Review: Entice by Jessica Shirvington

From Goodreads: Violet Eden is Grigori - part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengeance of exiled angels. Knowing who to trust is key but, when Grigori reinforcements arrive, it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know: Phoenix's hold over her is more dangerous than ever. The race to find the one thing that could tilt the balance of power brings them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet's power will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed. 

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Generally, I find that sequels tend to not be as strong as their predecessors. So after finishing Jessica Shirvington’s Embrace with mixed feelings a few months ago, I was a little hesitant about continuing on with Entice. I’m happy I did decide to give it a try because Entice was much better than Embrace.

One of my main issues with Embrace was that I didn’t really like Violet. I’m still by no means in love with her as a character, but she’s a lot more tolerable – and even likeable on occasion. Violet may be prone to bouts of crying – I understand she’s under quite a bit of stress but I’d like less of this in future sequels – and sneaking around, but at least she comes clear about it later on and shares the information she learns. She’s definitely growing as a character, and I look forward to her maturing even more in Emblaze.

Another thing that Shirvington handled better in Entice was the romance. With the removal of Phoenix from Violet’s love life, – no worries Phoenix lovers, he’s still very much present otherwise – the romance became more subtle and didn’t feel like it was overwhelming the plot. As well, I liked that there was finally an explanation – and you get to see the consequences! – for why Grigori partners can’t shouldn’t get romantically involved.

For me, the best aspect about Entice, however, was the overall plot. The disappointing continuation of absent or dead parents aside, Entice delved deeper into the angel mythology (which seemed less muddled in this book) and had some very surprising twists. I also found the new cast of secondary characters a welcome addition, and liked the brief change in location to Jordan. I just wish the Jordanian culture and setting had been more fleshed out.

By raising the stakes, Entice managed to make me fully invested in The Violet Eden Chapters. Be warned though that you may need a copy of Embrace nearby for referral since Entice doesn’t recap what happened in Embrace.

Entice will be released by Sourcebooks on September 4, 2012. 

Comments About the Cover: It sure looks much darker than Embrace’s! I like that Sourcebooks is still sticking with the wispy smoke around the cover title, translucent angel wings and falling black feathers though so that Entice’s cover also bears some similarities with Embrace’s. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Sourcebooks) for free.