Sweet Peril (The Sweet Trilogy #2) by Wendy Higgins
This is a young adult paranormal romance (Rated PG-16)
♥♥1/2
(Two and half Perilous Hearts)
Book Summary
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?
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?
My Review
A SPOILER REVIEW
– no way around it.
Okay, here we go. Look, I’m honest about my feelings. I
think it can only help readers and authors alike if you are honest. Here is a
book written that had a ton of potential. In fact even after that major unbelievable
set up in the first book where a Conservative mother lets her daughter go on a
road trip with a guy she met in less than a week, I read this book. I tried to
get past that in that book. And beside that unbelievable bit, Sweet Evil was an intriguing story.
But here. I have 2 major problems with this story. And I
have a minor one. So I’ll start with that. The first half of the book was
really rather boring. A lot of nothing happened and could have easily been cut
to add more interesting things. Days go by without her explaining. But she
explained other stuff that really didn’t add anything to the story. UGH. It reminded me of that third Fallen book by Lauren Kate where the female lead regressed into incessant memories for the whole of the book. And that is a place no author would want to go. I
would have rather heard interactions at school with Anna's friends. And if that was the only problem, I could have added another star to my rating. Sadly it wasn't.
Okay, so this is probably my biggest issue. Anna to save her
own ass pretends to be “working” (and if you haven’t read the story, you won’t
understand my meaning with that word). So here she is, going to parties and enticing
people to drink and party (drugs are happening to). She’s even indulges herself
“to save her own ass” (not drugs). Yet, she won’t have sex….. Well, she needs
to remain pure after all. (that’s sarcasm). Really. If only Anna would have said no to sex because she wants to wait until marriage or true love. But no, she says she won't have sex ONLY because she needs to be able to hold the sword of righteousness. Really?? Where is the purity in that? Purity is not only in actions, it's in thoughts. And no one is pure. We all fall short in the eyes of God. It is what lies in our heart that fuels are actions that determines whether we are worthy or not, not your sexual status. And like Anna getting drunk or high can't
lead to sex?
Oh, purity. Somehow because she’s repentant about encouraging underage drinking and gets people "safe" rides homes, God will overlook that. In fact, she can go to 3rd base with Kai, but not have sex and she’s still pure. Next thing Anna will say is that anal or oral sex will be okay as long as she remains a virgin. (And by that I mean vaginal sex. And that’s bull) Really. Hey, here's a thought. Have "safe" sex with Kai and repent afterwards and she's covered. It worked with the drinking thing. (yeah, right).
What are we really saying to teen girls? That their value lies in between their legs. That, if you aren't a virgin, God will not find you worthy. That's laughable. Sin is sin. No sin is worse than another in his eyes.(And no I'm not encouraging teens to have sex). And what if a virgin is raped? Will she not be able to hold the sword of righteousness? Somehow, I don’t think purity is measured by your V Card. I think its soul deep determined by your actions (more than just sex). Hey how about selflessness.
Oh, purity. Somehow because she’s repentant about encouraging underage drinking and gets people "safe" rides homes, God will overlook that. In fact, she can go to 3rd base with Kai, but not have sex and she’s still pure. Next thing Anna will say is that anal or oral sex will be okay as long as she remains a virgin. (And by that I mean vaginal sex. And that’s bull) Really. Hey, here's a thought. Have "safe" sex with Kai and repent afterwards and she's covered. It worked with the drinking thing. (yeah, right).
What are we really saying to teen girls? That their value lies in between their legs. That, if you aren't a virgin, God will not find you worthy. That's laughable. Sin is sin. No sin is worse than another in his eyes.(And no I'm not encouraging teens to have sex). And what if a virgin is raped? Will she not be able to hold the sword of righteousness? Somehow, I don’t think purity is measured by your V Card. I think its soul deep determined by your actions (more than just sex). Hey how about selflessness.
Which leads me into my second problem with the story. The
main focus of the story is recruiting members of the Neph to help in a
future battle. They talk about keeping the members safe. Yet, 5 of them
remain silent in the water as one of them is killed. What the hell? And Anna’s
pure? Where is fighting for what’s right? What is a hero? It’s not someone who
rides in with an army at his back. A hero is one that charges in alone to save
the people with no regard to their own safety. That’s a hero. That is someone pure at heart. Not selfish Neph who’d
let one of their own die without even trying a little to save their member out of fear. It is within fear that heroes are born.
Sorry, if this book didn’t have a sword of righteousness that
could only be held by someone pure, opps, I mean virgin, maybe I wouldn’t have had such a huge problem. My
only problem then would be with a weak heroine, who if left to save the world, would
allow everyone to die as long as she lived. She lacks backbone, selflessness,
and a purity she thinks she has.
I think if this author would have had an a brutally honest beta reader like me, this could have been an awesome story. Such a shame.
I think if this author would have had an a brutally honest beta reader like me, this could have been an awesome story. Such a shame.
Audio Review
Erin Mallon did a good job with this narration.
My book boyfriend Kaidan.
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