Fallen by Lauren Kate
A Gothic throwback for this Halloween season.
Published October 13, 2026
There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce—and goes out of his way to make that very clear—she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.
Why I Picked It Up
I recently reread Fallen by Lauren Kate thanks to a severe bout of insomnia sending me running into the clutches of some bad, made-for-TV movies. Upon watching: the 7% rating of the film adaptation struck me as deeply unfair and made me want to reread a formative book of my middle school years—a trendsetter amidst the doomed paranormal romances of the genre (how Halloween-esque) and the "girls in dresses" book covers.
In this voice note review, I unpack:
- Fallen takes place in the South, so why don't I think of it as a Southern Gothic?
- What makes a successful book-to-movie adaptation,
- Luce's characterization in the book vs. the movie,
- Who would love it most,
- etc.
