Torment by Lauren Kate

From Goodreads:

Hell on earth.
That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.

It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.
At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.

What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

From Misty:

Don't be confused by the beautiful cover.  This book reads a lot like an episode of Scooby Doo.  I just listened to this last night, and I am still thinking about it.  I am ambivalent.  I cannot decide whether I like it or not, and I'm not using the term like to indicate whether or not I enjoyed listening to it.  I did.  At least, I didn't turn it off.  What I mean is: is it good?  Is it worthy of me liking it?

This is not a genre I typically just love, and like all people, I tend to discount things that don't interest me.  I have to wonder if that is what is happening here.  And yet...  I just don't know.  IF I was a teenage girl, IF I was totally into the paranormal, IF I was a member of this book's intended audience, would my experience with this book have been different?

Yes.  Absolutely.  I would have loved it.

As it was, I was mildly interested.  I was able to develop enough of an emotional connection with the characters that I mildly cared what happened to them--EXCEPT for the main character, Luce (oh, and the almost completely absent other MC, Daniel).  Realizing this is the second book in the series and that perhaps Luce was fully developed in the first book (which I haven't read), and if that is the case then this book can't stand alone--regardless, I have NO idea why a man/angel would give up eternity (or whatever) for Luce.  She had NO charcteristics, well, unless you count the annoying ones (confused, naive, disobedient, reckless, directionless) and the ones that are reminiscent of Belly from It Wouldn't Be Summer Without You (confused, naive, disobedient, reckless, directionless, liked to swim). 

But isn't that what teenage girls are like?  Doesn't it leave room for the character to grow?

Yes.  So....success?

I think so.  I think it works.  I'd like to read the other books in the series.  They might not be my favorite ever, but the basic premise for the story (fallen angel falls in love with mere mortal) is intriguing (if old...but classic--think Zeus).

BUT, the romance this whole series is based on is absolutely, 100% absent in this book (Luce and Daniel fight as much or more than they make out while Daniel flies them through the air with his sexy angel wings--think Superman and Lois Lane). 
Gah! *tears her hair out*

3 or 5 stars (because I just couldn't decide).

Matched by Ally Condie

From Goodreads:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

From Misty:
How long has it been since I read a book where the author actually employed the literary elements of metaphor, symbolism, and motif? Uh...quite a while, at least in comtemporary fiction. I see it in small instances to help tell a story, but seldom to increase meaning like Condie has used it in Matched. One of the things that bugged me about The Hunger Games, just for comparison (and I loved that book), was that the symbolism seemed to be all over the place. I could never tell exactly what it was supposed to be making me conclude. Condie's symbolism is much better done.

Theme: girl vs. society. Not a new theme, not really a unique storyline. Cassia lives in a world where The Society makes all her decisions for her: what she will eat, what she will wear, where she will work, who she will marry, where she will live, when she will die. Cassia accepts this because every decision Society makes for her will lead to a better world with benefits such as increased life span for citizens and optimal quality of life for all.

But is it true and can it be, no, should it be changed? These are the questions Cassia must ask (and answer) when she finds herself falling in love with a boy who is not her Match.

Despite the common dystopian theme, Condie's characters ring true and make you care about them. They are consistent and don't act out of character. Her imagery is vivid though not over-descriptive. Her narration is lyrical and sometimes pretty.  Just all out done well. Everyone on earth should read this. Loved this book and absolutely cannot wait for Crossed which comes out this fall.