Fallen Book Discussion (Week 1)

Tuesday, April 03, 2012


Hey, people from Earth and other people who are not from here, for the next 12 weeks we will be giving you the awesomeness that is Fallen by Lauren Kate.  Be sure to show up, because we are giving away some great stuff, check it out HERE.  Just a side note, I will be asking two questions after each discussion post.  Be sure to follow the discussion and don’t be scared to join in on our discussion/ questions.  Those who entered the contest will receive extra entries for answering a question.  Every week on Tuesday, we will discuss two chapters of the book, tell you about the plot, and other random bits of spicy goodness that you should definitely know about (all relating to Fallen).    Just for your curiosity: helping me out with this discussion are two of my best friends, Jackie/ the Doctor (who is in blue typeface) and Emma/ Mirror Girl (who is in green typeface).  I, Gina/ Bookish Blonde, am in the black typeface and quotes from the book, Fallen by Lauren Kate, are in red typeface. If you missed a post and want to check out the schedule, go HERE.  Come and join us in our quest of discussing FALLEN.

IN THE BEGINNING

The first post, yah!!!  This is so much fun!  In the beginning, isn’t that a little redundant?  Anyway, this guy who sounds incredibly hot, is drawing this girl (creepy…).  This guy seems sooooo hot!  When first describing the girl’s features, I was surprised that a gorgeous hunk like this would be into the gothic portrayal of the girl in his drawing. 
“And there she was, pressed against the ruby velvet curtain in her plain white dressing gown.  Her black hair had fallen from its braid.  The look on her face was the same as the one he’d sketched so many times.” –p. 3
But then I realized that this was similar to other novels I have read, so it must just be natural for this picture perfect guy to be into this reserved sounding girl.  No, no, you have not read the others in the series: this one is not like other books.  Jackie, here, is reading Fallen for the first time, so we can all excuse her.  So here you have this guy and he is sketching this girl, who only minutes later shows up, staring at his suitcases.  Yeah, hot boy is skipping town.  Gina bear, I love you and I didn’t say that this book was the same, I just meant the typical hot guy who seems to be fond of this different type of girl…but anyway, so we imagined the girl having this raspy English accent.  Yeah, she comes in with all her English glory and, in her nightgown of all things, how very unladylike of her…  It’s freaking 1854 and she’s wearing a nightgown in front of this gorgeous guy who seems to have somewhat of a past with her, SCANDALOUS!!!!  but she’s too naïve to figure out that there is more to this. *me laughing hysterically as Gina describes this* The girl is kind of whiny and flirtatious at the same time, being all like:
‘“Answer me,” she whispered.  “Are you leaving?”

‘Yes.”
“Then take me with you,” she blurted out.” –p. 5
When he refuses her, she says what every guy (sometimes) hates to face…that she LOVES him. 
‘“I have to say it. I—I love you, I’m quite sure, and if you leave—“’-p. 5
Loves him, yeah right.  She’s not even FULLY sure about it.  I think she is just laying on this crap about her love for him because she doesn’t want to lose him so soon.  I second this, because she seems to just want him to stay and all but, isn’t that what makes guys get all soft and guilty so they do stay?  But, the guy is still holding his ground until the girl starts talking about how love is important and is slowly luring him into her…its sooooooo STEAMY!  STEAMY with her nightgown!  Mwahaha, she would be so calculating if only she had a clue.
“He could feel her heart racing through her thin cotton gown.” –p. 6
Oh, so very, very true…and then she has a déjà vu moment.  But before she fully starts to realize the familiar setting, he scoops her up and *swoon* lays a big one on her.  With tongue!!!  But unlike her, this guy knew what was about to happen and he was sort of bracing himself for something that has seemed to happen before.  Shadows show up and she finally understands!  I think he was bracing himself for the goodbye he knew was coming…
“Then, there was nothing, nothing at all.” –p. 8

