So, Iâve been obsessed with Lauren Kateâs Fallen series for years, but recently rereading it and Camâs book, Unforgiven, I realize some things Iâd like to critique. Spoilers, obviously; and tw for DA and Self-harm, gore, suicide
First, Camâs character is completely retconned in his book. In Passion, they tell us that Lilith, his love interest, holds him down and screams in his face, and belittles him so badly he actually believes what she says.
In his book, Unforgiven, the author just lazily says, âCam just imagined that!! That never actually happened.â
Except it did. We know this, because we werenât looking from Camâs POV, we were looking through Danielâs, the main character because was there when it happened. He even says the two would constantly fight, all the time, so loud that the entire village could hear them. I donât find that romantic.
After this moment, Cam joins Lucifer and even self-harms because heâs so upset. He completely gives up on love. In unforgiven, it says he never moves on from her, and every time he felt something for another girl, heâd leave before it got too serious. Unforgiven is just about him going back to Lilith, who was also retconned.
First, am I suppose to be impressed that he never moved on? That he held on to this toxic ass relationship? I know the author has this thing for all of her characters, where they all devote themselves to one person, and thatâs it.
For Daniel and Luce, that worked. For everyone else, it didnât. Tess and Arriane were toxic. Roland gave up and kept walls up for thousands of years, and will never let anyone else it. So really, only Daniel and Luce got a happy ending. But weâll get back into that in a moment.
Back to Lilith; we know Lilith was retconned because Daniel tells us that she was beautiful, but mean. She dumped Cam because of a church and verbally and physically abuses him, and has to be pulled off by Daniel. (Also why is Cam dating a teenager in high school anyway? Weirdo. Normalize immortals dating college girls and not minors)
We also know from Torment that Lilith had children, who (as she tells Cam in Passion) that she would curse all of her children to hate him, every female from her bloodline would hate him. And surprise! Torment, we meet Lilith, a direct descendant of Lilith who hates Cam, and sheâs JUST as mean, as stated by Shelby, who said Lilith caught her hair on fire in middle school.
But in Unforgiven, after they retconned that scene with âOMG NO, cam made that up!1!1!â Lilith ends up committing suicide because she was so heartbroken by Cam leaving her. She dies in her wedding dress.
How did she manage to have kids if that scene never happened? Why do they hate Cam, if he just imagined that scene? Why does Daniel mention it, and pretty clearly makes it obvious he didnât like Lilith.
I donât like Unforgiven, because it was retconned and changed the canon; it doesnât make sense, and I hate that cam went back to a toxic relationship. Like, she STILL hates him in the book; they fight every chapter, and it takes place in 15 days. Thatâs a lot of fucking fighting. Thatâs not healthy. Thatâs not love.
Itâs not uncommon that people cling to their first love, even if itâs toxic, because they donât want to see the red flags. They want to believe in love; and Cam is so naive, and itâs his first love ever, so of course heâd cling to it. She yelled in his face, they fought all the time, she held him down, which is domestic and emotional abuse. She degraded him. And he goes back to her in Unforgiven.
The author loves this toxic relationship and I donât know why. Itâs like none of her characters can move on from their first loves. Lucifer is still obsessed with Lucinda, Daniel is obsessed with Lucinda, Arriane never gets over Tess, Roland never gets over Roseline, and Cam never gets over Lilith.
Everyone, except Daniel, gives up on love. And itâs like Daniel gets rewarded with that by ending up with Lucinda, but no one else gets a happy ending. The author has this idea of first love and devotion being romantic.
She basically gives Cam this cliche, making-a-bet trope, and with the devil, of course; and itâs just him trying to get Lilith to love him? And he changes for her, because yknow, thatâs all women are good for. Changing bad men into good men. (Insert dramatic eye roll here)
His story shouldâve been about forgiving himself, loving HIMSELF, and moving past this trauma. It shouldâve been about him learning to love again, and letting go of the past. It shouldâve been about healing, and he couldâve found a love interest too; someone who understands him and helps him heal, not change but heal, and accepts him for who, and what, he is. He deserves a healthy love that doesnât fight with him constantly.
