Entice (Embrace, #2)

by Jessica Shirvington

[Cocktails and Books]

In this second installment to the Violet Eden Chapters, we find Violet struggling with the rift in her relationship with Lincoln and getting up to speed on training in her new role as a Grigori. But she soon discovers that the deep betrayal she feels at the hand of Phoenix is nothing when he decides to go with his darker side. He uses the bond they have together to torment Violet and lead her and her Grigori friends on a merry chase for the mysterious Scriptures.

This is a series that grabs you by the shirt collar and refuses to let you go, even after you have finished the last page. It's action packed and has you at the edge of your seat, but more importantly (in my opinion) is it pulls you in emotionally as you can feel Violets angst flow off the pages. It's exciting to read, but it's also emotionally draining.

Violet has had a lot thrown at her and at seventeen, I'm not sure if I could even deal with a fraction of what she has. She's still reeling from the events that forced her hand into becoming a Grigori. She's not regretting becoming Grigori, because she could never regret saving Lincoln, but it was the lost of faith and trust in someone she so freely gave herself to that she has a hard time with. Who could blame her. Phoenix, despite what happened, had appeared to truly love her, and to find he played with her emotions to tipped the outcome in his favor hurts her still. But she can't deny still being drawn to him, despite what he's done.

And then there's Lincoln. He does a fair job of messing with her head as well with his constant flip flopping on his stance with regards to their relationship. While he doesn't come out and say it, he holds Phoenix against her, even though he was the one that kept pushing her away saying they couldn't have a relationship. But while things looked like they might bet getting to a good place for both Violet and Lincoln, the events towards the end of Entice make me wonder if the walls that Lincoln loves to build when it comes to Violet are going to go up again.

Despite the emotional roller coaster Violet seems to be on endlessly, she does grow quite a bit in Entice. She's starting to develop leadership qualities that could only make this band of Grigori stronger as they begin to understand the potential evil Phoenix is willing to release. She may still seem naive in many things, she's also starting to see the bigger picture and once she fully understands her gifts, the one who can stop what's happening.

I love this series. Jessica Shirvington has taken the angel story and put her own unique twist on it, with characters who you will love to hate (Phoenix) while breaking your heart at almost every turn with others. Quite frankly, it is the best YA series I have read in 2012. I'm having severe separation anxiety knowing we won't get book 3 until next March (yes...I was already scouring sites trying to find the Australian version of the next 2 books because I can't wait).