Rashika, The Book Owl

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

I sadly, did not like Sweet Temptation as much as I hoped I would. I did like being with these characters again but over the past year, I have changed as a reader. Things I might not have noticed a year ago, stick out to me and that’s exactly what happened with this book. Before I go any further, I would like to warn you that the review will be filled with some spoilers for the Sweet Trilogy but I will refrain from mentioning anything major.

My main issue with this series is the way sex is dealt with in this book. Teen sexuality is dealt in a weird way in this series. Characters have sex, which is great but the main couple has to get married before they can have sex because otherwise Anna wouldn’t be pure. That sends so many horrible messages about sex. I appreciate that the two don’t dance around the idea of sex and know what they want, I’d rather that sex not be painted as impure if had before marriage.

That wasn’t it though. One couple who did have sex before getting married… they suffered consequences that affected their happily ever afters. What kind of messages do all of those things send about sex? Moreover, have I frightened you by mentioning sex a bazillion times?

I have never had too much of a problem with the way Anna was characterized. She annoyed me but I was always able to get past that and focus on all the cooler things that were going on. This time though, I felt like Anna was being painted as an ideal in a way that made me feel comfortable. Anna was considered pure so if you aren’t like Anna does that make you impure? Does that make you someone God wouldn’t love? Idk.

This book deal with religion and while I am not a religious person I wasn’t really disturbed by the things that were happening in this book until now. I think a lot of my issues just come down to the concept of purity put forward by this series.

Do I sound like a Lit Major? Maybe all the analyzing stuff in classes has gone to my head. Or maybe there are some real issues here that need to be discussed.

The real question here is that was Kaidan just as swoonworthy in his own book as he was from Anna’s point of view? I DON’T KNOW. I am glad that Kaidan didn’t sound exactly like Anna and had his own distinct voice but he was also cheesy sometimes.

I seem to have said so much off putting stuff that it might make you wonder, why do I even like this series? Why was this good brain candy?

It’s because Wendy has done such a good job in creating a world that is set apart from all the other clichés of Angels/Nephilim in YA. There is world building done beyond just someone mentioning the Lucifer fell and a bunch of angels fell with him. It is unique and that’s what drew me to this world.

On top of that, the way Wendy develops her plot arcs is just great. Romance does play a huge role in the books but there is also so much more going on. Friendships are forged, relationships are explored, etc. So even though I have a lot of issues and found bits of the books to be too cheesy, I still managed to enjoy the books.

Note that I received an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review