But letâs look at the canon now. It ends with them leaving Hell, because they won. Now what. Itâs left on a cliff hanger, because no one wants to face the inevitable: their relationship is doomed.
Lilith has been in Hell for seven thousand years. Her recent life, the only life she currently knows, she left behind. Her brother, her mother, her friends, everything she knows. Sheâll go to the modern world, which sheâs never been in. She wonât know any of the worldâs history, she wonât know the music, or technology, or anything about it. She will be a fish out of water, an outcast. Sheâll definitely struggle to fit in, and this will most likely cause fights between them. Sheâll resent Cam. She wonât be able to have a life, because where does she fit in with the new world? Without friends? Without her family? Lilith will struggle with the idea that Cam wonât age, and she will, because thatâs who Lilith is. Sure, the angels and Nephilim will help her, we assume; but sheâll crave human companionship; but she wouldnât even know where to start. Does she go to college, where she doesnât know anything? I doubt the Devil was teaching her basic school stuff during her time in Hell; (a lazy author would say he was, but we know heâs an asshole in the series, and canonically, he wouldnât.) so where does that leave them? Cam is her only friend? I can only imagine how many fights that will cause
She has a temper, like seriously bad, thereâs no way her and Cam will work out; which what happens then? Even if they do work out, cam never learned to love anyone besides her. He still ends up alone, and giving up on love. She never gets ANY character development at all. She never worked on her temper, which seems like a generational curse. I also hate that we get ZERO backstory on Cam. I want to know his story! How HE felt about The Fall, things heâs done, how he got so good at traveling through Announcers, seeing his powers as an Archangel, and just being introduced into more characters. Or like Lucifer, I wanted more about their bond. Like the tattoo on Camâs neck, and the night he joined Luciferâs side. This book was about Lilith, not Cam; I donât even like Lilith.
Iâm just unhappy with the book. I love the author, and the characters, but I definitely think she dropped the ball with Unforgiven. Camâs story let me down.
Letâs talk about Fallen in Love, which is a short story about how all of the previously mentioned characters got their hearts broken.
Letâs start with Cam, because itâll be short; because Iâve already talked about him.
We find Cam, who just got dumped by Lilith, self-harming under a waterfall. Water is deadly to Angels wings, so where is he? Laying underneath a waterfall, as it âbrutalizesâ his body. His body is one big purple bruise, and his wings are bleeding. Heâs joined Luciferâs side and became a demon, because heâs spiraling after the breakup. He had given up on love.
Clearly this scene broke my heart. I hate that we get this scene, just to know he gets back with Lilith. It sickens me.
He proceeds to lash out at Roland, who then also gives up on love.
Rolandâs story is that heâs a POC, always has been, and he feels comfortable in his skin. Roseline is a beautiful, blond rich girl who takes a liking to him. Sheâs human. Theyâre in love. Sheâs the only person who didnât see him for the color of his skin, and for who he was inside. He wants to be with her, but heâs afraid because heâs a demon, and immortal. After going to Cam, who will convince him not to ever love humans, because they canât be married in churches, and because theyâll never love him if they find out what they are; Roland will go to Roseline, and leave her. Heâll put up walls, and never let anyone else in again. He literally says this. (Also why a white girl?? Especially during that time? Weâve seen Roland as a slave, it wouldâve been nice seeing him advocating for his people, or doing something. Imagine him dating a pretty biracial girl, or any POC girl, leading a BLM rally in 2021 đ© him dating a rich white girl feels weird to me)
Arrianeâs story is that she in an Angel who is in love with a demon named Tess. Lucifer doesnât want any of the demons to date (because yknow he got dumped by Luce, so he punished everyone else. Very clichĂ© villain motives) so Lucifer tells Tess that she canât be with Arriane, unless she can convince her to join the demons. Tess relays this message to Arriane, but Arriane politely explains that she canât, and wonât. I respect her decision, because it IS her decision. She decides that she has to break up with Tess, who then fucking assaults her. She starts hitting Arriane, and causing her to bleed, and literally has the audacity to say itâs âfor loveâ and because sheâs showing her that how hard she would âfightâ for their love.
Uh no, honey. Youâre just physically assaulting your girlfriend. Thatâs not love. Please stop.
