Tuesday 28 April 2015

Book Review - Sweet Reckoning

Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy, #3)Sweet Reckoning
Author: Wendy Higgins
Series: The Sweet Trilogy #3
Genres: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy | Young Adult
Release 22nd May 2014
Source: Purchased
Rating:
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.
The following review may contain spoilers concerning earlier books in the series.
If you have not read the previous installments, please proceed with caution.

If you have read my reviews of Sweet Evil and Sweet Peril you will know that the series started of rather strongly for me. I had been meaning to start it for a long time but last year after hearing Amanda rave about the series I thought it would be the time to finally start it and with Sweet Evil I thought I had found a wonderful unique story, I loved the idea of the sins being people and having children, who they order to do their bidding. I was so excited to read the rest of the series only to be less than happy with Sweet Peril, the pacing was off and I just lost my connection to the characters, but I was still hopeful for the last book, Sweet Reckoning. I knew early on while reading the book that though some of the things had got better, I would have the same problems I did with the last book and I'm sorry to say that I'm happy the series is over because I've finished it and can move on. I don't feel the need to read the next book which will be set from Kaidan's POV because I've honestly just fell out of love with it and I'm really not sure how good it would be, he sometimes has a one track mind.

I think my biggest problem with this book is that right from the start I was expecting there to be a big battle between the kids and their parents, in Sweet Peril Anna and Kope travelled all around the world for allies in the fight against the Dukes, but it all sort of fell flat in the story and was very anticlimactically. It's such a shame because I feel like if there was a big battle, like I had been expecting and hoping for, I would have liked the book a bit better and forgiven it for all the things I felt were wrong. Sadly that’s not the only thing I had issues with, I just didn't like the direction the book had taken. In Sweet Evil it was a paranormal book with bit of romance thrown in, even though I didn't like Sweet Peril all that much I felt like it was still very much a paranormal story at the bare bones of it, Anna was pinning for Kaidan but she was getting on with her job and working around it. In Sweet Reckoning however it was more like a contemporary with a hint of paranormal. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the characters don’t' deserve to be happy because they do, everyone does, but it was more about everyone's relationship than the more important fight against good and evil and it let the book down.

As far as the characters go, I stopped really feeling attached to them in the last story. However I was happy that at times I started to feel close to them again, except Anna. I'm not sure what it was about the way this book was written but she felt like such a different character to the last two books, maybe its because she finally had what she wanted and they were both at times only worried about one thing. I'm probably the only person who really wasn’t bothered about Anna and Kaidan's relationship. At times it just felt silly, and maybe its because I like him more as a jackass type who did what he want, but I felt like it had effected his character and turned him into someone I just didn't care for. (maybe that's the real him, and if it is than as twisted as it may seem I preferred him the old way). It was cute, all the book and the bonds between character were nice but it just took much away from what was actually going on.

Overall this book had good points, I was happy to see that mother/daughter relationship between Anna and Patti again, I was also happy that she was closer to Jay. Perhaps my biggest pet peeve abut the whole story was the pacing yet again, everything seemed to be moving at a million miles an hour again and I couldn't fully commit to any of the happy moments in the story, instead I found the whole thing to be rushed and some of it be a cop out. (Anna's way around being 'pure' was just ridiculous to me). I was just very disappointed with it all, however that doesn't mean that you will enjoy it any less. It's a light-hearted easy ready paranormal story, its just nothing to write home about.

4 comments:

  1. I've read the first two in this series and I wasn't much of a fan of them. I think I liked the first one--but if I'm being honest then I'm quite over most paranormal books. But like you said the mother/daughter relationship was great, and I thought her father was an interesting character. I'll get around to reading this eventually, I know, but for now, I have a stack of other books I'm dying to get through. Great review! :)

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    1. I loved the first one, like fangirlied over it but it just went down hill from there. I loved the family relationship and her dad was a brilliant character but sadly even he got annoying more me I love paranormal books but I think just like you I'm starting to lose interest.

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  2. I really dislike it when the characters seem to change, or at least revert somewhat, as a series progresses. I'm all for character development but if their whole personality changes it just strikes me as odd. I've yet to read any books in this series but I am liking the sound of the family dynamic. Nice review, Stacie!

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    1. The family dynamic is the best and most consistent thing about the series. You might read it and end up loving the other books like so many, for me though I just felt like a lot of vital things were sacrificed for the love side.. Thank you Alise :)

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