Monday, August 25, 2014

Review: Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3)
Author: Wendy Higgins
Published: April 29th 2014
Read: July 4th to 8th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

It’s time.

Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk.

In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.

Buddy-read this one with Rashika as well and, as a whole, I can say that this series is made of win. Light, fun, fast-paced and character-driven, Sweet Evil and its following novels bring you laughs and enjoyable reading experiences. While Sweet Reckoning wasn’t my favorite novel from the whole series, nor one of my favorite series endings, I did truly enjoy this read.

“We are not running. This is happening whether you like it or not. It's time to get your game face on and get ready to kick some ass.”

I want to get the slightly bad things out of the way first and then move on to the better stuff. Ok, so there is nothing wrong with everyone finding their soul-mate inside the pages of one book and from the inner circle of the main and secondary characters. Gawd knows I love all three pairings in the Addicted and Calloway Sisters series. However, there was just something so annoying about all the couples all ending up together in Sweet Reckoning. Of course, there’s one exception, but that’s due to extreme circumstances and if those were different, these two would have ended up together 100%. Also, I’ve said it before that Patti and Anna can be a tad overwhelming with their endless love and sweet natures, so don’t expect anything other in this installment. This cotton candy combination tastes just as sweet in your mouth as it did last time.

Other than that, I loved how the book was built towards a great climax that lasted throughout multiple chapters and even more pages. I wish there had been more action in the first half of the book which, while light and well-paced, felt a little boring. The second half though—that was just brilliant and so enjoyable. The stakes were high and even though the inevitable death of one of the important characters (during the final battle) was pretty predictable, it still fascinated me and made moi excited about all the action that Wendy managed to portray beautifully. What’s more [POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILER IN THE NEXT 2 SENTENCES], I love that Sweet Reckoning deals with sex in YA lit and it wasn’t just a blackout scene. It was very steamy for YA and totally pushes some boundaries, but manages to do it with class, swoon and put a cute flirty spin on things.

And last but not least, I need to shout some love for the characters. Completely head over heels with Kaidan! Love him so, so, so much. Epilogue was just the bestest! Brought me on the verge of tears. That’s how you finish a series! I also fell hard for Kai and Blake’s bromance. So much swoon, you guys! Anna has a strong mind-set and I admire her for this. She’s not Rose Hathaway nor is she a Celaena Sardothien with her kick-assery, but she’s still a great heroine to follow and root for. And of course, I enjoy reading about Anna’s dad. He’s a fun character who brings logic and reasoning to the picture, and I couldn’t have been happier about having seen even more father-daughter relationship development.

As I said in my introduction, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. It has a slightly different take on angels and brings you a wonderful cast of characters to hang out with. Don't let the rating fool you! (It's 3 instead of a 4 because I feel like in a year, I would remember enjoying the final installment, but not so much about what actually went down. That's just me though!) Sweet Reckoning is packed with high stakes, character development (still) and while there are quite a few frustrating moments (or characters *eyes Marna and Jay*), the good stuff easily outweighs all the annoyance one could feel and I can’t recommend this series enough. If you haven’t read these yet, go ahead and give them a try!

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

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16 comments:

  1. Siiri, I don't know why but I truly dropped the ball on this series. I really enjoyed book one and then..IDK. I should pick them up since your good stuff clearly outweighs the bad. Fantastic review my friend!

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  2. I was annoyed with Patty and Anna's over the top sweet nature in the first book and I also didn't like how weak Anna was which is why I never picked up book 2, but I did like Kaidan, so maybe I will pick it up in the future when I'm in the mood for it.
    I like that the author tackles sex and it's not fade to black. I'm not saying YA should have very descriptive sex scenes like erotica, but I do think more authors should show their characters having sex.
    I'm glad you liked this ending despite it not being your favorite book.
    Lovely review, Siiri! :)

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    1. Anna really grows throughout the sequels and her being a little on the weaker side rather than being kick-a in the first installment is definitely developed since she has a whole different attitude in the following books :)

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  3. I have to say I skimmed over your review because I only read the first one but I think I've seen enough. I read that the epilogue made you teary-eyed (awesome), Anna is just as sweet, and Kaidan! (*squeee*). I must really get around to finishing this series soon. Thank you for reminding me! :) Fab review, Siiri! :D

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  4. Oh Marna and Jay... how I hate you. :P You know I do.. I mean that is all I literally ranted about while we were reading the book :P SMH.

