Book Review: Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Review: Embrace
Series: Violet Eden Chapters – Book 1
Author: Jessica Shirvington
No of Pages: 382
Release Date: 1 October 2010

THE WRONG CHOICE COULD COST NOT ONLY HER LIFE, BUT HER DESTINY.

All Violet wants is to be with Lincoln. But he has a secret so great it could tear them apart.

Then there’s Phoenix. He’s intense and enigmatic, but always there for her.

Caught up in a battle between light and dark – where angels seek vengeance and humans are warriors – Violet must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice. And who to trust...

My Thoughts:

Embrace was more than I expected, and I absolutely loved it.

Violet Eden’s life is turned upside down when she finds out that her best friend and man she is secretly in love with has been keeping a secret, about her. Violet is a Grigori, a half angel-half human protector of human kind against exiled angels, evil fallen angels that wish to control mankind.

After finding out that Lincoln has been keeping such a terrible secret about her identity she shuts him out of her life, a hard thing to do to your closest companion over the last two years. She meets Phoenix, an exiled angel who seems to have a darkness about him, but is fiercely protective of Violet when other exiles are around.

Violet was an interesting and well fleshed out character. After losing her mother at birth and being terrorized by a former teacher at school she has developed a habit of not letting much get to her and never fleeing from something too hard or scary. She broke that rule when it came to Lincoln and her destiny of becoming a Grigori leaning on Phoenix to help her get through her life upheaval.

Lincoln was a hard character to like for me if choosing between the two boys vying for Violet’s attention, he keeps secrets, lies and is condescending when around Violet but he also had that irresistible charm that Violet has been in love with ever since they got close. Violet’s and Lincoln’s love for each other was obvious from the first page, no matter how much Lincoln tried to keep his distance from her it was still clear that he loved Violet as much as Violet loved him.

Phoenix on the other hand is your typical bad boy; he is an exiled angel who takes a liking to Violet when he meets her. Violet tries to stay away but is inexplicably drawn to him. She admits that she doesn’t love Phoenix, but he can give her so much more, and is willing to give so much more than what Lincoln is.

Embrace was beautifully written, if a little confusing. I had a hard time keeping track of which angels were what and up until mid-way through the book exactly who the bad guys were. Even the motions of Embracing were a little sudden and rather confusing.

Other than the slight confusion Embrace was an engrossing read. Each time I was forced to put it down all I could think about was getting back to it. Having had some bad experiences with angel books in the past I highly encourage everyone to give Embrace a try.

Embrace is an addictive read, and left me salivating for more not just answers but for more beautiful prose and engaging characters. I cannot wait until I can dive into the next instalment in this intriguing series.

Also in this series:
Enticed
Emblaze