Okay, so I decided to read this series because of the references to it in The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The Sweet Trilogy was a pretty good series, not my favorite, but I didn't dislike it. Two words for you. Kaiden Rowe. That's all you need to know to want to read the series. In all honesty, Sweet Evil was a good book, but it didn't pique my interest enough for me to really want to read the next book, like I was content to just stop there, not because it wasn't enjoyable but just because it wasn't really interesting for me. This book series would probably be a 7.5/10 stars. Individually I would give Sweet Evil a 7/10 stars, Sweet Peril 7.5/10 stars, and Sweet Reckoning 7.5/10 stars. It certainly is a new twist on Nephilim, Angels, and Demons. There are those demon names that I recognized like Astaroth- that's Roth's name from The Dark Elements trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Mhmm Roth. Since I love reading about Nephilim, angels, demons, etc. I did recognize plenty of names in these books. I would recommend these books to someone who enjoys reading about angels and demons. The demons, well, the main demons, are fallen angels. There are twelve 'Dukes' which are fallen angels on earth. They each have a 'job' to corrupt humans with, there's
Pharzuph (Far-zuf) the Duke of Lust
Rahab (Ra-hab) Duke of Pride
Melchom (Mel-kom) Duke of Envy
Mammon Duke of Greed
Alocer (Al-o-sehr) Duke of Wrath
Kobal (Ko-bal) Duke of Gluttony
Astaroth- Duke of Adultery
Jezebet Duke of Lies
Thamuz Duke of Murder
Shax Duke of Theft
Belial (Bah-leel) Duke of Substance Abuse
and Sonellion Duke of Hatred.
If they have children, those children are called 'Nephilim' (mostly called Neph in these books) and they have to 'work' and help their parents to corrupt humans. Like a daughter of Astaroth would help break up marriages and relationships, and that is what the Nephilim are expected to do.
This story's protagonist is the daughter of a demon and an angel, her name is Anna Whitt. She grows up not knowing what she is, but knowing that she's different. She can see and feel other people's emotions, has heightened abilities and an amazing memory. And she's a goodie two shoes, pure and innocent, until, she attends a concert with her best friend and meets the drummer, Kaiden Rowe. He obviously knows what she is, after confronting her 'mother' about it and finding out what she is, Anna can't resist going back to Kaiden to find out more. Soon she's caught in a whirlwind of romance and heartbreak. How can she accept her fate of being a Nephilim when her other half is angelic?
I don't know, I'm bad with writing a synopsis, here's the real one:
Embrace the Forbidden
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?
Those last lines really throw you off what this seres is really about. Sure, romance is a big part of it, but that's not the only thing. There's action in the later books, but the first book is more about relationship and world building, which is why you have to read past the first book, the second two are definitely more interesting, and part of that is that you know the world. I had a few problems with these books, one of them I guess is kind of the point- Anna is so good it got really annoying sometimes. I mean, Anna sometimes acts more like a nine year old over a sixteen-eighteen year old. Another thing is that these books pass over a long extent of time. The first book, I think, is two years. Wendy could've been a little bit more detailed with that, one minute she's sixteen and leaving somewhere and the next it's seven months later or something. There was just a lot of skipping and it got kind of annoying. Then, I don't feel like this is a spoiler, but there's Kopano, and he and Anna have an instalove feel. I didn't like that because if it's going to be instalove you need a good reason behind it, maybe being a traumatizing situation together or he saved her life or something like that. But it's just BAM Kopano has feelings for Anna and I didn't like that. Okay so if you haven't read this series I recommend leaving now so I don't spoil you, then come back when you have read these books.
SPOILERS FOR SWEET EVIL BELOW
I was pretty confused at the beginning, like did her mom die die or just go back to heaven??? But I found out later that all Nephilim mothers die, it was explained pretty well in the book, instead of just saying oh yeah they die, Wendy provides a slight explanation about it. As I was saying earlier Anna really is a good girl, I mean she feltso bad about lying and saying Kaiden had an STD. Seriously, OMG she lied on purpose she's going to hell. -_-
I liked Kaiden instantaneously, I mean, he's a player and he has blue eyes, what's not to like?
Anna is just so naive, it got kinda annoying. Obviously what Scott gave her wasn't just juice, she's just way to trusting, of everyone. Like with Kaiden, she tells him her mother was an angel, what if he told his father? Because they didn't have much of a relationship yet so I don't think that was smart. It's also lucky when she told the other Neph that she was part angel that they didn't tell anyone.
