Book Review- Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

28 Dec, 2010 by in personal demons 11 comments

Personal Demons
By: Lisa Desrochers
Published by: Tor Teen
Paperback, 384 pages
Published September 14, 2010
ISBN 0765328089
4.5 stars

Book summary Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She’s spent years keeping everyone at a distance—even her closest friends—and it seems her senior year will 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 works in Acquisitions—for Hell—and she possesses a unique skill set that has the King of Hell tingling with anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he’s as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Luc doesn’t get what he came for. And it isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just her soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay…for all of them.

After seeing Personal Demons on our list of books for the Best I’ve Read 2010 I figured it was high time I check out Lisa’s series. I was thrilled when Tor Teen sent me a copy for review because I devoured this book. It’s the classic good versus evil, two forces fighting against each other for rights to tag the soul of a girl. Frannie is not just anyone…she has the power to change both heaven and earth. Lisa Desrochers uses all of your senses to pull you to her characters hook , line and sinker. First on the scene at Hades High is Luc, bad boy who’s voice is sticky sweet like honey, is hot to the touch and smells like Cinnamon. He has full reign of his intended target, Frannie, until Gabe shows up to counteract Luc’s evil plan.

Gabe is the left hand of angel Gabriel, he smells like snow and summer and makes Frannie feel enveloped in love. How are we to choose between to polar opposites? Luc is cultured with Dante’s Purgatorio and Inferno plus he has the ability to smell other’s emotions. Black Pepper for fury, grapefruit for fear, anise for envy, rose for sadness and chocolate for love. This was one of my favorite concepts in Personal Demons. Gabe on the other hand, is willing to give up his wings for Frannie, promises he will always be there and has the capacity to help her forgive herself.

I have to say I fell for both forces for different reasons and in the end I wished Gabe had a more definitive role in Frannie’s heart. I will be reading he second in the series, Orignial Sin which is scheduled to be released by Tor om July 5, 2011 with fingers crossed for Gabe.

Lisa Desrochers ties in literature, music and art to culture readers. As well she pushes the imporatance of a pure soul, the sway of personal intent and the vital role of forgiveness in our lives. I appreciated Frannie’s parents and grandfather. They are solid and protective, and are present. My only distraction was the overuse of the word ’cause in Frannie’s self-talk and the constant barrage of physical seduction used by Luc. I personally like the audio book cover better than the paperback, but the tattoo effect on the inside and outside of the paperback is beautiful.

While the theme of Heaven’s angels is one I ‘ve read previously, I enjoyed Lisa’s spin on things. (You may also like The Fallen series by Lauren Kate, The Heavenly Series by Jennifer Laurens and Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.) Lisa Desrochers does enough to set her book apart as original and gain a spot in my heart as one of my favorites this year. It’s content would be better for readers over age 16.

Visit Lisa Desrocher’s website at http://lisadesrochers.blogspot.com/ for more information and to view trailers from each character. I along with Gabe and Luc had fun immersing myself in The Fray, Mozart and Vivaldi while reading and was excited she has a play list posted on her blog. Here’s to book two…can’t wait!

Tor Teen has generously donated one paperback copy of Personal Demons to our blog followers! Simply fill out this form to enter. Giveaway January 28, 2011 and is open internationally.

11 Responses to “Book Review- Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers”

  1. Ava

    This is a fantastic review! Exactly how I felt about this book. I love Luc so much more than Gabe though 😉

    Reply
  2. FireandIce

    Don’t get me wrong I am a huge Luc fan, I just wish we knew more about Gabe to make an “educated” choice 😉 so YAY for book two!

    Reply
  3. BLHmistress

    Such a great review, can’t decide who I like more I read an interview which they had both Gabe and Luc there loved both of them- haven’t read the book but based on their interview I really want too.

    Reply
  4. GABY

    Thanks for the chance to win. Your review isn’t the only one I have read that says it’s a great book. 😀

    Reply

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