Story of eternal love continues in ‘Torment’

Being away from her fallen angel boyfriend Daniel feels like torture for Luce.

It seemed to take forever for her to unravel their past lives — to understand their eternal love. But now that she does, she never wants to leave him.

Daniel, however, insists that Luce’s life is in danger. She’s being stalked by the immortal Outcasts, who are out to destroy her. Daniel squirrels Luce away at a school in California called Shoreline, which caters to the Nephilim, the children of fallen angels and mortals.

So here she is, separated from Daniel and not happy about it. But Luce soon realizes that Shoreline has its benefits. She learns about the shadows that have followed her and how they might reveal pieces of her past lives. She also makes friends, and their influence, along with her own doubts, makes her begin to question Daniel’s account of their connection.

So begins “Torment,” Lauren Kate’s second novel in the “Fallen” series, which pits angels versus demons as it follows the love story of Luce and Daniel. The first book, “Fallen,” was fairly successful, but with “Torment,” Kate takes a step backward.

It’s hard to enjoy a novel when the main characters irritate you. Luce becomes so whiny in the second book she’s hard to stomach. Most people — even lovesick teen girls — would be a little more understanding when their special someone tries to prevent them from being killed.

Not Luce. Whine, whine, whine. She puts herself — and others — in danger after repeatedly being told she’s to lay low. Idiot. Daniel’s not much better. Since the book picks up almost immediately where “Fallen” leaves off, it’s understandable that Luce might have some questions, but broody Daniel refuses to tell her anything. Jerk.

I hope Kate can redeem spoiled little Luce in her next installment, “Passion,” due out in the summer of 2011. Or maybe Kate can have Daniel dump Luce for being such a baby. After all, there’s really only so much a handsome fallen angel can take.