Patti was a strange mother for sure, first off she was crying because of the breaks, but also she let her sixteen year old daughter go off with a seventeen year old boy who is a stranger not to mention the son of the Lust Duke across the country. I guess she trusted him because he was Nephilim but you obviously can't trust all Nephilim so really, why would she let Anna go with him? She was all protective about Anna going to parties but going alone across the country with the son of the Lust Duke? Why not? Ugh.
It was so awkward when Anna got caught looking for Kaiden's cologne, I mean, does it matter that much what cologne he wears? But at the same time it's really funny because Kaiden knows how to make awkward situations for Anna just like Jace, Daemon, etc. do. I'm one of those people who will 'feel' the protagonist's awkward feelings so I had to look away from my kindle sometimes before returning to the book.
Oh, funny story. So it's the middle of the night and I'm reading the part where they get Mexican food. Wendy describes the food in such detail and I was just getting so freaking hungry while I was lying in bed in the middle of the night, gee, thanks Wendy.
"You killed her- shame, too. she was nice to look at." I flipped out at the line. That was just so.. I don't know, this is going to sound odd, but mean. I felt so bad for Kaiden, that would've been horrible to be told that when you're young, that you killed your mother. It kinda reminds me of Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl.
Oh, andother thing that annoyed me why didn't Anna have a phone?? Like, she's seventeen, I needed a phone when I was ten, and Anna defiantly needed one, especially since she went across the country and needed to stay in contact with Patti.
I couldn't believe that Anna told Kaiden that she told those girls he had an STD. That would be so awkward to do, apparently Anna enjoys being in those awkward situations though. Although, Kaiden already knew, so it was more funny afterwards than awkward.
So.... Anna's half angel half demon. (TID SPOILER)
THERESA GRAY!!!
(SPOILER OVER)
The difference between Kaiden and Kopano, is that you got towatch Anna and Kaiden's relationship build, when with Kope, they talk for like maybe two minutes and he likes her. Which is why, I think, the majority of people were team Kaiden, aside from the fact of, well, he's Kaiden Rowe. Kaiden and Anna just had a cute relationship, definitely my OTP of this book series.
I also loved Anna's relationship with her father, how protective he is of her and how he truly wants the best for her.
"She went apeshhh- um, she went crazy"
When Anna was freaking out about Kaiden turning her down, I was just like, shut up, Anna. It meant more that he turned her down than if he didn't because for him, that shows that he really did care for her.
I really wanted to know how Anna got that sword hilt through security, but we find out in the third book.
When we hear that Kaiden asked Jay about how Anna was I was just awfishbejgdbgoirg
Okay there were just A LOT of times where I'm just like ANNA YOU IDIOT. Like when she told Ginger, Kope, Marna and Blake that she hadn't been working, they could have told their parents!
Of course there had to be a mean twin, in books they're always extremely nice, one extremely nice and one mean or both jerks.
"She never uses her senses." Whoops. Lol.
When Belial was like "This isn't going to work" making a triangle between Anna, Kope, and Kai I was just laughing so hard, they hardly ever recognize the love triangle in the book.
Okay, Kope, he kind of stalked Anna to the mall. That's not romanticor cute, that's creepy and annoying. He came to the mall to talk to her, like he had no good reason. Ugh .
AW when Kai and Anna kiss in New York, and then he tells her he would run with her. THAT WAS FLIPPING ARSE ADORABLE. Then he stood up for her with the knife, that was really cute. Yes, I recognize Kope stood up, too, but I don't care, only Kai matters here, lol.
Seriously, I know it was wrong for the Dukes to kill Gerlinda, but Anna really had to stand up and shout NO! didn't she? IT was just annoying, we all knew she was going to do that, but she didn't have to.
I got SO many feels when she got that Grand Canyon Postcard saying 'I'm sorry' from Kaiden, I think I might have actually shrieked from the sheer amount of them.
SPOILERS FOR SWEET PERIL BELOW
As we gathered from the last book, Rahab is a wanker (my favorite insult ever since I heard it when I was watching The Originals last fall) and an arse. The prologue for this just made it even more obvious.
AW it was adorable how worried Jay was for Anna, their friendship was really quite cute in this book, in that last book she really took it for granted and was more concentrated on Kai.
Did anyone else think it was weird that a sword just convenientlypopped out of the hilt when needed?
I kept thinking of Daemon Black instead of Kaiden when reading these books... Oops... They are alike, though personally I like Daemon better.
Was anyone else really confused when Kope said he had two sins instead of one? And then he never explained why. I was like what? Did the two dukes get together or something? But then Belial explains it, so that was okay.
