Thursday, 15 September 2011

book review, marathon (Personal Demons & Original Sin)

[I shouldn’t be reviewing this book] 

Personal Demons                                           (16/Sept/11)
           
If you had to choose between Heaven and Hell, which would it be? ....are you sure about that?

Prod deets: personal demons series, book one
Pub: 2010, US by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC (New York)
Author: Lisa Descrochers
Cat: fiction, paranormal (hell & heven)
Format: paperback; 365pp w/23 chapters
Age Range: YA

Summary: Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance even her closest friends and it seems like her senior year is going to be more of the same...until Luc Cain enrols in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can t stay away from him. What she doesn’t t know is that Luc is on a mission. He s been sent from hell itself to claim Frannie s soul. It should be easy all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t t stand a chance. But Luc has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can t be far behind. And sure enough, it s not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. But if Luc fails, there will be hell to pay...for all of them.

Review: so.... that’s what this book was like. It wasn’t that it was all that bad, towards the end it picked up and made you glad you decided to read the things, but....
  So the book is about Luc, I believe more so than it’s about Frannie, though, or course, she plays a big part in it all. And that was interesting, I thought, if demons were your thing, maybe.
  I don’t know, I think, though it had great characters, they weren’t... anything special, anything that made them a reason to read the books, as a demon Luc was so... typically demon, there wasn’t any imagination throughout the whole book, like she pick the most thought up things about heaven and hell and went, ‘that’ll do’. It was a shame that it always seemed to be speaking in most common lines, the only thing I really liked was how Luc fell in love with Frannie, that was one of the most honest bits in the whole book, and it’s worth reading, just for that.
  Gabe, just pops in there and it takes a little while for you to realise he isn’t someone else, or I thought, I had to go back to see what the hell actually happened, even though I read it. And as a angle he was sweet, and confused, that was him, full stop. I feel though he should come into his own in the next one, ‘cause he’s got his own say.
  Then there’s Frannie—why do they always have to be blonde petite and good at working on cars? it was looking at a badly done. Or at least it was a fact that didn’t seem to be need at all. and her with a secret that screamed at the reader (just guess what happen?) she’s predictable, and though not an annoying character, actually, even with her predictability, she was never annoying, in what she thought or what she said, which was her only winning quality – I thought.

Picking on: (what I jotted down when reading this book, it’s like above, a little bit of a bitch, sorry I actually think I was in a bit of a mood while reading it, and the book didn’t help)
            [Notes while reading, so I can remember for the review, as I wrote them]
  Already at page 20 (though the writing started at page 11) I find that it’s really scripted, like the person telling the story is repeating something in a mono toned dribble. I’m finding there’s no real voice to the character—though saying this we have read 9 pages and it’s gone Luc, Frannie, Luc... so what’s to learn.
  [When the hell did the class end? – bottom, page 20]
  Page 30—over it
  It’s really written like they are talking to someone, not themselves. That’s what’s making it... weird.
  Where the hell did Gabe come from? Honestly out of the blue another hot guy—without a thought.
  [Hysterical—Gabrielle, Lucifer & Mary Francis]
  !! A girl that works on cars...?!!! Original or what? Reminds me of ‘Angle burn’ only that female character suited the position a lot better
  Page 59—why would he recognise the emotions in himself for what they are? Though, really, I can sorta get it.
  Frannie uses a word that she just wouldn’t, page 61; it’s more Luc’s thing. (This one was all about me being in a bitch of a mood, sorry)
  One thing, her (Frannie) over use of the word ‘whatever’ seriously I’m surprised there isn’t any TMI’s or OMGing in places they really shouldn’t be.
            Sorry but ‘whatever in a place that... yeah, this book has no real... anything. It’s actually starting to piss me off and more so if something doesn’t really—nah, getting that started, it’s the voice of the book that’s annoying me more than anything.
  Page 76 and something clicks—is this book about Luc? [Spoiler was here]
  Took till page 170 to get use to the way it was written & page 200 to actually start liking were it was heading. And even though I want to read the next, I don’t.
 

&


                                                Original Sin                                                     (17/Sept)

         Is anyone above temptation?

Prod deets: personal demons series, book two
Pub: 2011, [same as above]
Format: paperback; 398pp w/29 chapters
Age Range: YA

Summary: 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.


Review: I not sure if I liked this book better than the first one of if I hated it more. It was... the same, in every way (which is actually a good thing, if you think about it) the parts of Frannie and Luc where great, it was even good when Gabe came back and his need for Luc. It was Matt that ruined this book for me, seriously, I understand him, and the born jealousy that he holds, it’s for that reason to that he annoyed me, I hate that type of person that can’t look at their own mistakes, that blame everyone else for their own fuckups, but saying this, to me, it felt as if (and this is past history too) that he was born this way, as most are, and if so, would he have ever become a angel, I don’t think so. I also know, like from the end why they did this, put him in, make you be able to see the evil side of things as well, but honestly...yeah, it’s not something I can read, I hated it and more so when you have to read from their heads, especially when you see their own mistakes and they bitch about it not being there fault, oh, and... yeah.
  Sorry but these books annoyed me for so many reason and while I read it I got pissed off, I wasn’t even really sure why, maybe because I was forcing myself to read them. Who knows, but I just...yeah, it not like I’d wish the time back (mostly ‘cause I’m just not like that) they mustn’t have been all bad since I actually finished both of them, so they couldn’t be as bad as I’m making them out to be, but....

Parental note: there’s a very big emphases on sex in these books, and yet there isn’t any. The swearing is low if there at all, I can’t remember it. And unless you don’t want your children reading anything about heaven and hell, this is a book to stay clear of. Though there is a bit of violence, it’s done tastefully.

Next: Hellbent