ONE: PERFECT STRANGERS

Enter Luce into a new place where a man-lady person confronts her after she finishes paperwork for her new school, Sword and Cross.  The school is basically for those who have some serious issues going on.  I want to know what Luce’s deal is.  Her parents drop her off and seem kind of upset with her.  At her old school, Dover, something big, and firey, went down with this guy, Trevor that gave her a one way ticket to this awful school.  I know! I just want to know what happened with this guy but, before Luce can explain anything (this is assuming she even wants to discuss this) she is given the rundown of prohibited items which includes her cellphone.  I would be so sick to my stomach, having to drop my cellphone in a box.  My heart almost stopped when I read that part.  After realizing she will have limited access to the outside world, she is given a quick tour of the school. 
‘“So remember, it’s meds, beds, and reds,”’ –p. 9 
There are other kids at the tour as well, which makes her feel a bit more comfortable knowing that she is not the only newbie.  There’s Todd, who is very interested in his nails.  I dub thee Sir Fidgets.  Cam, who has some gorgeous eyes that are almost hypnotic (or at least that is how I picture him).  And Gabbe who seems nice until she finds out how boring you are.  I love her knife!!  Even with this lovely time around Randy (I still can’t determine if this is a guy or girl) and the other kids, Luce is sent off with one of the other students, Arriane, who is a very…shall we say, interesting person.  Yeah, Arriane gives her the insider tour.  By the way, Arriane rants about Sword and Cross, it sounds as if the school should be terminated by the government. 
‘“Apparently the architects got into a huge standoff over how to retrofit the style of the old military academy buildings.  The upshot is we ended up with half penitentiary, half medieval torture zone.  And no gardener. … Gross.  Oh, and there’s the cemetery.”’ –p. 34
After finding somewhere to sit down, Arriane demands Luce to chop off all of Arriane's hair to look more like Luce’s.  Arriane starts giving Luce the scoop to some of the students at the school and warns her about the kids who have blinking wristbands on because they are insane. 
‘“The kids with the wristbands tracking devices,” Arriane said.  “About a third of the student body.”

“And they’re the ones who—“
“You don’t want to mess with.  Trust me.”’ --p. 31-32
Lucky for Luce, Arriane has one on.  Takes one to know one they say.  Okay, if I met a person and figured out they were one of the more unstable students there, I would run for the hills but Luce just takes it in and continues to cut Arriane’s hair.  When finished, I was amazed that the haircut even looked good.  They leave to walk to one of the classes they share.  There Luce has a good look of lot of the students, standing outside the building.  The only one that really matters was this gorgeous guy in a red scarf.  (Significant because of the weird dress code: anything black)  Daniel Grigori. 
"…Luce had always had a weakness for the sublimely gorgeous.  Like this guy." –p.38
As Luce is looking at him, she seems to be entranced by his looks and seems to think that she recognized him from somewhere.  But, Luce knows with a guy this hot, she would have definitely remembered him without any doubts.  She stares at him so long that it got a little ridiculous.  Arriane even commented who tried to change to the subject to his friend, Roland.  But to no avail, Luce’s eyes were back on Daniel before Arriane could probably finish (geez, she doesn’t even know the guy). 
“He took his glasses off and slid them inside his jacket, then turned to look at her.” –p. 40
Daniel probably feels her eyes pointing lasers into his soul and he looks up and smiles.  And then, wow, catches himself and flips her the bird.  Bipolar much?  Wow what a swell guy, gee wiz! I just pray that every guy I find even slightly attractive flips me off.  Now, now, there is no need for your sarcasm.  I bet that totally turned her on though (I know I would be! *jokingly of course*).  At least, hot boy is paying her attention.  But, no, she feels like she has seen him before.  Could this be the guy who was skipping town and kissing up on the girl with the thin nightgown in 1854?  Dun-dun dun!!!! *enter twilight zone sound track here*
“His face was blank, but there was no mistaking it—he was watching her go.” –p. 41
Anyways, Luce then proceeded to her classroom to lose her soul like Arriane said she would!  Hooray!  YAY!!!!! Good times…

Talk it up:

What do you think their past was like if he was expecting something to happen?
Do you think Randy is a man or woman? Why?

