The Captivating Finale | “Rapture” Review (Fallen, #4)

Cynthia Ayala ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past, they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces, as well as those that are blinded by light, are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again. Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies and angel dust. Sacrifices will be made as lives will continue to be lost until Luce remembers her past and the true origin of the curse: that before Daniel there was another and that the curse was borne from the love she cast aside. Her final choice will decide the fate of all of the Fallen. The question is: will Heaven remain, or will Lucifer win this final battle?
Rapture is an amazing conclusion to the Fallen series written by Lauren Kate. Published in June 2012 by Delacorte Press, Rapture continues the tortured love story of Lucinda Price and Daniel Grigori. Because their overruling love for one another forces them to defy God and Lucifer, their love is cursed. Time and time again, whenever they meet and love one another, Lucinda suffers and dies. However, this time around, the rules have changed, and Lucinda has been on a path to self-discovery, a journey that has taken her to the beginning of time. But she wasn’t alone on this journey; Lucifer followed, concocting his own plan to wage war on Heaven and take back what he lost: the love he created that his pride blinded. Now, on a race against time, Lucinda, Daniel, and their fellow fallen angels, dark and light alike, seek the place of the “the fall”, before Lucifer can rewrite history and tear the two lovers apart forever.
By the end of this novel, readers will find themselves on an emotional roller coaster. In this installment Lucinda explodes off the pages. Her strength and will to move on through the choices that tear her apart gives her character such life and makes her a strong female protagonist. Her journey of self-discovery and the impact it holds for everyone is a powerful arc in the novel. It adds so much to the plot providing a rich and compelling hold over the reader. Kate pushes her characters to their limits. In Luce especially, Kate explores those emotional torrents that follow the choices she has made. Luce is like a rose, and her emotions and strength have helped both her and the novel blossom, making each page a strong and textured layer filled with incredible depth.
The way that the story expands to include so much, while at the same time remaining fast-paced, allows the reader to really get sucked into the novel. However, and this seems to be Kate’s biggest problem with writing, there are a lot of missing scene specifics. As the end gets closer, the dialogue and characterization remain intact, but there is not much descriptive detail to ground the readers, who are instead left imagining characters in white rooms due to a lack of setting and scenery detail.
Overall, this was a truly wonderful young adult, fantasy series with a perfect bittersweet ending.
Unexpected, romantic and a great addition to the fallen angel mythos: B+