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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lincoln is the blandest love interest ive literally ever read. at least phoenix had some spice in him and actually made the first book enjoyable because the characters had chemistry between them. oh, book 3, please don't let me down.
Entice takes place shortly after Embrace left off: Violet is getting stronger with training and she is learning more about Grigori and exiles. She and Lincoln are still fighting their mutual affection, with little success. Violet is looking forward to the new Grigori arriving in town, and hoping Onyx will just leave her alone.
I liked Violet, she was strong and spunky. She had pretty much accepted that she was Grigori, for better or worse. Though she still struggled with her feelings for Lincoln, she realized a relationship with him would be impossible and tried to do the right thing. One thing that bugged me was her seeming unconcern about her doors being unlocked, even though she knew she had locked them. She would think “that’s odd,” then just move on. She never thought to tell Lincoln or Griffin or, I don’t know, the police? For someone who had exiles trying hard to kill her, she didn’t seem to mind the fact that someone had obviously tampered with her doors.
Lincoln seemed to waffle with his feelings for Violet, and I was getting just as frustrated as she with trying to figure him out. He seemed to care about her, then he would run off with Grigori Magda for some secret mission he wouldn’t tell Violet about. I thought we were through with the secret keeping, Linc? Magda seemed to hate Violet even more in Entice than she did in Embrace, and never really gave a reason.
I especially liked Violet’s best friend Steph. She was another strong character, and a wonderful friend to Violet. As much as she was in the novel, I’m surprised by how little we knew about her. Onyx, the big bad from Embrace, was back to torment Violet, but his character also went through some surprising changes. We learned just a bit of the history of the Grigori in their little group, but I would have liked some more backstory and personal histories of them as people.
Jessica added a lot of new information and Grigori/exile lore to this story, but it didn’t seem as confusing to me as the previous book. The one aspect of the writing that bothered me were the unfinished thoughts. For example (just a made up example, this never actually happened in the book), Violet would look at someone and think to herself “That can’t be who I think it is.” Then she’d move on to something else and I would be left wondering who the hell she thought it was.
The dialogue was the same, lots of snark from Steph and Violet, with a few chuckle-out-loud moments. There were still some unanswered questions (some of them even leftover from Embrace), and I really hope the answers show up in Emblaze. The gang did some traveling this time, and if you suspend your belief that a young woman could travel halfway around the world without her dad knowing, it’s a nice change of pace from Lincoln’s house, where the majority of the book takes place. There were a few surprises, but the big bad was not one of them. The signs were there throughout the entire novel, and frankly I’m surprised it took everyone as long as it did to figure it out.
The cover is perfect and matches the first book in tone and color. If I didn’t know anything about the book, the cover would definitely grab my attention.
The sum up:
Just as good as the previous book, this one furthers the overall plot and the characters’ relationships. It will leave you eager for the next one.
I liked Violet, she was strong and spunky. She had pretty much accepted that she was Grigori, for better or worse. Though she still struggled with her feelings for Lincoln, she realized a relationship with him would be impossible and tried to do the right thing. One thing that bugged me was her seeming unconcern about her doors being unlocked, even though she knew she had locked them. She would think “that’s odd,” then just move on. She never thought to tell Lincoln or Griffin or, I don’t know, the police? For someone who had exiles trying hard to kill her, she didn’t seem to mind the fact that someone had obviously tampered with her doors.
Lincoln seemed to waffle with his feelings for Violet, and I was getting just as frustrated as she with trying to figure him out. He seemed to care about her, then he would run off with Grigori Magda for some secret mission he wouldn’t tell Violet about. I thought we were through with the secret keeping, Linc? Magda seemed to hate Violet even more in Entice than she did in Embrace, and never really gave a reason.
