Sweet Reckoning
Wendy Higgins
Published April 2014
"We, the Nephilim, were going to rid the earth of demons, and I was slated to lead the way."
In this riveting conclusion to the Sweet Evil series, Anna Whit, armed with the sword of righteousness, Nephilim allies, and the love of the once allusive Kaidan Rowe, sets out to destroy the Dukes of Hell once and for all. Now for those of you who haven't read the series, this review will definitely contain spoilers - also I would suggest you go back and read them, they're excellent!
So Here's The Gist:
For Anna and the other sons and daughters of the great Dukes of Hell - or as I like to call them, the Dukes of Terrible Sickening Evils - things have reached their boiling point. Tension is at an all time high, particularly with the death of Flynn, one of Anna's nephilim allies. All Anna and her friends want is to be free to live their lives however they choose, to love whoever they choose and to rid the world of the evil that the Dukes have spread. However, rebellion is not easy especially when it is your fathers that you are going up against. Loyalties are tested, choices must be made and hearts are put on the line in this epically satisfying ending to the Sweet Evil trilogy.
What I Loved:
- The Romance - I am a sucker for Romance and all things angelic so it's no surprise that this series hooked me in from the start. Generally I don't mind love triangles, but the fact that this series didn't have one was sort of like a breath of fresh air. In the first novel, we get the slow build up and get to see Kaidan and Ann fall in love with each other. In Book 2, we have Anna and Kaidan denying each other at first and then colliding together at the last possible moment, finding away to be together in secret. And finally in this novel, we get to see how Kaidan and Anna function as a couple, while still staying hidden from the Dukes who have forbid nephilim from falling in love with one another. I loved Kai and Anna's romance a lot particularly because in most series's, so much time is spent on a couple denying each other or being torn away by "greater forces" that when they finally are allowed to be together, its at the very end and the reader never actually gets to see them as a couple. I liked the mundane little things we got from Anna and Kai, like the two of them falling asleep together, or making jokes with each other, all the while never denying the fact that they were in love. At least to anyone other than the Dukes. Despite the amount of times I actually gasped at how adorable the two of them were, I didn't feel like the romance overpowered the story at all. In fact, Anna and Kaidan don't actually meet face to face until a little ways in. Anna still has her priorities and pays a good amount of attention to the other characters and her mission at hand.
- The Nephilim - Speaking of the other characters, there's not a single one of them who I didn't like. I even sort of loved to hate Pharzuph, Kaidan's Dad and the Duke of Lust. He was so wickedly terrible that it was hard not to cheer for his demise. I loved the whole neph allies gang and how willingly loyal they were to one another and the fight for humanity. I didn't even mind the fact that they were all paired (Ginger/Blake, Kai/Anna, Marna/Jay, Kope/Zania), usually stuff like that annoys me because hey what's wrong with being single, but for some reason it all felt natural and completely believable. They weren't just side characters, but they were human beings with actually purposes and plot lines pertaining to the story. They added comic relief, elements of pain and sadness and an overall depth to the novel that wouldn't have been there otherwise. I think I loved Ginger's character the most, because out of them all she's the one with the most story. Other than some of the things we learned in Book 2, we don't know much about Blake, Zania or even Kopano. But we get so much of Ginger that its hard not to love her. She's the classic tough girl with the mushy interior but by the way she cares for her sister, Blake, Anna and even Patti, Anna's surrogate mother, we see that she is so much more than that. I liked Marna, her twin sister a little less, but more on that later.
- The Ending - I won't spoil it but the epilogue was just about the most adorable thing in the whole entire world. In fact it is the reason why I loved this book so much. It was satisfying and conclusive, answering all of the questions raised and giving you exactly what you want. I'm not going to say that it was a sugar sweet happy ending but it ties everything together nicely and for me it left nothing to be desired.
What I Loved a bit Less:
-The Sex - For everyone who's read the previous two books, it shouldn't be a surprise that Anna and Kaidan have sex in this book. It is largely hinted at in Book 2 and it is something that Kai and Anna have talked a lot about doing. Unfortunately for them use of the sword of righteousness (which will help combat the Dukes) requires Anna to be pure of heart. I won't say whether or not they find a way around this or if it happens after they defeat the Dukes - all I'm going to say is that it happens and that it really shouldn't be that much of a spoiler. What I really don't like is how it's handled. All of a sudden the books seems to get uber religious and claim without specifically stating, that anyone who has had sex before marriage isn't pure of heart. I just want to know since when does pure of heart mean virgin? I think I would have been fine if it was just said that a virgin could only handle the sword because I feel like that's super common in lots of mythologies that are not necessarily Christian. But seriously, was it just me or did it seem like this novel was started to get very religious and not just religious by very christian? I know that its hard to separate religion from your novel when your writing about demons and angels but before this instance I feel like the Higgins has done a particularly good job of it.
- Marna and Jay - Okay so I lied earlier when I said that I liked all of the couples and that the were all believable because in fact I really did not like Marna and Jay together. It was out of the blue, messy and frankly a little forced. If the two of them had only begun dating and getting to know each other, I think I would have been okay with that but its two chapters in and they're already in love and I'm already confused. I'm mean I remember them having a quick thing that costed Jay and Veronica's relationship but I don't remember it being that significant. And the fact that I barely remember them together when I only read the book last year means that they weren't that great as a couple anyway. And it just doesn't make sense to me that Marna would risk her life and the mission to save all of frggin humanity for a chance to be with Jay, I guy she barely knows and hooked up with once. Sure love doesn't need to make sense but I had a hard time believing that the two of them were in love and continued to stand by their love despite all the consequences. And you could say that it was like Anna never giving up on Kaidan's or Kaidan dashing it all just to be with Anna, but you'd be wrong. Marna and Jay started out as quick adulterous fling and Anna and Kai had a cross country road trip getting to know each other. At the risk of spoilers, I'll say it in other words: They're "love" didn't seem to be worth it.
But All in All, I actually loved this book. And when I rated it, I couldn't really separate my thoughts for it alone from my thoughts for the whole series, after all it is a conclusion. What I appreciated most of all was Anna's voice through out the whole shebang, it was character filled, sweet and startlingly honest.
"Life was often so cruel, so ugly. And then, in the midst of all the madness, a precious gift could be placed in your lap."
I give this book 5 berries! Bravo Wendy Higgins!
