If you’re into fantasy stories that mix romance, mystery, secrets with a touch of the supernatural, Lauren Kate’s Fallen book series should be the next on your to-read list.
This isn’t a regular angel love story. It’s darker and full of emotional twists that keep readers turning pages late.
Without further ado, here’s the Fallen book series in the order of how they should be read.
“What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours?”
The first Fallen book starts with what YA fantasy readers crave: a dark school, a mysterious boy, and a girl who can’t explain her attraction to him. Luce Price arrives at Sword & Cross, a reform school full of secrets, crumbling buildings, and flickering shadows that almost feel alive.
From the start, there’s a sense of disquiet. Then there’s Daniel Grigori, the beautiful, impossible boy who seems to know her before she even knows him.
The book takes its time, maybe too much time, lingering in the fog of mystery. Luce spends much of the story stumbling between curiosity and fear, attempting to make sense of what’s happening to her and Daniel’s secrets. When the truth finally begins to surface about angels, curses, and love reborn through countless lives, it feels both shocking and inevitable.
Readers who love slow-burn romance will fall for Fallen. The atmosphere is rich, gothic, and heavy with dreams. Lauren Kate builds her world with mood and emotion over pace. Fans love that, though some will find it frustrating.
Daniel’s cold allure initially works but eventually grows thin. Still, when their cursed love unfolds, there’s a sense that all the waiting might have been worth it. It isn’t a perfect start, but it sets the tone: a story of love that survives death, memory, and maybe even Heaven.
Torment widens the world. Luce has learned a little about what’s going on, but not enough. The book shifts locations to Shoreline, a sunnier, coastal school for Nephilim — half-angels, half-humans — and for a brief moment, things feel lighter. The ocean, the cliffs, the salt air, all of it contrasts with the suffocating gloom of Sword & Cross. But the change of scenery doesn’t mean peace.
The weight of her past continues to follow her, heavier than ever. Daniel is uncertain. The distance between them grows even as the bond tightens, and Luce wonders if love can survive without truth. There’s more tension between love and freedom.
In Torment, discovery fades and endurance takes over. Luce starts to figure out what she wants, not just what Daniel wants. She learns about her connection to the angels, though never enough to make sense of it all. Danger builds on the edges, and the war between Heaven and Hell closes in.
The book introduces new characters and relationships, and the mystery of the curse deepens. Some enjoyed the dynamics, though Luce’s confusion remains. She grows, though she’s still tied to Daniel.
“I’ll always choose you. Every single lifetime, I’ll choose you. Just as you have always chosen me.”
In Passion, Fallen completely opens up. Luce travels through past lives, trying to understand the curse, and finds Daniel in each of them. The story jumps centuries, cities, languages, ancient temples, battlefields, royal courts, and alleys. It’s ambitious, at times confusing, and the most divisive book in the series.
Here, we finally see what forever means. All versions of Luce that lived and died for the same love. Each past life adds to the puzzle and gives Daniel’s sadness context. He isn’t only moody; he’s exhausted. The book explores the concept of fate, the line between choice and curse. That’s where it feels the most alive.
Some readers loved it. The historical settings make the series feel expansive and more cinematic. It’s the first time Luce truly takes control.
What stands out about this instalment is how it reframes everything. It’s now about fate, faith, and choosing someone, even when it hurts.
“Sometimes love is not about winning, but about sacrifice.”
This short volume is easy to skip, but adds heart. Fallen in Love is a collection of short stories set between Passion and Rapture, offering quieter moments with familiar characters. The reader sees brief glimpses into their inner lives: small heartbreaks, simple joys, and reminders that Fallen isn’t all tragedy.
It barely advances the plot, but offers a pause. The writing here feels warmer, less weighed down by angels and curses, as if the author enjoyed telling love stories without any major stakes.
It’s comforting, soft, and nostalgic. Critics call it filler, suitable for readers who aren’t concerned with the main plot. But if you care about the characters, it’s a small reward: a reminder of sweetness amid chaos and pain.
In Rapture, everything erupts: Lucifer, angels, demons, and prophecies. The tone shifts from longing to urgent apocalypse. The story races to its conclusion, with Luce finally remembering, choosing, and taking action.
The mythos deepens with war, bargains, and secrets exposed. Luce must decide if love for Daniel is worth the centuries of pain. The book feels faster, heavier, and more desperate as the author tries to tie up loose ends.
After so much buildup, the world-ending stakes feel earned.
Rapture is the payoff the series promised. There’s closure, even if not perfect. There’s sacrifice, redemption, and the quiet ache when a long story finalises.
“Even the fallen deserve a chance to rise again.”
Unforgiven focuses on Cam, the charming and broken fallen angel who’s been in the background. Here, we see his guilt, his punishment, and his desperate attempt to save Lilith, the girl he once doomed to Hell.
It’s a more intimate story, honest in its pain. Cam’s road to redemption is harrowing, less about celestial battles and more about wrestling the darkness inside himself. It’s sorrowful: raw, a quiet search for forgiveness that feels personal and deeply human.
It closes the Fallen book series nicely. A reminder that even side characters carry their own private wars, and that sometimes redemption is less about forgiveness and more about trying again.
Ultimately, the Fallen book series feels like a prolonged meditation on love and fate. It asks what it means to keep choosing the same person across lifetimes, even when it hurts, even when you don’t remember why.
Lauren Kate doesn’t write perfect characters or even perfectly plotted stories. She writes moods: the ache of remembering, the pull of familiar, the quiet tragedy of wanting what you can’t have. It speaks to those who believe in second chances, even when it appears there is no reason to.