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10 comments

  1. Their past lives have always been hot and steamy. They are advertised as deeply in love, but never have enough time together.

    Ok, I don't remember reading about Randy? Who's Randy? The person checking them in? Fill me in so I can answer question 2.

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  2. Okay, first of all, I applaud both of us (and Emma's random comments) in making this, I think this is brilliant! Now, for the questions!
    First off, I think their past was definitely juicy and they have been very involved in each other's lives. They definitely do get very 'steamy' (as my precious puts it), and for romantic lovers, this is their ideal of heaven. Thank goodness im not one of those, bleh!
    Randy....is a man! No but seriously, he is, im convinced. From his manly demeanor to his deep, rough voice I imagine when he speaks to Luce, I think Randy is totally a guy. There is no way any girl could ever be that manly....okay well except for Mrs. Trunchbull (from Matilda) or Coach Beast (from Glee). But, those are EXTREME exceptions to the rule, and I just think Randy is a man, but as we progress in the book, I guess I will find out the true gender of our ambiguous Randy!

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  3. I personally think that Randy is a hermaphrodite because s/he is not true to either nature, and is a denizen of both sexes!!!!

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  4. I always pictured Randy as a guy. Not really sure why!

    And I figured pretty early on that Daniel was the guy in the beginning and Luce was the girl. It was pretty obvious to me!

    one of the things I love about this series is I actually can feel the heat between them. That doesn't happen in every YA lately, unfortunately!

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  5. This is actually a pretty awesome discussion! I'll have to follow this to refresh my memory on Fallen!! It'll be like I re-read without actually re-reading it (hee, hee!!)
    -Kristin @myparahangover

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  6. This is pretty hilarious! I hope you all discuss the loose threads about WHY Luce's former flame (pun intended) literally went up in flames. This has bothered me since I read Fallen. We are gearing up for the final book in this series too at YA Fiction and Whiskey Sours, since loving-to-hate Luce was somewhat the inspiration for our blog! Keep up the good work :-)

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  7. I don't have a clue as to what their past life might be, but Imma say they were pirates because PIRATES! Randy is probably like Yoshi, looks like a guy, but is obviously a girl because he lays eggs.

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  8. (Mild spoiler warning, possibly?)

    This first chapter is a sort of hint at the intriguing mystery which makes up the entire book. We slowly get explanations about why Daniel and Luce recognize each other, but as the commenters above hinted, we never really, truly find out what happened with the fire that sent Luce to S&C (or what Randy's gender is!). I suppose that's the point--leave us in suspense so we'll read the sequels--but this first chapter always reminds me of the thousands of questions swirling around my head.

    Confusion aside, I like the gothic feel of S&C--even in my head, Daniel's scarf and Cam's eyes are the only splashes of color--and the way that Daniel tries to fend off Luce's attention by flipping her off, but only serves to intrigue her.

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  9. Awww, I LOVE this idea!! :) I remember reading Fallen early on and thinking that it was actually pretty cool, even though I was completely confused at the end (and I was Team Cam all the way)!

    I just lost my own cellphone so I know how Luce feels about having no cellphone and it really DOES suck LOL! x) Not only can't I text my friends all the time, but my jean pocket feels so empty without it and I keep reaching for it instinctively haha.

    And about Randy... I have no clue!! :P This is so much fun, Gina! <3

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  10. Between the prologue and the Trevor deal, I figure Luce is the firestarter, but I don't know why. I do know there is definitely something wrong with this school if her parents knew they would be taking her cell but didn't take it for her before she got there so she could have it back when she got out.

    Randy is definitely female. She works in my office.

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