I especially liked Violet’s best friend Steph. She was another strong character, and a wonderful friend to Violet. As much as she was in the novel, I’m surprised by how little we knew about her. Onyx, the big bad from Embrace, was back to torment Violet, but his character also went through some surprising changes. We learned just a bit of the history of the Grigori in their little group, but I would have liked some more backstory and personal histories of them as people.
Jessica added a lot of new information and Grigori/exile lore to this story, but it didn’t seem as confusing to me as the previous book. The one aspect of the writing that bothered me were the unfinished thoughts. For example (just a made up example, this never actually happened in the book), Violet would look at someone and think to herself “That can’t be who I think it is.” Then she’d move on to something else and I would be left wondering who the hell she thought it was.
The dialogue was the same, lots of snark from Steph and Violet, with a few chuckle-out-loud moments. There were still some unanswered questions (some of them even leftover from Embrace), and I really hope the answers show up in Emblaze. The gang did some traveling this time, and if you suspend your belief that a young woman could travel halfway around the world without her dad knowing, it’s a nice change of pace from Lincoln’s house, where the majority of the book takes place. There were a few surprises, but the big bad was not one of them. The signs were there throughout the entire novel, and frankly I’m surprised it took everyone as long as it did to figure it out.
The cover is perfect and matches the first book in tone and color. If I didn’t know anything about the book, the cover would definitely grab my attention.
The sum up:
Just as good as the previous book, this one furthers the overall plot and the characters’ relationships. It will leave you eager for the next one.
Let me go on the record as saying that I'm not a religious person. I'm not denying the existence of God, or any other higher power, but neither do I pray or worship. My own beliefs aside, I do not judge others for their own religious views. That being said, when a book begins to preach religion to me, I get a little put off. I will usually smack myself in the face, and tell myself to loosen up, but it's still there, that little niggling shadow. As I start to read a book about angels, my hackles begin to rise. Am I about to feel like a sinner? This series manages to discuss, not just angels, but even a little bit of religion, without making me feel overwhelmed, or bad about myself in any way. It doesn't force anything on me, and I am completely free to enjoy the plot and characters, without distraction.
The plot was complex, but not in an overly complicated way. There were brief hints and foreshadowing, and I loved that it wasn't so obvious that I had it all worked out. The element of surprise is too often underrated. I also want to give a huge thank you to Ms. Shirvington for providing enough reminders about the first book. It has been over a year since I read it, and when I started reading this second book, I almost had a panic attack. Full on hyperventilating! (not really...) I am a parent with small children! I can retain nothing in my miniscule memory that doesn't directly pertain to the children's eating, sleeping or health. While a full scale synopsis of the first book wouldn't have been turned down, there were enough reminders that I could put two and two together.
Despite the large cast of characters, there are really only two, in my opinion. Violet and Lincoln. Yup. The others characters are great, sure, but the chemistry between these two is so electric, I couldn't get enough of them. Ahhh... forbidden love. Is there anything hotter? From my hazy memories of the first book, I had been really conflicted with the *inevitable* love triangle. Phoenix makes Bad look Good! I was a little disappointed that he doesn't play a larger part in the second book, but I just know that he'll be making some waves in the third one, Emblaze. And you know I'll be reading it soon!
And tell me the US covers aren't HOT, right?! I am not a fan of the UK ones, AT ALL! They are just too soft and gentle for such a strong woman, such as Violet. She can definitely pull off the leather pants and corsets.
The plot was complex, but not in an overly complicated way. There were brief hints and foreshadowing, and I loved that it wasn't so obvious that I had it all worked out. The element of surprise is too often underrated. I also want to give a huge thank you to Ms. Shirvington for providing enough reminders about the first book. It has been over a year since I read it, and when I started reading this second book, I almost had a panic attack. Full on hyperventilating! (not really...) I am a parent with small children! I can retain nothing in my miniscule memory that doesn't directly pertain to the children's eating, sleeping or health. While a full scale synopsis of the first book wouldn't have been turned down, there were enough reminders that I could put two and two together.
