February 17, 2012

Review: Embrace By Jessica Shirvington



Embrace
By Jessica Shirvington
Hardcover, 367 pages
Expected publication: March 1st 2012
By Sourcebooks Fire
I slowly opened my eyes. The sun speared its first bright rays of golden orange into the sky and I leapt from the cliff, with the sorrowful knowledge that no matter what the outcome, at least part of me would die that day...

Violet Eden is dreading her seventeenth birthday dinner. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. The one bright spot is that Lincoln will be there. Sexy, mature and aloof, he is Violet’s idea of perfection. But why does he seem so reluctant to be anything more than a friend?

After he gives her the world’s most incredible kiss – and then abandons her on her front doorstep – Violet is determined to get some answers. But nothing could have prepared her for Lincoln’s explanation: he is Grigori – part angel and part human – and Violet is his eternal partner.

Without warning, Violet’s world is turned upside down. She never believed in God, let alone angels. But there’s no denying the strange changes in her body ... and her feelings for Lincoln. Suddenly, she can’t stand to be around him. Luckily, Phoenix, an exiled angel, has come into her life. He’s intense and enigmatic, but at least he never lied to her.

As Violet gets caught up in an ancient battle between dark and light, she must choose her path. The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity...

I enjoyed Embrace a lot, but I do have some mixed emotions.

In the beginning of the story Violet starts out as a very strong character. She wasn’t afraid of a fight, and she sure didn’t keep her mouth shut when something needed to be said. Violet has not had a very easy life. Her mother died giving birth to her, and she went through a very dramatic incident at the age of fourteen. Now she finds out that she is half-human and half-angel. Not knowing how to deal with this new information about herself, she shuts the world out for a bit. To top things all off she is love with the one person she cannot be with, and she learns lots of new things about her mother. Her father is rarely around, and she can’t really turn to her best friend.With everything she went through and continued to experience, she was still holding her head high. I loved her relationship with Lincoln, her trainer/crush. Lincoln is another strong character that I quickly fell in love with. He was very attentive to Violet and was always there for her when she needed him. The main idea of the story was also a plus. I loved the world Jessica Shirvington created and I can easily see it growing into something much bigger than it is in Embrace. There are two more books in this series and I cannot wait to read them and finish learning how Violet’s new world works.

There were some things that bothered me about the story, but it wasn’t anything that made me want to stop reading, but it did leave me with lots of mixed emotions though and I did need to take some time before writing this review to take it all in.

1. Like I mentioned before, Violet starts out as a very strong character, but I felt once she found out the truth about herself she sort of fell off. To me she was making a lot of bad decisions and doing things out of spite. I also thought she was selfish at times. I was a little frustrated while reading and found myself asking “why?” a lot. Towards the end of the book though I think she overcame it all, but this bothered me a bit while reading.

2. There is a love triangle that (to others it might not come off this way) I feel wasn’t necessary. In order for me to go into details with this one I would have to include spoilers, so I can’t.

Overall, Embrace has enough action to keep you turning the pages, a romance that was hot and sad at the same time, and very likable characters. It also had a couple of twist and turns I did not see coming at all. I cannot wait for the second book in the series. I am dying to learn about what will happen next to Violet after everything that happened in Embrace.

3.5 out of 5 Stars!




12 comments:

  1. Love triangles and I don't always get along, but I'm definitely going to read this still. It sounds like an interesting take on the angel mythology, and Lincoln sounds like a swoon-worthy lead. :-) Thanks for the review!

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    1. Oh Lincoln is soooo swoon-worthy! You're going to enjoy it a lot more than if you're into love triangles. I like them, but lately I just feel like they've been over done lol.

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  2. Great review I'm reading this one soon for the tour I've heard a lot of positive things about it. I feel like a lot of love triangle in YA and unnecessary so too bad this one fell in with those too. I'll know what to expect now at least.

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    1. You might like it though. Where I don't really like them, Wanda loves them lol

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  3. Thanks for the great review of this book. I will definitely give it a read now :)
    Ashley A

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  4. I wasn't sure about this one but I think now that I will read it. Thank you for the great review.

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  5. I just got this book from Sourcebooks! Very excited to hear it as it's gotten some mixed reviews. Thanks for your input :D

    Kristin @ Growingupya.blogspot.com

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  6. The cover of this book first caught me and then I started to read reviews and decided I wanted to read it. Yours made me want to give a go even more. Thanks!!

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  8. Just finished this book and really loved it. I was so sad about the lack of actual romance in the book, but you can’t have it all.

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