Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Title: Embrace (Violet Eden Chapters #1)

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: March 6, 2012

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

It starts with a whisper: "It's time for you to know who you are…"

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it's hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother's death. As if that was't enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There's a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn't there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he's only half-human--oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It's a fight Violet doesn't want, but she lives her life by two rules: don't run and don't quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden...

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington is one of those books that has been getting a lot of attention and hype. While there are cases where that isn't always good, with Embrace it was completely warranted. It was a fantastic read and I loved absolutely every word Jessica Shirvington wrote in this book.

All her life, Violet Eden has been alone with her dad, her mom having died shortly after she was born. But now weird things are happening, and the one person Violet has always trusted seems to know more that he's willing to let on. But when she finds out the truth, Violet is in for a bit of a shock. When the truth is all laid out for her to see, Violet discovers that she is only half-human...and the other half is angel. And as it turns out, Violet isn't the only half-angel around. Lincoln also happens to be one, and to be her destined partner, which means they can't ever be together romantically much to Violet's dismay. But even before any of that Violet has to decide if she will embrace her angel part. ANd that one decision can change the course of her destiny.

Even thought it is only just now being released in North America, Embrace and its author Jessica Shirvington have already received quite a bit of attention and praise in Australia. For that reason, I really wanted to read Embrace. The other reason I really wanted to read it is because it deals with angels and I love those types of stories. What was great here is that Jessica Shirvington wrote an angel story different from all the other ones I have read in the past. It was fascinating to read about angelic hierarchy and the difference between the Grigori and the fallen angels. The other great thing about Embrace was the action. There was rarely a dull moment, which made it quite hard to put the book down. Embrace was definitely a great read and I look forward to reading more about this world in upcoming books. 

Violet was a fantastic heroine. I loved getting to know her throughout the book. One of my favorite thing about Violet was how she didn't accept the whole angel thing right away. So many times I find characters too quick to accept the paranormal part of the story, but it wasn't the case here. The other great thing about Violet was how she struggled with a lot of the decisions she had to make. To me that just made her seem more real. As for the boys in this book, I am kind of torn between Lincoln and Phoenix. Both were great boys, but neither one was exactly perfect. Lincoln should have come clean about the whole angel thing earlier, much like Phoenix should have come clean about who he really was sooner. Maybe future books will help me make up my mind about the two boys.

In Embrace, Jessica Shirvington wrote a fantastic and fascinating angel tale. It was absolutely enthralling, and had me captivated from start to finish. If you are looking for a great angel story, then I strongly recommend Jessica Shirvington and Embrace.