Despite the large cast of characters, there are really only two, in my opinion. Violet and Lincoln. Yup. The others characters are great, sure, but the chemistry between these two is so electric, I couldn't get enough of them. Ahhh... forbidden love. Is there anything hotter? From my hazy memories of the first book, I had been really conflicted with the *inevitable* love triangle. Phoenix makes Bad look Good! I was a little disappointed that he doesn't play a larger part in the second book, but I just know that he'll be making some waves in the third one, Emblaze. And you know I'll be reading it soon!
And tell me the US covers aren't HOT, right?! I am not a fan of the UK ones, AT ALL! They are just too soft and gentle for such a strong woman, such as Violet. She can definitely pull off the leather pants and corsets.
Apologies for the lack of reviews the past few days – I was in the middle of reading this series that had freaking 5 books in it so it took me a few days to read them and digest them. And, I am so glad I read them all. They were so freaking good.
The first book was definitely the most lagging one mainly because it was the world-building, character-building and everything-building book so there were a lot of concepts to grasp and a lot of decisions to be made by our main character, Violet. Thankfully though, all of the other books were splendid and absolutely wonderful. I loved all of the characters and there were definitely a few that just grew on me and made me weep (my weeping had no tears, by the way). And the plot was very intriguing and certainly kept me on my toes. I was glad that the final book wrapped everything up nicely without missing any loose ends or being too cliché that it didn’t feel right.
Violet was very easy to like and relate to. She was courageous, strong, responsible and very independent. She grew up with no mother and a somewhat lacking father. He was there but he wasn’t always actually there. Still, it was obvious that they loved each other so that was good. What I liked about her was her independence – it reminded of myself and wanting to do everything myself. For me, it was just easier to do that but for her, it was because she didn’t want to involve/hurt anyone else. Luckily for me, I’m not in any situation where I can hurt anyone (physically at least).
Lincoln, Violet’s soulmate, was your typical hot, somewhat possessive, strong, sexy, all-around great guy. He was made to be a leader and really fit as Violet’s other half as they are both independent and strong but willing to compromise for each other. Even though I really liked him, I felt like his character, at times, was lacking. Maybe because he wasn’t always there especially for the second half of the first book or the beginning half of the last book but it was clear that the feelings between Lincoln and Violet were genuine.
Phoenix, the dark exile, the son of Lilith and the son of man, was certainly an intriguing character. Because he was the son of Lilith, the queen of darkness or whatever, he was the definition of passion, lust and darkness but at the same time, because of his human father, he had human-like qualities and characteristics which made him an anomaly. To be perfectly honest though, I liked him more than Lincoln because he changed because of Violet. You could really see how he went from a creature that only cared about himself with his broodiness to someone who learned how to love and to truly love that person with no care about himself – that true love is to make sure that the happiness of the one you love is ensured rather than the happiness of yourself. Yes, the second and third book was mostly about him being the enemy but despite that, it was still obvious that he was still struggling with his inner self and didn’t really want to actually hurt Violet. Plus, he more than enough redeemed himself in the last two books so I was glad everything eventually worked out well for himself.
Steph, Spence, Zoe, Dapper, and all the other characters in the book were amazing. They really drew the series together and really helped Violet whether it was with accepting the fact that she’s half angel or with any problems she might have – they always had her back. Honestly, I feel like that is something most people nowadays lack. We have friends, lots of close friends, yes but to really have your back in times of need? I feel like that is very rare these days so I was quite envious of Violet and her troop of friends. I also wanted to give a shout out to Onyx – he was probably my favorite character. He was a dark exile who was turned human against his will by Violet. He was insane, disgruntled and pissed off when he became human to someone who realized the gift of life to someone who Violet trusted with her life. Honestly, I loved him. He had that sense of humor and that need to pretend he didn’t want to help when he really did that was similar to me. He really changed a lot throughout the series and I loved him. That is all.
