Embrace, by Jessica Shirvington

This is yet another book where everything changes for our heroine on a magical birthday. In this case it's her seventeenth, and on this incredible day she finds out that she's some sort of half-angel and that her crush is also a half-angel who has been lying to her about it this whole time. Violet is also important in the battle of good vs. evil and although I didn't get that far, she probably ends up saving the day because she's extra special. I would continue with a summary except for the fact that I gave up right after the battle between good and evil was explained and I don't really remember all those details.

I've said before that all the fairy books blend into one another in my head, and though that isn't quite the case with angel books, it is true that there are very few that I have really truly loved (I think the Unearthly series is the only one and I even had problems with that one). I was more excited for this book because it seemed a bit different from the others and that can make an ordinary book extraordinary. Unfortunately for this one, the fact that it was different but still ordinary made it seem even worse.

You may now be wondering what was so horrible about this book, and it was a whole myriad of things. First and foremost, I thought it was written badly. I feel bad saying that because it isn't like I think I'm the most amazing writer, and if I wrote a book it would probably be worse than this one, but what I mean is that if you're publishing a book and putting your name on it, it should at least be written well. And this one wasn't. Another problem I had was that all the mysterious details were revealed within the first couple of pages, and they weren't even revealed well. There was an actual conversation between Violet and two other half-angel dudes who told her almost everything from start to finish, and frankly, it was exhausting and annoying to read. The best books of this type are the ones that reveal the information slowly and give you time to guess what will happen, but this book told you everything before you even realized there were strange things going on. The final big thing that bothered me was Violet's pretentiousness. All of these factors together, plus a few more that I did not mention, left me bored and disappointed and persuaded me to shut this book once and for all while I still had pages and pages remaining.

2.4 stars.
 
It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

Sweet Peril, by Wendy Higgins (Sweet Evil #2)

After the tragic events of the Summit at the end of Sweet Evil, Anna Whitt knows that the Dukes mean business, and she also knows that they must be stopped once and for all. Together with her father, Belial, the duke of substance abuse (I know, it's a little far-fetched, but just go with it), who is not quite as evil as his fellow dukey counterparts, Anna is trying to recruit other Nephilim to her cause. Throughout Anna's junior and senior years of high school, Belial is doing research on which Neph are likely to betray their fathers, and sending Anna and Kopano, son of the duke of wrath (a lot more typical, thank goodness), to go fetch potential allies to their cause. As Anna and Kope start getting closer, Anna can't stop thinking about Kaiden (stupid name, but again, just go with it), son of the duke of lust, but Kaiden has been impossible to reach since the Summit in New York. Anna has to decide whether to settle with the good guy or hold out for the bad guy with the potential to make her heart explode. Gee, I wonder who she chooses.

Sweet Evil sucked me in with the idea of a good girl stuck on the bad side, but in Sweet Peril that idea seemed kind of old. I found it a lot more cliche and emotional than Sweet Evil, with a little too much complaining about Kaiden, but still very good. I got so annoyed with her pining for Kaiden that at some point I was transferred to Team Kope. Despite my complaints about Anna's lovesickness, the way that all the Neph's emotions were being toyed with and how they all twisted up into a giant spiderweb was very cool. A little overdone, but cool nonetheless. It made certain parts that would have been a lot more boring intriguing.

My last note will seem sort of odd, but I still think it's valid. The dukes are just too nasty. I know they are supposed to be demons/devils/really really bad fallen angels, but the nastiness of the evil ones is so extreme that it takes away any character from them and makes them simply bad things. The supreme level of evilness that they have risen to has taken away any semblance of personality they may have had and makes them characters who can solidly be relied on to be cruel and bad. I would have loved to see a soft side to several of the dukes who have been declared as purely evil, but I doubt that will happen.

4.2 stars

Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things.

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

Boundless, by Cynthia Hand (Unearthly #3)

(Here are links to my reviews of books 1 and 2 in this series if you haven't read them yet: Unearthly and Hallowed)


In the final part of Clara's tale, she finds herself at Stanford with Christian and Angela. She is still heartbroken about leaving behind Tucker, her first love, but knows she has to get over him and move on with her life (which Christian is more than willing to help her with). However, Clara doesn't get much time to be a typical college student, because there is unrest in the battle between good and evil and Clara is right in the center of it. And the fact that a depressed fallen angel in love with her dead mom is following her around is not exactly helpful.



**************SPOILERS AHEAD******************

I liked Christian from the beginning and was really hoping that Clara would choose him in the end. Tucker is great and all and I understand why she chose him, but even in the first book, I liked Christian better. His ending was kind of sad, but it is nice to know that he has a successful career and a family, even if that family is his sister and her kid. It was also sweet that Angela and Christian were related and didn't know it. I had wondered since Unearthly why there were absolutely no sparks between the two, but now it all makes sense. I have to say though, I thought that ending was a cop-out. Tucker becoming a prophet-really? To me it seemed like the author stuck in a new concept last minute just to make a happy ending because she realized Clara couldn't end up with Christian as was originally planned. Nevertheless, this book was a satisfying ending and I recommend this series to anyone who hasn't read it. Even though you know the ending now if you've read this review.

