Release Date – May 1, 2012
Publisher Website – Harper Collins
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader
Pages - 454 pages
My Rating- 3.5/5
**purchased**
Here is the Goodreads synopsis
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?Temptation. Seduction. Sin. What if you couldn’t resist a particular sin? Even worse, what if you had to tempt others to commit that same sin? This is the premise behind Wendy Higgins debut novel.
The premise was what drew me into the story. It ended up being my favourite part of the novel. The whole idea that there are demons “in charge” of each sin and their children work for them by tempting others to commit that particular sin fascinated me. Their very lives depend on keeping their fathers happy, and this means working. Each of the children feels a pull towards their particular sin, and it becomes too great to resist.
While the plot appealed to me, and I found it to be an interesting premise, the characters were harder to relate to. I often got frustrated with Anna’s personality. The was no moderation with her character. Her father is the demon "in charge" of Drinking/Drugs. Anna feels the pull towards this particular vice and can’t have one sip of alcohol without wanting more. She is unable to enforce her limits. The push/pull of her angelic side, and demon side made it that she was steadfast in her convictions, but the minute she gave in and decided to “sin” she was like an addict. Kissing Kaidan, drinking, and other “sinful” behaviours were ones that tended to make her go overboard. I did like that she wanted to try and resist. The author does a fantastic job of showcasing the two different desires within Anna.
Kaidan literally is temptation. The son of the demon "in charge" of Lust, Kaidan’s purpose is to tempt others to give into their desires. This makes him overtly sexual, and he pushes Anna’s buttons immediately. I found myself disconnected from Kaidan because I feel I didn’t really get to know him that well. He even had a British accent, which tends to make me loose my cool. I felt like he spent more time being not very nice to Anna and I wanted to scream at her to like someone who was going to treat her better. I will give him credit for the nice things he did do and hope that we get to explore his motivations in the sequel.
The romance while very spicy and sexy was a little rushed. Anna was in love with Kaidan while barely knowing him. I have a huge problem with a guy telling a girl to stay away from him because he is dangerous and yet she chases after him anyways and this is exactly what Anna does. She finds reasons to seek him out and doesn’t listen when Kaidan is telling her to back off. When they are together the connection is electric, and physical. I enjoyed the scorching chemistry and just wished it carried over to the non physical parts of their flirtation.
Wendy Higgins' demons are scary and were something else I really enjoyed. The climatic scene had me eagerly turning the pages to see what would happen. The demons in this tale are ruthless, punish for entertainment and expect nothing less than obedience.
While I had mixed feelings about Sweet Evil, I did enjoy it overall. It’s a highly readable, fast paced novel that has an intriguing premise behind it. I am curious to see where the story will go next as Anna’s fight between her angelic and demon sides is just heating up.
Unfortunately I never finished this. I was having a difficult time connecting with it, particularly with Anna and I needed to pass my copy onto a friend once I read it, so I stopped reading not long after she met Kaidan. I've been contemplating giving it another try, because sometimes books and I get off to a rough start, but we have a very healthy relationship afterward!
ReplyDeleteI do love the sound of the demons and Wendy's mythology in this - seems like she explored that really well. Awesome review, Kathy!! Glad you enjoyed this, despite some flaws.
Glad to hear that, despite its minor flaws and shortcomings, you ended up enjoying this book. I myself haven't read it yet - I might pick it up sometime later this year (if time permits... yeah, right! who am I kidding?!), but it isn't on top of my priority list. There are many other paranormal books that I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy more. I have heard mixed things about this one, and your review only solidified my decision to steer clear of this book for now. I do love how eloquently and gracefully you expressed yourself here, though. Being able to write a not-entirely positive review with such positive attitude and grace is a huge accomplishment. I admire that about you, babe! HUGS!
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