Review: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Evil

Author: Wendy Higgins

Pages: 454

Publisher: Harper Teen

Series: The Sweet Trilogy #1

Released: May 1, 2012

From Goodreads: "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 Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. 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?"

My Thoughts:

There are a lot of angel/fallen angel books out there right now, and the concept is getting a little old. However, Wendy Higgins puts her own unique spin on fallen angels that keeps things interesting. I was very intrigued by her concept of the children of fallen angels (aka Nephilim) being raised to tempt other teens. Tempting others to sin is their 'job' and they are forced to 'work' by their fallen angel fathers. Some of the Nephilim like their work and others don't, but they have no choice but to obey their fathers or be killed. The Nephilim are treated like slaves by the fallen angels, and by the end of the book there are hints of a rebellion to come.

I enjoyed the characters, but I wish they had been developed more, especially Kaidan. The romance was alright, though I thought it moved much too quicky in the beginning. I'm not a big fan of the 'insta-love' plots, though I will give the author credit for further developing their relationship throughout the middle of the book. However, the beginning still felt weird and somewhat unbelieveable to me because Anna and her mom trusted Kaidan--a complete stranger--far too quickly based on Anna's gut instinct. Anna's mom then allows her to go on a cross-country road trip alone with Kaidan. What?? I don't think so. What responsible mother would allow this? The author could have handled this better to make it more believeable, at the least by developing their relationship BEFORE the trip so that they had a solid reason to trust Kaidan.

I was surprised by how biblically accurate this book was (well, as accurate as a fictional story can be anyway) compared to other angel books I've read. The author obviously did her research, which I appreciate. I think this book's biggest flaw was its plot. It was an alright plot, but I wish the author would've had more going on besides Kaidan and Anna's forbidden love drama. It would have been much better with more action and danger involving the fallen angels. I think the next book will be better though because it seems like the Nephilim are going to rebel, which is really what I want to read about!

Recommendations:

Sweet Evil was well-written with a fresh take on fallen angels. The book does have some flaws, but I still enjoyed the story despite them and I will definitely be reading the sequel. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy angels/fallen angels or forbidden romance.

My Rating:

Writing: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Creativity/Originality: 4/5

Kept me interested: 4/5