PERSONAL DEMONS by Lisa Desrochers

Title: PERSONAL DEMONS

Author: Lisa Desrochers
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: September 14, 2010
Number of Pages: 365
How I Got It: Bought the paperback after seeing it on so many top 2010 book lists

Goodreads 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 as if her senior year is going to be more of the same . . . until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can’t seem to stay away from him. 

What she doesn’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 stand a chance. But he 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. It isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie’s soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay . . . for all of them.
*************************
PERSONAL DEMONS is a fun, humorous, exciting, interesting, romantic, hard-to-put-down book. I hated putting it down and couldn't wait to pick it up again to find out where the story was heading. Lisa has created a fascinating backstory of the battle for souls between Heaven and Hell and the angels and demons that are in charge of tagging and protecting those souls. Even the idea of why each side wants Frannie so badly draws the reader into the story even more by feeling the importance of the task. Sarcasm and wittiness abound and make for a more engaging and distinct voice. Because of this, the story provokes some inner-thinking about religious beliefs and what one thinks and feels about both - while also giving a human face to each side. Ultimately, it's a story about love, forgiveness, pure intentions, and redemption and how those can lead to being a "good" person. It looks at the trueness of the soul and what that means for what happens to that soul.

Frannie is a senior in high school, and has her own inner turmoils to deal with, but now she's stuck between Luc (the demon) and Gabe (the angel) as they battle for her soul and she battles to figure out her attraction to each and what's real. The one problem I had with the book was that it's another young adult with a love triangle where the girl seems to instantly fall into crush with the boys involved, but I was okay with it because Frannie is a strong girl who can stand up for herself and fight for what she wants, so I was willing to buy into the attraction - especially because it's hard not to when reading the scenes of the story when she is with Luc. Interestingly enough, I felt the story was really more about Luc's journey than Frannie's. She has her own journey to make to acceptance herself, but it was demon Luc's transformation that I was most intrigued by that made me want to keep reading. That's probably partially due to it being written with alternating perspectives with Luc and Frannie's first person storytelling. I appreciated the way the main characters were written where I was able to discover more about each one as the book went on, and became more invested in what would happen to all of them in this overwhelming holy battle. This is definitely a more mature book in the overall mood of the romance, but is a really good and entertaining read.

4 1/2 STARS for PERSONAL DEMONS
I will definitely be getting my hands on the sequel, ORIGINAL SIN, as soon as I can when it is released in July, 2011. The 3rd book, title to be determined, will be released in May, 2012.

*Interestingly, Lisa's writing critique partner is Andrea Cremer, author of NIGHTSHADE, one of my all-time favorite books. I would say there is a similar vibe to these two authors in a really good way - so if you like one, you'll probably like the other.

UNEARTHLY by Cynthia Hand

Title: UNEARTHLY
Author: Cynthia Hand
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: January 4, 2011
Number of Pages: 435
How I Got It: Bought the Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:  
     In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . . 
     Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
     Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
     As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
     Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.
************************* 

This is a really interesting paranormal because it reads more like a contemporary. It was hard to put down and moved forward with an urgency to Clara's angel purpose and figuring out the good angels vs. Black Wings showdown that I could tell was coming, and had a take on the angel back story that was really interesting. I also really liked that Clara knew from the start that she was an angel-blood and was figuring out how to deal with it while trying to remain a normal high school girl. Along with this, this story had a true sense of a contemporary with a high school girl stuck between following her purpose to what she's told should do or following her heart to what she wants to do. Of course, those paths tie directly in with the two boys that she is dealing with - Christan (the boy from her purpose vision) and Tucker (her best friend's twin brother). I did definitely have a preference for one through the whole story, even before I knew he could be a real possibility for her, and when something finally developed, I enjoyed those parts of the story - in fact I think they were my favorites.

The story also deals a lot with family dynamics between Clara and her mother as another piece of the typical coming-of-age decision-making process Clara is going through - following the path her mother wants, or striking out on her own. Of course, with the angel background, it also portrays beliefs and fate and faith as thought-provoking conversations. This book, ultimately, is about decisions and choices and why we choose what we do and the impact that can have on others and ourselves. Early in the story, Clara's English teacher is talking about how people really get to know each other and wonders if it based on the actions we take - that nicely sets up the strong undercurrent of choices for the entire book. It also deals with the typical adolescent views on finding one's place in the world and having that change based on situations one encounters.

Another piece of this book that I really liked was the setting. The move to Jackson Hole, Wyoming is a big one for Clara and her family, and the descriptions of the setting and the way the author makes good use of the scenery available by the story taking place there adds greatly to the overall feelings of the story for the reader. I had a good time getting to know Clara and Tucker, but I was left feeling like there were things I was missing from other characters in Clara's life. I wanted to know a little more about some of the characters and what was going on with them - I have some lingering doubts about the intentions of some of them. I was left with a little bit of a sense of a let down by some of the pieces that I felt like I should have known more about, but didn't get in this book. Overall, I liked the book, and read it quickly, but as much as it wraps things up, it still ends with a lot of loose or unsure ends in my mind, and now there will be a long wait until the next book to find out where things go.

4 STARS for UNEARTHLY
The second book in the series will be coming out next year & I'll definitely be looking for it.

Book 2 of 12 for DAC 2011

Book Trailer for CRESCENDO by Becca Fitzpatrick

CRESCENDO by Becca Fitzpatrick, the sequel to fallen angel story HUSH, HUSH, comes out on October 19th - it's one of the October sequel releases I'm looking forward to. In anticipation of the release, I'm posting the book trailer.  Enjoy the preview, and if it seems interesting to you, go read HUSH, HUSH and look for CRESCENDO on October 19th.