since book one and puts the other two installments in the dust.

My biggest problem with Passion is a mixed bag of, "How many times do we have to see the same love at first sight plotline drag on and catch fire?" and "Where is everyone else?"--while Passion was developed far better than any of the other books in the series, it still left a lot to be desired and is not going to be for everyone. Mostly, it's the love story--tragedy and angst, longing and lust--that we've already seen, just set in different time periods.

I did enjoy getting a little more context on who Lucinda had been through her lives. I've always had a fascination with past lives and what ties them together, so I did enjoy this aspect and was excited to see it play out. I also enjoyed seeing Lucinda away from Daniel, Cam and the others we've come to know. Even with the stranger presence of her new "friend", it felt like she was standing on her own two feet and getting things done on her own time--which I appreciated.

The pacing was hit or miss with Passion. Because of the ever-present theme of love, there were a lot of times that felt too similar to others. The pace was saved by the chase of it all; everyone out in the timelines trying to find Lucinda, while Lucinda was trying to find herself scattered through time and space. It kept the story moving even when the plotlines didn't.

I think some of my favourite parts about Passion were the ones where everyone noticed something was going amiss with the timelines and then the big Lucifer reveal. Not to mention the moments where we learn more about their fates and just how long the group has been together. All of the familiar faces and the moments were things grow more complicated.

I also appreciated the glimpse into Cam's past but that won't be a surprise to anyone, because he is one of the most intriguing characters in the series to me for one reason or another.

That being said, Passion was a lot more fun than Fallen and Torment but still far from a favourite book in my eyes. I can definitely see what draws fans in--especially the romantic at heart--and why it has drawn so many comparisons to the Twilight series. Overall, it was a perfectly light novel to indulge in and I'm glad that I've stuck with it as far as I have because Passion was certainly the best installment yet.