So I know I said in my previous post I was going to continue reading the Losing It trilogy by Cora Carmack, and I did start by picking up the second book, Faking It, but I just couldn't. I'm not sure if the New Adult genre is for me. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again as I turned the pages and it was extremely predictable. I just couldn't, so it was on to the next one. After that I was in a little bit of a reading slump so I decided I needed a paranormal, fluffy read and I managed to check out the eBook of Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins through my library's online service.

Now, I know a lot of people have given this book high ratings so I was a bit excited to start, but finishing it I kinda felt eh towards it. The main protagonist is Anna who is a half-angel/half-demon-something that is completely rare and has only happened one other time apparently. She's been raised by her adoptive mother, Patti, her entire life who loves her unconditionally. But as Anna goes through her childhood and adolescence she develops Niphilim qualities that include extensive eye vision, sensitive human touch and the ability to see people's "aura" indicating what they're feeling at the moment. She meets Kaidan, a Niphilim, whose father is the Demon of Lust. These Niphilim children have to essentially "work" for their fathers, each who control a different sin, by persuading humans to stray away from taking good decisions. Anna is different though and an all around "good-girl," delving deeper into her past and ancestry gives her more questions than answers as she might prove to have a bigger purpose than thought.

*WARNING: Spoilers ahead, if you have not read the book do not read on!




I think my main problem with the storyline was that I had certain expectations based on the cover picture; I was expecting more of an emphasis between Kaidan and Anna's relationship, which you get, but not how I thought. Their "relationship" to me was completely instalove, in a really weird stalker way. Think cross country road trip where you spend 80% of the time silent and then the other 20% talking about the whole angel/demon world. I understood that Kaidan is this deep, sorrowful character whose issues stem from being the child of Lust, essentially making him sleep around and break girl's hearts. But what was up with his abrupt mood changes and sometimes aggressive behavior (hello, broken lamp)? Meanwhile, Anna seems totally ok with it and doesn't even question it, instead she falls "in love" with him and goes through a depressive state that was reminiscent of Bella's behavior from New Moon. Where she calls and leaves voice mails for him. What...? And still I got no answers as a reader as to maybe what Kaidan was thinking or what his plan of action was, if he even cared for her as she cared for him. I guess him getting overwhelmingly drunk and being awed by her growing beauty is supposed to be the hardship he's battling with inside. Well, I would have appreciated some dialogue between the two except for that car ride for me to be convinced. Anna's nativity was just a bit too much for me, especially when she just fell for him out of nowhere. And the constant mention of being a virgin or virginity...argh, couldn't take it sometimes.

My other problem was with Kopano. I mean he came out of nowhere and BAM, falls for Anna because she's so "different." And she falls for his quiet, reflective stance that eludes wisdom and sincerity. I didn't buy it. After seeing him one or two times, the next time she runs into him it's as though she's borderline for saying "I love you" to him as well. Please. And the ending. A circle of good angels surrounds Anna and a whole room of fallen angels just goes along with it "not being her time." They don't even question why maybe this rare occurrence would happen to a girl who just appeared out of nowhere and still reaks of purity- something they do not condone. I didn't feel as though I got much action throughout the book, just small events with a lot of talk, so when it seemed like the ending was going to be this heated conundrum I thought it would finally lead up to something. Nope. Pretty much goodbye Kaidan and hello Anna trying to get through this.

I hate being critical of books because I read for enjoyment but I do want to get character development and see strong qualities and characteristics- such as being strong-willed, independent, speaking your mind, sticking up for what you believe in. The one thing Anna did stick to was her virginity and her strong adherence to drugs, but even then she was made out to be this "good girl" that always seemed to easily do the right things. Sure, she had a little hiccups but she always seemed to get out of it without any real damage or self-reflection. I don't believe that violence and hurt is the way for "epiphany's" but being hurt and falling down is part of the life process.

This was an easy read though and I zoomed through it. This review probably makes it seem as though I hated Sweet Evil by I really didn't, it was just those couple of things that turned me off. Otherwise, I have to say that I did enjoy the world building of the fallen angels and how the demon system ties in with sins and humans. It was an interesting spin on the angel subject that I hadn't encountered before in Young Adult Paranormal. I want to continue this trilogy, but unfortunately Sweet Peril (the second book) isn't available online for me to check out, so I will either have to wait until I can physically go to a library or if I feel up for buying it through iBooks. Decisions, decisions...

Have you read this trilogy or maybe thinking about starting? Let me know what you thought of Anna and this angel world that Wendy Higgins has created!

-Alex