My thoughts:
Short Version:
Embrace is a compelling and extravagantly imaginative and fresh new take on the angel mythology in YA fiction. The characters were portrayed well in a way that made me actually care for their survival, with a compelling storyline to drive through the novel; Jessica Shirvington's writing had me racing to the end. For fans of the paranormal genre, of action, of hot guys:
Embrace is definitely a must-read!
Essay Version:
I am ashamed to say that
Embrace was
my first 'angel' book. However, I really enjoyed it;
Embrace is probably the
first paranormal YA title that I REALLY enjoyed, and one that I am definitely going to pursue on to the next titles in the series. That is
not to say, that there aren't other paranormals that I've read in the past that I wouldn't have wanted to read the next titles; it's more like, with this one, I'm
dying to read more.
In
Embrace, we are introduced to a location,
somewhere on Earth. It is never actually specified, nor is there ever much scenery or ambiance described from scene to scene. However, many paranormal titles seem to skimp the details, and just get to the dialogue and action, which Jessica Shirvington executed with finesse in
Embrace.
They exchanged blow after blow, all at lightning speed. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. The blond was so fast, sending his fist into Phoenix's face with punishing force, throwing him across the width of the alley and into the brick wall. Amazingly, it barely slowed Phoenix, who was back up faster than I could track with my human sight. Phoenix didn't hesitate in his retaliation. He was a beautiful, lethal machine - lithe and fluid as he weaved and dodged the exile's blows. (p. 132)
In this world, we have Violet, the main character--who has worked hard at maintaining a normal life, after what her teacher did to her at her old school years ago. She has the best friend in the world, Steph--who we are introduced to in the first page--who loves to shop and talk about boys. And then there's Lincoln, the boy that 'Vi' has been crushing on for way too long, the boy who is 'just friends'. Her world is spun upside down when she discovers she's not as normal as everyone else at school; she's special, and it all started when her mother died with her birth...
First, the
'features' of the actual book. The quality of the paperback is superb; the pages are white as though they've been bleached, not to mention VERY flickable and smooth. You may find it strange that I have to mention these things. Well, I absolutely love it when a book has been made so well, and it compels me to pick it up even more. Of course, the
cover is the first aspect.
The model used for the book cover is gorgeous, and really suits it once you've read it. The pose is so very Violet, and the colours used--
purple, violet? The cover designer (Xou Creative) did a fantastic job, despite the fact that there wasn't enough of a paranormal element in it. I think it's strikingly beautiful in all its simplicity. The
purple wings are simply divine...
Every chapter is marked with a quote, sometimes biblical
('There are things even angels desire to look to.' Peter 1:12), others from philosophers
('Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.' Henri Frederic Amiel).
These reflected on the kind of thing that was going to be addressed in that given chapter, and gave it a little bit more colour, more sacrilegious.
The
writing is brilliant; Shirvington let the words flow, which made it that much easier to read through.
Embrace is written in first person, past, in Violet's perspective. As with most other paranormal titles, her voice is, for the most part, sarcastic and unwilling to succumb to others' desires, and in that, she is established as a
strong-willed and very capable female protagonist. I actually quite liked Violet, despite her almost-nonsensical switching between the two angels who vie for her attention:
love triangle.
(Twilight, anyone?) Her barely-there father is about all the family we ever see in Embrace, and while there is some interaction between the two, I hope for more; I really like it when authors write familial interactions, because it's not as common as I believe it should be.
Quotes:
Finally, she spun to glare at me accusingly.
"'This is all your fault! He's been so worried about you he hasn't been able to function. He doesn't eat.' She wrinkled her nose at the dirty plates. 'Well . . . not to his normal standard. He hasn't slept in days. He blames himself for everything. That's why it was so easy for Onyx to overpower him. Even now . . .' She pushed aside a plate in the sink so she could fit a glass under the tap and it set off a domino effect - the whole pile of plates shifting and clunking. I heard a crack. She persisted anyway, blasting water into the glass and slamming it on the counter after barely a sip. 'He's asking for his rainbow,' she scoffed.
'What is it with all this rainbow crap?' I asked, turning to Griffin and blanking Magda. It was either that or giving her a one-fingered salute. (p. 234)
