Review: Entice

ENTICE (The Violet Eden Chapters #2)

Jessica Shirvington
Paranormal Young Adult
464 pages
Sourcebooks Fire
Available September 4th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

Violet Eden is Grigori - part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengence 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 THOUGHTS

Completely captivating, Entice begins right on the heels of where Embrace left off, thrusting us back into the tension-filled world of Violet and the recent discovery of her Grigori heritage. While hitting the ground running is usually something that ensures the story has our unwavering attention and focus, a few reminders here and there of important events that took place in the book prior would have been appreciated, our slight confusion over more minor character names and associations keeping us from fully engaging initially. Our confusion is quickly overshadowed however by both the beautiful intricacies of the battle between the Grigori and the Exiles as well as the painful complexities of a relationship perhaps damaged beyond repair by Violet’s actions in Embrace, a combination that causes our eyes to dart frantically back and forth across the pages as we attempt to absorb everything that happens at record speed.

Violet was a bit of a tricky character to decipher in the first book, her exaggerated reactions to Lincoln and her new life as a Grigori forcing our arms to remain stiffly at our sides while reading instead of opening wide to wrap around her. So much time was spent blinking in bafflement as her anger toward Lincoln steadily increased in intensity, and though the ending did provide an explanation for her behavior, it also came so late that this second book basically has to introduce us to Violet all over again. This Violet is a far more likable young woman, struggling with the repercussions of actions for which she can’t claim sole blame, and trying desperately to mend a relationship she and Phoenix riddled with more holes than we fear she'll be able to patch.

The lingering hurt on both sides is a palpable thing, a character almost unto itself as it hovers between Violet and Lincoln, forcing them to tread softly in the presence of the other so as to not disturb a sleeping beast that will easily shred their hearts with claws tipped in Phoenix-laced poison should it awaken. At times Violet wavers in her resolve to fix things, keeping information to herself we know will only make her situation worse for not sharing it, but before we can work up sufficient ire she takes the high road and adopts honesty as her new policy, allowing us to release an audible sigh of relief. Her flaws are still on prominent display in this second book, but where previously she was almost completely unbelievable in her fury, in this installment her imperfections only mark her as a human with a vulnerable heart despite her angelic link.

Entice is a solid middle book, giving us the opportunity to see Violet clearly for the first time while ratcheting up the conflict on both personal and physical levels. The only real complaint with this story is the aforementioned lack of recap of book one, characters popping up throughout with no brief introduction as to who they are and what role they played previously, leaving us flipping to the back in the hope we’ll find a glossary to help us place them. It’s recommended readers refresh their memories by at least skimming Embrace before tackling Entice, but slight befuddlement aside, readers will no doubt be glued to the pages as Violet’s world comes to life.

Rating: 4/5