Title: ORIGINAL SIN (PERSONAL DEMONS #2)
Author: Lisa Desrochers
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: July 5, 2011
Number of Pages: 398
Source of Book: Bought it the week it released because I loved the first one
Author’s Website: http://lisadesrochers.blogspot.com
Goodreads Summary:
Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.
Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.
Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.
And not everyone will get out of it alive.
Since reading PERSONAL DEMONS (the first book in the series) back in January, I was really looking forward to the sequel to find out what would happen next with Luc, Frannie, and Gabe. The thing I like most about these books is the way that Lisa Desrochers has built this world with heaven/hell dynamics, rules, and hierarchies and the intriguing characters she’s put in these places. Along with that, she infuses sarcasm and humor through the various characters, language, and situations that leave me smiling to myself throughout the entire book. And she definitely knows how to write steamy romances. There is a bit of a love triangle continuing in this book, but Gabe is absent for most of the book, until something happens and Frannie needs him (but I can’t tell you what it is-you’ll have to read for yourself!).
This time the book is again told through three character’s perspectives, but we get Frannie, Luc, and Matt’s unique voices in this one. Matt is now Frannie’s guardian angel, but since he’s so new to the job, we aren’t sure if he’ll be able to handle it. A new character is introduced in this book, and if you’ve read any other stories with angels/fallen angels mythology, you may figure out who she really is before the character’s in the book do. I actually liked Frannie better in this book than I did in the first one. She had more to do and grew on me. However, in my personal opinion, these books have always been about Luc. I feel it’s actually about Luc’s journey to find what he really wants after an existence without love or any concrete reason to keep going. He’s the ultimate bad boy figure (hello – he’s a demon!), who has found someone who is worth giving up his immortal being and turning human for in Frannie. Since that happened in the first book, he’s trying to adjust in this book which leads to some entertaining scenes. But in this book again, like in the first, Luc’s internal struggle is the part I responded to the most. Yes, there are bigger plot points going on, and yes, Matt’s story is intriguing in this book, and yes, Frannie has things to deal with and figure out, but it all goes back to Luc for me.
Lisa writes page-turning books with emotion, entertainment, and action all within the constraints of an overarching storyline about Frannie and the heaven vs. hell battle that will guide the entire series. I’m definitely looking forward to the final book to find out where Luc and Frannie and Gabe all end up (and therefore, the worlds of heaven and hell) especially since the ending of ORIGINAL SIN was shocking and gave a twist that could be a major game-changer for the series – my jaw literally dropped at the end, so be prepared!
