Monday, July 30, 2012

Review: Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy #1) by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy #1)
Author: Wendy Higgins
Published: May 1st 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Read synopsis: Goodreads

Rating: 2.5 stars


A lot of people seem to really love this book and seeing all the hype about Kaidan just added more to fuel my interest in reading this. Unfortunately, I was not able to fully see the greatness most people saw in this one. Although I love how the author managed to make the concept of angel/nephilim in this book pretty different and a little weird in a good way, I had quite a hard time warming up and liking the main characters, Anna and Kaidan. 

Anna is a good character, in a sense that she does good things not because she was well written. She follows rules, she's empathetic and understanding, and she always try to help other people and their situations. A character with that kind of personality would be so easy to like, however Anna could be so, so naive, stupid and awkward too. Not in adorable way but in strange and emabrassing way, especially when it comes to Kaidan. I saw very little development and growth in her character and soon her too good personality just felt old and annoying. 

Still I did try to appreciate some of her good characteristics. Her relationship with her foster mom was lovely and her friendship with Jay was great, her good intentions were pretty sweet and touching. There were moments that I'm starting to appreciate her but then she would act or say something that just kind of make the moment weird or awkward. Or just downright embarrassing or pathetic, like acting like a desperate clingy infatuated girl. I can't believe she fell into a freaking depression when Kaidan pushed her away and told her that their kind can't be together romantically.

Kaidan was a very confusing and frustrating guy. At first I thought I'm going to really like him, I thought he would be like the bad-boy type but with real good and endearing personality beneath it. Sadly, I wasn't able to see anything but an exasperating man-whore in it. I didn't give up on him right away though but it was really hard to connect to him when he's confusing the hell out of you. I don't get his intentions. I understand that he was attracted to Anna too but knows it was impossible given their situation but I just can't figure out where he's getting into with his decisions and actions. I should be able to see it as him being torn between wanting what he feels and following the orders of their kind. Simple as that but this dude is making everything confusing by going back and forth, back and forth and raising Anna's hope for nothing. 

I think Anna and Kaidan actually have a pretty good chemistry however the inconsistency of their relationship and decisions was really frustrating. I understand the appeal of forbidden romance and the obstacles coming with it, it makes me appreciate the love story more. However it was handled here in a very disorienting manner. That just soon makes the readers blaze in fury.  I think the only time that I really appreciate the both of them was during the road trip but after that everything went into blurry of annoyance, confusion, and aggravation. 

Fortunately, the story was well-paced and I finished it pretty fast. If it wasn't I might just have abandoned this book. The plot-line has actually a pretty good potential but I have serious problems with the characters. Oddly, when I finished this I came to a conclusion that I would still give this series another try and still read the second book. And I just really hope it would be better.

13 comments:

  1. Anna has some positive points, but overall she doesn't sound very great! Kaidan doesn't sound much better, either. :L But the actually story-line sounds awesome! Glad you [I think...] enjoyed this one, Eunice! (:

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  2. That's too bad!!!! I have heard wonderful reviews about this one so I was planning to try it considering the romance sounds so awesome and of course books about angels are fabulous but now I'm not too sure! Thanks for the honest review! I totally understand how a lack of character growth can cause the book to be not very enjoyable! Thanks for sharing.

    SeeitORreadit


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  3. Ehhh. 2.5 stars?! I was pretty sure this would fall under the same rating for me, which is why I still haven't read it. BUT I've only seen awesome things about it on Twitter and I thought I was missing out. Looks like I'm not, hehe. Great, thorough review, Eunice!

    Stop by!

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  4. That's unfortunate this one didn't work out for you, Eunice. I hate it when the characters decisions frustrate and confuse me. Hopefully you'll like the next one more. Nice honest review. :)

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  5. Argh Anna seems like not my cup of tea. I hate it when characters just kinda stick to the basic 'good character rules' and have no real personality! I mean, for me, half of the book is how much I empathize and connect and believe in the characters!! While a good plot is super important, it isn't everything in my opinion. Great review!! Although Kaidan and Anna seem really frustrating, I think I am still going to give it a go because of the fast-pace and cool plot. THANKS FOR THE UBER AMAZING AND LOVELY REVIEW, EUNICE-DOLL!! <333

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  6. Awwww sorry this one didn't work for you Eunice! I absolutely adored this book, but I know that the things that I loved about it are things that could certainly not work for other people. I'm glad you're thinking about continuing on with the series, and I hope book is more what you were looking for when you started this one!

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  7. I completely agree with your review, Eunice. I had pretty much the same reaction that you had to Anna and Kaiden. Honestly, I didn't see the appeal of this book either. It had huge potential, but it wasn't fully explored. I hated how silly Anna acted. And that whole not eating thing after Kaiden left her really annoyed me. Plus, if I'm not mistaken she decided that she loved him after 3 days of being with him ... --'
    *So annoying* I like my romance to develop at a nice pace.
    Great review, Eunice! :)

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  8. I've been seeing mixed reviews on this. Some love it and some hate it. I think I will agree on your every point. :)

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  9. Wow, this sounds quite frustrating. I've been seen some mixed reviews for this one, so I'm not sure which side I might end up on. I have the strangest feeling I won't enjoy it as much, but I guess time will tell. ;) It sucks about the characters, they sound really hard to connect to. I'm glad about the pacing though, something good to keep you reading. I hope you enjoy the second one more! Amazing review, E. :)

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  10. I've seen endless gushing reviews for this book, so it's nice to get a different opinion for a change. It's a shame it turned out to be so frustrating, especially when you were really curious about Kaidan (I know I am after everything I've heard about him). Thanks for the helpful review though. Hopefully I'll be more aware of what to expect. :)

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  11. Oh, sorry this one wasn't for you, Eunice. I must sat, you really expressed yourself eloquently and constructively in your review, hence I know for sure that this book isn't for me. :( Unfortunately, it looks like every other paranormal book out there...

    Wonderful review, Eunice!

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  12. Aww sorry this one didn't work out for you Eunice, when I first heard about it a few months ago it sounded like it had a lot of potential, but I can understand why parts of it frustrated you. Thanks for the honest review :)

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  13. Ouch, I'm sorry that you got frustrated with the characters, Eunice! I've read so many positive reviews of Sweet Evil so it's really interesting to read different take of this book! Some people seem to be hopelessly in love with Kaidan, so I'm surprised that he doesn't sound like typical swoon-worthy bad boy! It's a shame that Anna is not naive in endearing way either.

    However, I think I'd still pick this book because I'm very curious with all the mixed reviews! <3 Beautiful, honest review, Eunice! <3

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