Book Review: Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

Title: Personal Demons (Personal Demons #1)
Author: Lisa Desrochers
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: September 14th, 2010
Rating: 3.5 stars
Goodreads Summary: 

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance—-even her closest friends—-and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same . . . until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can’t seem to stay away from him. 

What she doesn’t know is that Luc is on a mission. He’s been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie’s soul. It should be easy—-all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance. But he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can’t be far behind. And sure enough, it’s not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. It isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie’s soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay . . . for all of them.

My Thoughts:

I’m at a loss for words. I loved the book so much in the beginning – it captivated me from the very first word. However, as I read on, I became increasingly frustrated with our MC, Frannie and was soon torn between liking the book and feeling pangs of disappointment.  Having said that, I’m going to write this review a bit differently…

What I liked:

Luc: I’m still swooning over Luc, the sexy, dark, baddass demon from hell. I really enjoyed reading the scenes from his POV. His snarky comments, combined with his never-ending string of hellish puns totally won me over.

Frannie: , I liked her character at the start of the book; she spoke her mind, stood her ground, never let anyone take advantage of her and was pretty much the sort of heroine I truly admired! But my positive impression of her only lasted for perhaps the first 100 pages or so.

The Storyline:  The storyline seemed simple enough: Heaven and Hell both want Frannie’s soul and have sent their best – Luc, a demon from Hell, and Gabe, an angel from Heaven- to tag her soul. I found this plot intriguing and since I’ve never read about angels and demons on a quest to tag souls, this was new and original to me.

I also enjoyed the interactions between Luc and Gabe. Their constant banter, glaring and smartass comments directed at each other made me laugh heartily. Those were probably my favourite scenes from the book!

What I did not particularly like:

Frannie.  Sure, I liked her at the beginning of the book but as I read on, she really began to get on my nerves. What happened to the strong girl who never went weak over a guy? She was changing back and forth between the two guys, dating one person today and kissing the other tomorrow. I was constantly thinking ‘geez, just choose who you like already!’ Even at the end of the book, I felt as if she was still undecided.

The Love Triangle: I usually like a good, well thought out and balanced love triangle.  This particular love triangle unfortunately didn’t work out so well. In fact, I probably wouldn’t even call this a ‘love triangle’ but rather a ‘lust triangle’. Frannie seemed to have fallen for both guys in a matter of a few days and her intimate interactions with both guys happened so fast!  And, like I said above, having the main character change back and forth between the two potential suitors really doesn’t help to create a satisfying love triangle.

Overall, I did enjoy Personal Demons, only because of LUC and this whole battle/antagonism between Heaven and Hell, which really fascinates me. If you feel like reading a dark, sexy and flirty novel with two gorgeous guys for pure entertainment, then this is the book for you!

Favourite Quotes:

“He raises an eyebrow, slides my pen out from between my fingers , crosses out ‘Luke’ and writes and ‘Luc’ above it” pg. 19

“I’m literally too hot to handle”. (Luc) – So true! Pg. 27

“I’m capable of all levels of hotness, from Luc-warm to –and I’m being literal here-hotter than hell” pg. 50