Review: Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Page Count: 369pages, Hardcover

Date Published: March 6th 2012

Find it on Goodreads: Embrace

Source: Library

Rating:  1.5/5

It starts with a whisper: "It's time for you to know who you are..."

On her 17th birthday, everything will change for Violet Eden. The boy she loves will betray her. Her enemy will save her. She will have to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice.
Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, EMBRACE is a compelling novel of good and evil, seductive desires and impossible choices. A centuries old war between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity chooses a new fighter. It's a battle Violet doesn't want, but she lives her life by two rules: don't run and don't quit. If angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden.
LINCOLN: He's been Violet's one anchor, her running partner and kickboxing trainer. Only he never told her he's Grigori--part human, part angel--and that he was training her for an ancient battle between Angels and Exiles.
PHOENIX: No one knows where his loyalties lie, yet he's the only one there to pick up the pieces and protect her after Lincoln's lies. In a world of dark and light, he is all shades of gray.
Two sides: Angel or Exile.
Two guys: Lincoln or Phoenix.
The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity...

 

My Thoughts: And here I thought angel books were getting better... 

I've always had hesitations when it comes to reading books about angels, but lately I've been finding some pretty good ones, even some that I adored. So I decided to give this one a try... I'm going to be blunt: I am SO glad I took this out from the library. If you really loved this book, please do not feel the need to read this review. These are my honest opinions, and honestly, I did not enjoy this book.

This was yet again an insta-luv, boring plot, love-triangle infested, selfish main character book that I skimmed through most of because I just really didn't enjoy it. Usually I'm all over the bad boy love interests. I'm a fifteen year old girl, it's supposed to be in my nature. But this one?

 I really didn't enjoy the characters in this book at all. I found Violet to be quite selfish and childish. There were so many things about that girl that annoyed me to the max. I felt that she overreacted a LOT when she finds out that she's not who she thought she was.. Her reaction towards Lincoln in my opinion was that of a melodramatic 11 year old who is upset because she didn't get what she wanted. I kind of liked Lincoln! But then there was Phoenix. I just didn't like him! He was not the type of guy for me. In my opinion he was moody and kind of possessive. The insta-luv between him and Violet made my stomach turn as well.


Moving back to Violet, I felt that her characterization was a bit unbalanced. Some times she would be really timid, shy and soft spoken. Then suddenly she would morph into this really snarky, rude person that I couldn't stand. Once again, her attitude towards Lincoln in the beginning made me shake my head and I had a really hard time getting through this book. THEN there was Violet's father. His parenting was REALLY inconsistent as well. One minute he was lecturing Lincoln to be careful with Violet, the next he left them at a club together! I just didn't get it... I found that there was a lot of development to this book, but not much action, and thus I was bored most of the way through. I will say that the prose was very beautiful at some points, which made the read a smidge easier. I think this book could have been more enjoyable had I related more to the characters. There were just so many things that I couldn't get over, it was hard to not give up on the book. 

I wish I had enjoyed this book more than I did. I really do. And who knows, maybe I'm just not in the right mood for this type of book at the moment. Perhaps I'll pick it up in two months and love it. But for right now, this wasn't the book for me. 

Happy reading!
~Kristy