Only One Opinion (Personal Demons)

Review of Personal Demons, by Lisa Desrochers. 

Quickie: Not a bad story, but I felt that it could have been better.

Full: Frannie Cavanaugh is a relatively good girl. She goes to a Catholic school, tries hard, and loves her family. She likes to party now and then, but nothing too crazy. It gets a bit difficult to stay in her current "good girl" position though, when a new boy comes to school. Luc is dark and mysterious and Frannie is immediately drawn to him. He's sweet and sinful and fun- all things that Frannie likes.

But then there's Gabriel. Another new boy in town, Gabriel is as safe as Luc is dangerous. He's warm and comforting and gentle. The best part? He's parent-approved material.

Neither boy is there just by coincidence of course. They each have an agenda involving Frannie- more specifically, her soul. Frannie is blessed (or cursed) with a very rare ability that Heaven and Hell are both desperate to have. Gabe and Luc must fight to try to win Frannie's soul for their respective sides, but ultimately, it's Frannie's choice.

But how can she choose? And what will the repercussions of her choice be?

I'll start by saying that although the angels and demons plot has been used a bit too much lately (in my opinion), this was a fresh take on it. Frannie's special skill was interesting and it was amusing to watch Luc and Gabe try to win her over.

It was a bit difficult for me to really get into the story though, because it was all very obvious to me. I was bored. Luc's sarcasm felt over-done. I got that he was supposed to be the bad boy, but he really just seemed to be all talk. If he said "Oh, this is rich," one more time I was going to scream. I just felt that, for being a very important demon, he wasn't nearly bad enough. In fact, none of the baddies were as bad as a baddie from the literal Hell should be.

The love triangle was another spot where I was bored. About half of the book was love triangle build up, and it was clear from the first few chapters who exactly the love triangle would involve. I had it figured out way, way before it was clear to Frannie. Sometimes that's okay, but this was drawn out too long for my tastes.

Frannie seemed like a sweetheart at the start of the book, but once the boys showed up she kind of lost her zeal. She was all about the physical, not much emotional attraction was evident. This bothers me because she supposedly kept herself aloof and was an observer... it just didn't feel natural for her to be so swept up in the physical aspects. I thought she would be smarter that that.

Another thing that bothered me about Frannie's love story was how she felt that she absolutely deserved both boys unswerving devotion. "La la la, nobody's taken a real interest (save a more-of-a-friend band guy) in me in a long time, but suddenly when these two total knockouts show up, it's perfectly natural for them to be falling all over themselves to get to little old me!" Please. I don't buy it.

Don't get me wrong- This wasn't a bad book. It just didn't work for me. The writing was great, but there were too many things that just didn't mesh for me. I was bored through most of it, true, but once things got going I was a lot more interested. I'm sure most people will love it, so don't decide not to pick it up just because of me.

2 out of 5 stars.