The love triangle in this series – Violet, Lincoln and Phoenix – though very passionate and somewhat overwhelming with all the emotions taking place, was a little lackluster. I’m not entirely sure why – perhaps it was the fact that Violet and Lincoln kept denying themselves what was obvious but that heartbreaking angst rang true throughout the series so I was glad for that. I am such a sucker for that tear-jerking-ness. Always. But really, I didn’t really entirely understand why they just could not come together and be together and what was the need for all of that drama. Isn’t it obvious that it’s better to have something for even a short amount of time than to forever regret not having it? But with Phoenix, the passion was all-consuming and it was obvious that he loved her more than she loved him. However, at least they went straight to the point rather than dancing around it for books and books before finally doing the deed and then separating for years before coming together again. Ugh, drama.
Regardless, this series was awesome. I wanted to give it a 5 star but after writing the review and really thinking about some of the elements that were lacking, I think a 4 star would be best. I highly recommend this series if you’re interested in an angle-twist plot.
The first book was definitely the most lagging one mainly because it was the world-building, character-building and everything-building book so there were a lot of concepts to grasp and a lot of decisions to be made by our main character, Violet. Thankfully though, all of the other books were splendid and absolutely wonderful. I loved all of the characters and there were definitely a few that just grew on me and made me weep (my weeping had no tears, by the way). And the plot was very intriguing and certainly kept me on my toes. I was glad that the final book wrapped everything up nicely without missing any loose ends or being too cliché that it didn’t feel right.
Violet was very easy to like and relate to. She was courageous, strong, responsible and very independent. She grew up with no mother and a somewhat lacking father. He was there but he wasn’t always actually there. Still, it was obvious that they loved each other so that was good. What I liked about her was her independence – it reminded of myself and wanting to do everything myself. For me, it was just easier to do that but for her, it was because she didn’t want to involve/hurt anyone else. Luckily for me, I’m not in any situation where I can hurt anyone (physically at least).
Lincoln, Violet’s soulmate, was your typical hot, somewhat possessive, strong, sexy, all-around great guy. He was made to be a leader and really fit as Violet’s other half as they are both independent and strong but willing to compromise for each other. Even though I really liked him, I felt like his character, at times, was lacking. Maybe because he wasn’t always there especially for the second half of the first book or the beginning half of the last book but it was clear that the feelings between Lincoln and Violet were genuine.
Phoenix, the dark exile, the son of Lilith and the son of man, was certainly an intriguing character. Because he was the son of Lilith, the queen of darkness or whatever, he was the definition of passion, lust and darkness but at the same time, because of his human father, he had human-like qualities and characteristics which made him an anomaly. To be perfectly honest though, I liked him more than Lincoln because he changed because of Violet. You could really see how he went from a creature that only cared about himself with his broodiness to someone who learned how to love and to truly love that person with no care about himself – that true love is to make sure that the happiness of the one you love is ensured rather than the happiness of yourself. Yes, the second and third book was mostly about him being the enemy but despite that, it was still obvious that he was still struggling with his inner self and didn’t really want to actually hurt Violet. Plus, he more than enough redeemed himself in the last two books so I was glad everything eventually worked out well for himself.
Steph, Spence, Zoe, Dapper, and all the other characters in the book were amazing. They really drew the series together and really helped Violet whether it was with accepting the fact that she’s half angel or with any problems she might have – they always had her back. Honestly, I feel like that is something most people nowadays lack. We have friends, lots of close friends, yes but to really have your back in times of need? I feel like that is very rare these days so I was quite envious of Violet and her troop of friends. I also wanted to give a shout out to Onyx – he was probably my favorite character. He was a dark exile who was turned human against his will by Violet. He was insane, disgruntled and pissed off when he became human to someone who realized the gift of life to someone who Violet trusted with her life. Honestly, I loved him. He had that sense of humor and that need to pretend he didn’t want to help when he really did that was similar to me. He really changed a lot throughout the series and I loved him. That is all.
