Passion by Lauren Kate

Gah! Okay, I just need to do this already.  I've started to write this review about a dozen times.  In fact, I've finished two other books since I finished this one and have refused to write the reviews for them until I get this one out of the way!  You know what the problem is? Of course not, why should you? Alright, you twisted my arm, I'll tell you.  The problem is exactly the same as the problem that I've had with this entire series... I really don't care about it all that much.

I'm not sure why I've continued to read it.  This is the third book, of a (rumored) four book series.  The fourth (Rapture) and final book's release date has been anounced for some time in 2012.  I read Fallen (Book 1) a couple of years ago.  I had a tough time getting into it, even tho I really wanted to like it.  I originally credited at least part of the problem to the fact that I was listening to it during a drive to Disney World.  There were too many distractions with the whole family in the car.  Nonetheless, I pushed on and finished it even though I should have waited for a better time.  I liked the concept, but wasn't really captivated by any of the characters.

I discovered, about six months ago, that the sequel, Torment, was out and decided to give it a shot after seeing that it had received four stars from Amazon.  I figured that the distractions were probably the reason I hadn't "bonded" with the characters.  Torment was better, but I probly would have let the series go had it not been for the cliff hanger ending.  I thought, hmmm, still not sure I care about these characters, but Luce is acting a little crazy and things could get interesting.  So I calendared Passion, and waited for my local library to get a copy.

So... Passion...

...

Okay, this isn't the worst book I've ever read. I'm sure I'll calendar and read Rapture. But, yet again, I'm not sure why.  The whole thing is strange, and I'm not talking about the plot here. I'm talking about this weird pull these books seem to generate.  I would think it was just me, but it's not.  Check this out...

Torment was given four stars by the readers at Amazon and 3.93 at GoodReads.  Passion has a 4 star rating at Amazon and a 3.83 at GoodReads.  If you read the reviews on these sites, you'll detect a pattern in the comments which continues in those posted for Rapture (not even released yet) at:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9223036-rapture

Just a glanced at these remarks shows that there are a fair number of people who don't really like this series and yet continue to read it.

Alright, enough... I'm coming across as a hater I suppose, but I'm not... To me Passion (as well as its predecessors) is a fairly average book. Lauren is a competent writer with a somewhat original idea.  Her character portrayals in this series have been respectable if not gripping.

Passion continues the story of Luce who is now tripping thru time in order to discover whether she and Daniel share a true, timeless love or if their feelings are merely a biproduct of the curse that has had them find and lose each other throughout the centuries.

The time travel aspect of this story is pretty clumsy in my opinion, but to really explain this sentiment I'd have to reveal plot points and time mechanics as described in the book. 

Lauren does NOT make good use of her supporting characters in this book.  Passion is almost exclusively the Luce and Daniel show and while I don't really mind this focus, why have the supporting characters follow Luce at the end of Torment if we aren't really going to see them in Passion?

The "twist" in Passion isn't much of one and I imagine most will find it pretty transparent, but there are some fairly touching moments.  If you're reading it for answers, you'll get some, although you may not be entirely satisfied with them.  In the end, I think Passion is the best of them so far, so if you liked the early ones, you'll probly like this one.  While marginally better, if you haven't liked what has come before, don't expect this one to salvage the series for you.

-Chris