Sunday, May 4, 2014

The Sweet Trilogy Review

        



Hey everyone! Happy Sunday. Today, I am going to be reviewing "The Sweet Trilogy" by Wendy Higgins. I was lucky enough this past week to meet Wendy in person at the launch of the final book in the trilogy, "Sweet Reckoning." It was my first ever author event and it was incredible! Wendy was lovely in person and went out of her way to answer questions and take photos. Before I start, I want to say I'm going to treat this review a little differently, mostly I'm going to be super vague about the plot. I want everyone to go and discover the Sweet Triology's awesomeness without any possible spoilers, and I loved them so much that if I start focusing on the plot to heavily I know I'll give stuff away. So, Imma be vague.

Let me start this review by saying that I am ashamed it took me this long to read the books. I've been reading YA since I can remember starting with "Harry Potter," so it's not like a skipped some time here and just missed "Sweet Evil." It's been on my radar for--well forever-- but for one reason or another I never picked it up. Now, I feel like someone should smack me in the face with it! How I could have missed something so amazing is beyond me. I'm notoriously picky about books. I'll read anything at least once but I dissect the crap out of them--both the writing mechanics part and the actual story telling. I majored in English and History in college and I get shady about certain things like grammar and continuity.

 I'm a big believer that there are two kinds of writers out there, ones who are fantastic story tellers and ones who have some magic powers with words--Wendy Higgins is one of the few that embodies both. (And I'm not just saying that because I met her.)

The Sweet Trilogy is beautifully written. Every page holds so much description that you feel as though you are right there with the characters. Her story and plot requires so much emotion and investment and she is talented enough to create that on the page. You really feel what her characters feel--the good and the bad.

Plus, her main character Anna is a great heroine. My favorite part about her and a majority of the characters is that she is not solely good. I feel like a lot of times, especially in YA, the heroine is this beacon of perfection and not someone who girls can actually strive to be like. The great thing about Anna is that she struggles and not just because she has to get her love interest to get his head out of his butt. The entire series is about her struggle with her faith, her love, and her family.

The plot that these three books are based around is fantastically different. Higgins, uses biblical lore to create a great foundation but really goes beyond and creates an imaginative and different story. The former English major in me loves how she handles the dichotomy between good and evil and relates that to moving from childhood to adulthood (that could  also be the English major in me inferring a lot of crap that's not there too). I mentioned the characters above but I can't stress enough how much I adored them. They reminded me of my friends (granted my friends aren't half demon--that I know of). Their struggles with sin (greed, lust, envy, wrath, substance abuse) are something everyone struggles with, especially in those early years when parental control starts to drift off and you have to figure it out for yourself. Higgins, really goes far and beyond in expressing the turmoils of what it's like to grow up and struggle with the good and the bad. And she's not one to judge you for giving into the bad. Her story centers around redemption and isn't a long lecture of how evil infects the good in you completely. Everyone's got a little of both and that's okay.

Seriously, someone get this woman on the NYT Best-Seller list and her books in English class!

Now, that I fangirled out. I do want to point out a few things I didn't like, because I have to be that person. There was a death in the last novel I kind of thought was unnecessary. There, I said it. I won't go further than that because I genuinely want people to read these books and fall in love and be DEVASTATED. I also felt that an unexpected...let's say surprise...one of our characters gets felt rushed. I liked the idea of rebirth and redemption in that way, but I got to say I had a WTF moment there.

Overall, buy these books! Drop everything right now and go get "Sweet Evil." If you don't like it you can complain in the comments section below and tell me I'm stupid...you won't.

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