AW when Daemon--- I mean... Kai came to check up on Anna on Valentines I got a whole dose of the feels, but then we hear that he stopped working so he could feel 'worthy' of Anna. Cue the murderous amount of feels.
I loved Ginger and Patti's relationship. Patti was just so motherly to her and Ginger had always been the 'mother' for Marna. Like Patti might have been one of the only people that when Ginger first met she didn't act like she wanted to murder. When they made that cake together and Ginger made them take pictures of the cake and another of Ginger and Patti with the cake, that was just such a cute moment for Ginger.
This book was just filled with KaidenxAnna feels. When Kaiden tells her he really wanted to call her but her dad warned him off. Feels. When he stops her at the airport. Feels. When they officially get together. Crap load of feels.
Nice job Belial, sending Kope and Kaiden off together to save Zania.
I was so worried for Flynn when they hadn't heard from him and he said he'd been followed, but then I was relieved when he was alive. But then, well, we all knew the Dukes were coming to the island, but all my relief for Flynn faded when he got shot. It was so sad! I was afraid Anna would jump out and blow everything, luckily she didn't do that, but it was really sad that Flynn died, but he never betrayed any of them, which made his death even more sad.
SPOILERS FOR SWEET RECKONING BELOW
Let's start off with saying this book was all BAM SOMETHING HAPPENING BAM SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENING BAM ANOTHER THING etc. It was kind of annoying. Okay, it was annoying. I think it should have been longer and more spread out.
I was on Ginger's side for the whole MarnaxJay thing. It was heartbreaking seeing Ginger realize Marna was pregnant and that she was going to loose her sister, her only real family to a human. I felt so bad for her, especially when she was begging (in Ginger form) for Marna to get an abortion, to take a pill anything but Marna refused. It was just really sad to see.
Okay, I like Jay, but I didn't like him at the same time. He was a really bad boyfriend to Veronica. When she asked him if he would dump her if Marna moved there, he said she was crazy but he knew he would and he dreamed of Marna. I was just mad at Jay for being such a bad boyfriend to Veronica.
Okay, Caterina sounded like an annoying twit. I already didn't like her because of Flynn's death, but then she starts getting all annoying on Anna and I really didn't like her. I didn't realize she was like 13, though, I thought when they said young that they meant like 15.
Another stupid annoying thing that happened in this book, okay so Anna deletes all the texts. Does she not realize that it's not truly deleted and the Dukes can still get ahold of the messages, especially if they're suspicious of her??
I was really confused about Marek, just like WAS HE ON THEIR SIDE OR NOT and we finally find out he is, at the end. Ugh.
Kai and Anna getting married was really cute, though, the logical side of me was thinking this, Does Blake have like the license to marry people?
By the Angel the fact that Kaiden took her to the Grand Canyon alifjsbiwfjsjwfsnbiruijrw
Her meeting with her mother was really sweet, I'm glad she got to meet her.
When Anna sent that picture, Kai's response was hilarious, like he was flipping out. Okay, so this annoyed me, they said ILU if they're going to abbreviate it, at least spell it right, ILY. -_- (sorry, grammar freak) or just say I love you...
"Would you say he's better looking than me?" I love how that was the first thing Kai asks.
Going back to before when I said I loved Ginger and Patti's relationship, the relationship became even more obvious in this book when Patti said stuff like "Sweet Ginger" and Ginger didn't even kill her. Or when Ginger said "That sounds lovely." It was saddening reading about when Ginger and Anna cried about Patti dying together. And how Ginger was going to bound forward when she saw Patti? Aw, I really like Ginger's character and I felt REALLY bad for her when we read that Marna died. I was hoping that by some miracle Marna would survive, but she didn't :(
Okay Wendy took the spirit scares overboard. There were TOO MANY times that they all flipped out over a spirit seeing them and it was Azael or Belial. It was just over used.
I was expecting that at least one of 'the group' was going to die in this book, especially after Flynn's death and when Kope was shot I thought he'd die, which was actually kind of okay with me because I never really liked Kope's character too much, too calm, too... good. Btu then he didn't die and none of them died in the battle. This is going to sound wrong but I feel like that was too... nice of Wendy. Like, none of us want anyone to die when they do die, we freak out, but when they don't you kind of feel like it was too nice. Does anyone else feel like that?
I found it funny when Ginger was willing to take Catarina in, but then she's like NO WAY am I ever getting married, but she does end up moving in with Blake which was really cute (with Catarina)
My last note was Aw... Marna died.
It was a good ending, just this book felt rushed. Also, if the female dies when having children and most Nephilim are 'fixed' then that race is going to probably die out in a few generations.
So, pretty good series, not my favorite, though.