4.6 stars. 


The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfill her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.

The Mephisto Covenant: The Redemption of Ajax, by Trinity Faegen

I felt like clapping when I closed this book just because it was the corniest thing I have ever read. The title should have been warning enough, but I still had some hope that this book wouldn't be so bad. I regret that hope. Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, which means she is destined for Heaven and will never be tempted by evil. Jax is one of the sons of one of the big guys down under, and as such he is doomed to walk the earth forever and ever until he finds true love in an Anabo. And if he were to die before that happened, he would be on an express train to Hell. So when Jax finds Sasha, he is extremely excited and is eager to get her to fall in love with him so he can redeem himself. However, the path to true love has many roadblocks, and they must survive being hunted by Jax's evil older brother Eryx who is willing to use evil teenagers and international espionage to find and kill Sasha.

The plot itself was corny, but it wasn't what destroyed this book. What made this absolutely unbearable was how fast everything moved. If part of the book had been days and days of Jax and Sasha getting to know each other it would have felt more natural. Instead, the two fell in love at first sight and told each other their deepest darkest secrets within five minutes of meeting. I expected a long drawn-out courtship with Jax's big secret getting revealed at the end and Sasha getting furious at him and then a big battle where they reunite because they truly love each other. After Jax told Sasha his deepest darkest secrets I lost patience and skipped to the end to read the last chapter. Unsurprisingly, I was able to understand exactly what was happening in the last chapter without reading a giant chunk of the book. In conclusion, this entire book would have been a waste of my time and I am very glad I lost patience.

2.0 stars. 


Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger--she is an Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx's biggest threat. 

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant--God's promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he's finally found the girl he's been searching for: Sasha. 

With the threat of Eryx always looming, Jax knows he has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?

Rapture, by Lauren Kate (Fallen #4)

Here are links to my reviews of other books in this series:
Fallen
Passion

The sky is dark with wings . . . .

Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again.

Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen.

For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters.

In the fight for Luce, who will win?

In the final Fallen novel, Luce and Daniel are rushing to keep history from being rewritten and trying to finally achieve a happily ever after. In order to do this they must perform some ritual (which they know almost nothing about) at the spot where the angels fell (which they also don't know) with three objects they know almost nothing about. And they have nine days to do it. Along the way Luce discovers new things about herself and remembers some of her past lives and at some point realizes that Daniel wasn't always her only love.

In a series surrounding a pair of lovers destined to (redundantly) love each other forever, you'd think that the guy who makes up half the pair should have some personality. If you did think that, like me, you would be wrong. While reading I kept my eyes pealed for any sign of actual character beyond his usual "I love Luce" mood but couldn't find any. The few that there were referred to Daniels of the past and not the one we are forced to read about now. On the other hand, my favorite character from book 1, Cam, only appeared a few times and had no real scenes all about him. I'm a little upset that we didn't find out more about his long lost love and I wish there had been more details on that. If it became a spin-off series, I would totally read that.

The many characters in this book confused me. Usually I'm pretty good about keeping up with what each character is up to but when there are 9 angels, a bunch of humans/Nephilim, and a collection of bad guys, it's hard to keep all the names straight. Having read the fourth book ages ago, I remembered the basic important characters and some of the more memorable ones, but when there are 3 (or two maybe-I confused them so much that I don't remember) female angels whose names start with A it's a little hard to keep track. At some point I stopped caring about who was doing what and just thought of them all as "that female angel".

Fantasy involving angels is different than fantasy involving vampires, werewolves, or any other supernatural creature, in that they are rooted in theology and religion and therefore, any book about angels is either deeply religious or tries to ignore the topic. The religious approach can be pretty annoying for anyone not of the religion in question (I'm talking about fantasy novels read for leisure, not religious texts or non-fiction) and ignoring runs into problems when it comes to explanations and the ultimate source. The presence of God in Rapture was ..... interesting. The description was beautiful, but I also thought it was sort of petty. I won't get into it because I don't want to go on and on about religion, but I didn't really understand and didn't really like the message that Lauren Kate was sending about religion.

This book had one of the best endings I've read in a long time, especially when you consider that I didn't really enjoy this series all that much. There was no "what will happen to everyone" lurking in the back of my head because all that is solved quite reasonably and all the technical and magical issues are dealt with without making up any new magical laws. Luce and Daniel (yes they end up together, but this isn't a spoiler because anyone with half a brain knows nothing will keep them apart) are together in, in my opinion, the best way they can be.

I wasn't sure about this series and actually skimmed 2 of the 4 books and was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed Rapture. I was only reading it for the sake of knowing what happens to Luce and Daniel because as much as I complain about this series, the storyline is really good (for the most part). The first book was really good, but books 2 and 3 were, to put it kindly, not. I only read book 3 because I wanted to get every last shred of suspense left in me out so I could finally put this series to rest. However, despite the redemption in this book, I'm not sure if I would recommend this series to anyone.

4.8 stars.