    HA, you know how I hate the pairing stuff in general but.. I am sure there is a way to do it right and this book wasn't it. I just felt all the cheese poring out, ya know? Like the perfectness, and coincidentness of it plus the whole sole mate thing just made it hard to swallow.

    You know what's funny though, I don't remember finding the first half boring. But then again, I don't remember a whole lot from the first half so there is that :P

    Ditto on the epilogue though. I am a hard person to please when it comes to epilogues. I might love the book to bits and pieces and still not love the epilogue but I have to say, Wendy really nailed the epilogue with this one and I felt so mushy after reading it :DDD

    AND KAI. I love all the Kais I know. Coincidence? Probably :P

    I am glad you adored this one and loved this series as well, Siiri. I probably won't remember much either a couple months from now but I am going to be remembering the series with fondness :)

    Lovely review, hon!!

    Rashika @ The Social Potato

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  5. I still need to continue this series, I read the first one and actually enjoyed it a lot! Anna was frustrating with her whole innocent girl thing though, but I thought it was really HOT for a YA series and I liked the take on angels/demons. Glad the Epilogue made everything tie up smoothly, that's the best when it happens. Thanks for the review Siiri!

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  6. Oooo Siiri look at your pretty new blog!!!! I LOVE IT:) It's soft and sweet and lovely:)

    And I still need to read this book, can you believe it? This is one of my all-time favorite series but I've been delaying reading the final book because I don't want it to be over. I don't mind the overly sweet elements of this series or the fact that everyone ends up together, I'm an HEA girl at heart so that's what I crave in my series conclusions! Glad Kaidan was a winner as always for you, and I can't wait for more of his and Blake's bromance:)

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    1. *hugs* thank you, lovely! :) and I'm more than sure that you will love this ending, it was the kind of HEA that you would most definitely like :) (Pssst. Blake and Kai are just the bestest with their bromance ;))

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  7. The characters sound wonderful as well as the build up to the climax and ending

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  8. I feel like I really messed up. I haven't read any of the books in this series (although i've always been attracted to the covers) and now i'm starting toreally regret that since it sounds like the whole series ended up wrapping up nicely *sigh* maybe one day *pears at ever growing TBR pile*

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  9. "Light, fun, fast-paced and character-driven"? I AM SO IN!

    This sounds so good even if it's not necessarily a perfect novel; but it sounds enjoyable nonetheless, and I guess that's what matters in the end, right? I've been putting it off because I'm not a huge fan of angel novels in general (Fallen and Hush Hush kind of ruined the genre for me...), but I guess I'll make an exception for this one! ;)

    Thanks for sharing Siiri, and, as always, BRILLIANT review! <3

    ~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf

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  10. Oh, this series seems wonderful. I had it on my rader some months ago but, I don't know, I guess I was tired of angel stories. :P Now I'm like like really into fantasy and witches and fairy tales. BUT, a light and entertaining read is more than welcome. I'll pick this series up soon I hope. Lovely review Siiri! xx

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  11. Your review made me smile! I know what you mean about saccharine sweet characters and all couples pairing. I'm so glad you loved this conclusion!

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  12. Okay, so this wasn't my favorite thing either. As much as Ilove when YAbooks tackle sex, I hate how this one handled it. I hated the whole 'sex is only pure if you're married' thing. I thought it sent such a bad and unrealistic mesage to teens. I don't like marriage in YA at all...
    Also, this one was a bit cheesy for me. But, I still love Kai :)

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  13. I'm glad you liked this! I haven't read any of her books, but from what I gather they're mostly a lot of fun, haha. Also, a loveable guy is always good. I've seen loads of people shouting KAIDAAAN so maybe I ought to meet him? :P It seems like this wasn't without its faults, but I'm glad you liked it overall :)

    Great review, Siiri! <33

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  14. I guess I really need to read this series, huh? I can always use some cotton candy. :P I think the first book scares me the most, since Kai is such a player, and you know how picky I can be. BUT the romance sounds super strong in the last two books so I just need to get over my fear. :p

    Excellent review, lady!

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