Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen (July 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765328097
ISBN-13: 978-0765328090
Series: Personal Demons #2
Source: Finished copy provided by the publisher
Cover: I like this cover less not because it is less but because Luc is in the background and Gabe is up close. I get why but it still makes me sad. Like with the last one, this cover still doesn't strike me as young adult but that's all good. I do love the blue theme for this one!
Mini-Review: Devilishly good sequel with the same steam as the first and new and old characters to fall in love with!
From Goodreads:
Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.
Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.
Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.
And not everyone will get out of it alive.Book Review:
Personal Demons was a steamy, passionate ride and Original Sin perfected it. Frannie, Luc, and the gang are back and flourish with an unique and page-turning plot. The enemies are deliciously bad, the good guys are flawed and the dual points of view were just as good the second time around. Original Sin is everything I wanted in a sequel and more!
Frannie continues to be a capable heroine in this next installment of the novel. I liked in the first novel that she was strong and able to hold her own. In this newest installment, Frannie is in a transitional stage. She's learning about her new found powers and is struggling to come to terms with what they mean for her life. While she still has her physical strength, Frannie is incredible lost and therefore, she is emotionally weak. I found myself wishing she believed in herself a bit more and was able to control her emotions. She tended to make reckless decisions in her emotional state which frustrated me at times because she knows better. However, most of her plans seem full proof to me at the time she's hatching them so I can't say too much here.
On the same note, Luc made several bad decisions but his overall journey was a pleasant one for me. I liked seeing him venerable. It's interesting to see a character that has had so much power for so long be wrought almost helpless in that sense. I liked seeing how he reacted even without his super powers. He did his best and it was admirable. His chapters really worked to balance out Frannie's overly emotional ones and it was interesting to watch him struggle not to succumb to some of the traps their new enemies laid for him.
Matt's perspective was essential and frustrating. Luckily, it seems that Ms. Desrochers was striving for this and in that, she succeeded. Matt provided a nice low note to Frannie and Luc's high. But what's more, his path was so completely sad. Without saying too much, I wanted what Frannie wanted for him and even though his love interest seemed almost too good to be true, I wanted it for him because I wanted him to be happy (though I mostly wanted him happy so he'd butt out of Frannie's happiness).
For some reason, I was expecting the same old enemies under a barely new hat but what I got was drastically different. These new enemies that Ms. Desrochers threw at her characters were devious in a whole slew of new ways. While I found their powers infuriating at times, it definitely helped weave a fast paced plot. By the time I reached the halfway point in the novel, I found it impossible to put down and needed to know what happened to these characters, good or bad. We are also greeted with the same charmingly sarcastic and witty writing as the first novel. Derochers manages to steamy up the page even further, taking "hotter than Hell" to an entirely new (and welcome) dimension.
No doubt about it, Original Sin is sinfully good, hitting all the right notes. Combining the same characters we feel in love with the first time around with an entirely new breed of bad and a plot that whips around the reader at every corner, it's hard to put down. Like Luc, the ending will leave you wanting more and I'm willing to bet the next installment will absolutely deliver!
Sounds like a book I need to pick up! I heard a lot of good things about the first one, too. I agree with you on the cover, though -- definitely does not look like young adult. Oh well. Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree -- Matt made me sad. He was just so angry about everything and so very selfish. Such a well-done story, I couldn't put it down! Great review!
ReplyDeleteHappy reading,
Mary @ Book Swarm
It's Budapest in the video! At 00:12! xD
ReplyDelete