So naturally, Arriane breaks up with her and leaves. She then gets a bad feeling and returns to find Tess mutilating her fucking wings, and basically committing suicide, because âif she canât have Arriane, she wants nothing at all.â
Which is so manipulative, and so fucked up, and so unhealthy. So Arriane tries to save her, which ends up getting her seriously injured, and she ends up having to leave after telling Tess, âI love you and will never love another.â And leaves. And guess what? She never loves another. Never even tries.
But all three of these characters say they believe in love, and fight for Daniel and Luceâs love, but gives up on their own??? How is that fair?? Itâs like Daniel and Luce are the only ones who get to be happy.
Cam goes back to a toxic relationship.
And Roland and Arriane end up alone.
And letâs just rip on Daniel for a second. This man is so self-absorbed to see his friends suffering and doesnât care. Cam gets his heart broken, and what does he do? âWhy donât you just tell her?â Bro, thatâs his decision. And then brings up Lucinda as if to rub it in his face. When Cam said, âIâm lonely,â that made me so heartbroken. His relationship and favorite brother made him feel alone. I never said, âI WAS lonely,â he used current tense, meaning even with Lilith, he felt lonely, and those are the worst relationships. Daniel also doesnât cry about Gabbe and Molly sacrificing themselves for his story. He doesnât thank any of his friends for helping, he even says it was âexpectedâ of them. Heâs a terrible friend who only cared about Luce.
Bruh. So whatâs the moral of the story here? I seriously canât figure it out. Stay devoted to your first love? Love is impossible? Thereâs no underlying meaning, or moral here. Thereâs no lesson to be learned.
All three of the previously mentioned characters deserve their own book, on overcoming their individual traumas and heartbreaks. Why are we perpetuating this idea that people should stay with their first love??? Itâs not uncommon that people mistake their first love, which is usually just infatuation, or lust, or obsession, with love.
But love is gentle. Love is kind. Love is understanding, and patient. Love doesnât yell at you, love doesnât hit you. Love doesnât manipulate you. Love doesnât own you. Love isnât apathetic, love is empathetic.
Itâs okay not to work out with your first love. If at first you donât succeed, try again! And again, and again. But you canât love someone else, if you canât even love yourself. Until you accept your own flaws, youâre not going to be happy with someone else.
All of these characters need to learn to love themselves first, and look for the love within themselves. They were all so obsessed with the idea of being in love, that they ignored all of the red flags. They all wanted a love like Daniel and Luceâs, but fail to realize that no two relationships are the same. Love is unique. Itâs different for everyone. You shouldnât compare your love to someone elseâs, nor to love you had before. Never compare.
Not to your friendsâ relationship, or your past relationship, or youâll never succeed. It would be so great to see these characters forgive their past, and move forward, to move on. In breaking up, you learn so much about yourself. What you can handle, how strong you are, how capable you are, you learn your flaws, and what you can change about yourself, and most importantly, you learn what love isnât.
All of this is to prepare you for your next relationship. Love should nourish you, it should help you grow, you should learn from it, and be happy, most of all.
And not just romantic love, but platonic and self-love too; which is what the three of them need. I wouldâve love to see them coming together again, and see them being friends with Shelby and Miles still. Iâm not impressed that theyâre still dedicated and devoted to their exes. I think theyâre holding themselves back, and preventing themselves from being happy. I absolutely am not impressed, I donât admire it. I think itâs unhealthy and perpetuates toxic relationships and mindsets.
Theyâre immortals, and theyâve chosen to spend eternity alone. Even if Lilith loves Cam, when she dies, heâll never move in after her; because he never learned how to love anyone else. He doesnât want to.
I want them to experience real love, not fabricated, romanticized ideals of love; but real, happy, fun, love. Itâs not always easy, itâs going to hurt, but itâs worth it.
I want them all to find someone who loves them for them, and brings out the best in them. Someone who encourages them to find love, even after theyâre gone. They deserve to have so many epic loves.
Love is hope. Love is also betrayal. Yes youâll get your heartbroken, but donât ever give up. Love is worth it, above all. There are so many novels, and quotes that Iâd love to add, but this is just a rant no one will see, that I just needed to get off my chest, lol.
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