The love triangle in this series – Violet, Lincoln and Phoenix – though very passionate and somewhat overwhelming with all the emotions taking place, was a little lackluster. I’m not entirely sure why – perhaps it was the fact that Violet and Lincoln kept denying themselves what was obvious but that heartbreaking angst rang true throughout the series so I was glad for that. I am such a sucker for that tear-jerking-ness. Always. But really, I didn’t really entirely understand why they just could not come together and be together and what was the need for all of that drama. Isn’t it obvious that it’s better to have something for even a short amount of time than to forever regret not having it? But with Phoenix, the passion was all-consuming and it was obvious that he loved her more than she loved him. However, at least they went straight to the point rather than dancing around it for books and books before finally doing the deed and then separating for years before coming together again. Ugh, drama.
Regardless, this series was awesome. I wanted to give it a 5 star but after writing the review and really thinking about some of the elements that were lacking, I think a 4 star would be best. I highly recommend this series if you’re interested in an angle-twist plot.
This book successfully avoids "second book syndrome." It keeps the action going, teaches the reader more about the world the book is set in, resolves some things and sets up others. Most of all, it gives me just enough hope for Lincoln and Violet. :)
The relationship I love the most, though, is the one between Violet and her best friend, Steph. It's not a rule to keep the fact that she's part angel a secret, but it's sort of frowned on to let insiders in on the fact that angels are real and some walk among us as exiles (and said exiles are all bad news to one degree or another). But Vi DID tell Steph, and it's sort of a Buffy/Willow-type friendship, which makes me happy. Obviously it's better to let Steph help in a research capacity, but I love that Steph can be involved and that the other Grigori like and respect her.
Another cool thing about this book is the addition of new Grigori characters. I loved most of them (except for you, Zoe) and while Spence was my favorite (coolest guy EVER!), I look forward to spending more time with all the new characters.
I can't wait to see where this series goes next!
Ultimately, this series has the potential to become one of my absolute favorites.
The relationship I love the most, though, is the one between Violet and her best friend, Steph. It's not a rule to keep the fact that she's part angel a secret, but it's sort of frowned on to let insiders in on the fact that angels are real and some walk among us as exiles (and said exiles are all bad news to one degree or another). But Vi DID tell Steph, and it's sort of a Buffy/Willow-type friendship, which makes me happy. Obviously it's better to let Steph help in a research capacity, but I love that Steph can be involved and that the other Grigori like and respect her.
Another cool thing about this book is the addition of new Grigori characters. I loved most of them (except for you, Zoe) and while Spence was my favorite (coolest guy EVER!), I look forward to spending more time with all the new characters.
I can't wait to see where this series goes next!
Ultimately, this series has the potential to become one of my absolute favorites.
I don't even know what's going on. All I know is that Nyla and Rudyard simultaneously made my heart happy and want to jump off a cliff because of despair. I'm secretly holding out for Pheonix oven though Linc owns my heart. ZOE, GRIFFIN, SPENCE, SAL, STEPH: I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH MY PRECIOUS BABIES. KEEP DOING YOU. And to Vi...I think you should have a tissue box at all times and stop moping about your love life and be the badass I know you can be.
YOU BEST BET IM FINISHING THIS SERIES THIS WINTER BREAK.
EBLAZE YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE MINE.
YOU BEST BET IM FINISHING THIS SERIES THIS WINTER BREAK.
EBLAZE YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE MINE.
I had mixed feelings about the first book in this series, Embrace. However, this book was much better than the first book - not as many love triangles or love drama. The action was okay, and it was fast paced and entertaining. I liked the new characters, especially Spence and Zoe. However, I find Violet to be a tad too overpowered for my liking sometimes, so no five stars.
All in all, I am looking forward to read the next book in this series.
All in all, I am looking forward to read the next book in this series.