** spoiler alert ** 
 When I picked up this book, it had been about nine months since I read Fallen, and the choking feeling had subsided. I wondered, what if I was wrong? What if the first book was just a false start? Maybe I should give Kate another chance? 
 I'm pathetic. I know this. You don't have to tell me. 
 If I'm being honest, I will hold my hands up and say that Torment is a monumental improvement on Fallen. The writing style is less sticky and doesn't cut itself off. Every. Five. Words. 
 The first two or three chapters were good. And I mean good; not great, but good enough. At that simple stage, I could see the San Francisco setting and the early descriptions of Shoreline were fine. Shelby and Miles were fine too. Quirky. Likable. 
 It kind of went downhill from there. Kate has surely attempted to make Luce and Daniel's relationship 'healthy' by having Luce "question her destiny", but that's not really what's going on here, is it? No. What's going on here is an emotional mud-wrestle between two completely ill-equipped morons with the collective mental capacity of a sesame seed. Guys, healthy relationships are about mutual understanding, respect and consent. Healthy relationships are not about cheating on your partner just to get a rise out of them, dictating what your partner should look like and being disappointed when they decide to change their appearance, or trying to flatten your partner's personality and individuality to such an extent that they are incapable of being apart from you for eighteen days. Come on. That's not even three weeks. 
 Look, 90% of Luce and Daniel's conversations go like this: 
 Daniel: I am mad at you for doing X. 
 Luce: I am mad at you for doing Y. 
 Daniel: But I am infatuated with the idea of you. 
 Luce: I am still mad at you for doing Y. 
 Daniel: *kisses Luce* 
 Luce: Y doesn't matter any more. I like your muscles. 
 Daniel: I'm leaving. 
 Luce (alone): I am angry at Daniel for doing Y. 
 I know. No author is perfect, but let's be real here. This isn't so much a book as really sexual bible fanfiction. And honestly, if it were fanfiction, I'd probably enjoy it. But I paid money for this shit. I paid money for Luce to wonder, "Who was she without [Daniel]?" Nobody should ever be in a relationship wherein a legitimate concern is who you actually are outside of that relationship. Another person's personality is not for sharing, and frankly, you shouldn't want to be one half of a whole. How is that functional in any way, shape or form? How is that healthy? 
 But it's so true of the Luce/Daniel dynamic, though, isn't it? I could write a dissertation on this. It's this constant wonder, of how anyone can possibly write such shallow characters with such an unconvincing liking for each other, and yet somehow be invested in the story. How could you think this was interesting? We are reading this book and picturing two wobbly blobs of nothing slowly revolve around each other. It's like sitting through a ten-hour video of the moon revolving around the earth in real-time. Like, nothing but that. Just one rock moving around the other rock. It seems like it might be mildly interesting and then when you actually experience it, it's just what it says on the tin. One rock going around another rock. 
 (This just got so existential.) 
 And I get it. I get Kate trying to portray that Luce wants her own life and her own independence. But this is not living or being independent. Free thinking is not about bleaching your hair or crying about an eighteen-day relationship hiatus as if the thing that got removed for eighteen days was not your boyfriend but all the skin on your face; it's about seeking out your interests and figuring out what path you want to take in life, not your first-world problems with your pushy, overbearing boyfriend. I mean seriously. This book reads like a pamphlet on white cishet rich people's problems. 
 On the portrayal of healthy relationships: take a look at Steven and Francesca's horrible dynamic. Francesca and Steven apparently do nothing but hatefuck and talk about how they'll kill each other "when the time comes". How is this even a thing? We're served this tale of an angel and a demon (let's put a pin in the total mythology fail for the sake of argument) but all we get is some weird angry Nip/Tuckesque dynamic between two people who apparently hate each other but kind of love each other even though they openly hate one another's species and moral choices (???). 
 And continuity? What is continuity? We have the Announcers which function as deus ex machina and an easy out for exposition but there isn't even a cover story to try to hide that they're a plot device painted the colour of a plot device wearing a sandwich board across which the words "PLOT DEVICE" are written. What are they? Portals? Fortune-tellers? Time warps? WHAT? And what was the conflict here? The Outcasts? The Elders? The demons? Luce and Daniel? PICK ONE! 
 The end is another whole big thing, but simply because I don't know how on earth we managed to reach that conclusion. Is Kate trying to tell us that the best way to resolve the problems right in front of our faces is to run away from them? Luce suddenly jumps inside the Announcer (and no one bothers to stop her) without even the courtesy of an explanation. This is following a battle wherein she demonstrates some good old-fashioned Mary-Sue 'I'm going to battle even if you tell me not to, then pretend like I saved the day when really I did nothing'. 
 The end of the battle scene freaked me out, too. Why was everyone just standing around talking? How did blind angels manage to hook their arrows on to their bows? Why was everyone just waiting patiently while they loaded their weapons? Why is Luce the price? Why did Cam give up on Luce so quickly? Why do Gabbe's wings smell like Herbal Essences? Why is this a book? What is literature? What is life? 
 And, through this, the only question I was really interested in: How was Luce's parent's walk? Did they have a nice time? 
 Overall, this book was, prose-wise, much better than Fallen, though that isn't an amazing achievement in itself. Because I love you all, here are some examples of dreadful writing: 
 a) "Daniel's beautiful features distorted into a scary expression." 
 b) "Miles pulled away, looking happy and sad at the same time." 
 c) "Roland hovered over to him. Literally. He was flying." 
 d) "I know he would die if you died." 
 e) "Deep chartreuse, glittering gold, marbleized swaths of pink and purple." 
 Note: The Outcasts are blind, but locate Luce by seeing the "burning of her soul" because apparently there is something behind her mask/face that resembles a personality. If they see her by the "burning of her soul", why do they mistake Dawn for Luce? Surely if they are not looking for aesthetics i.e. hair colour and facial features, just the "burning of her fucking soul" then... Look, fuck it. I fucking give up. 
 To conclude: 
 This book is balls. This series is a disaster. Luce and Daniel are like a poor man's Bedward. The only thing that remains to be seen is Daniel eating a baby out of Luce's womb. 
 There's always hope!