Personal Demons (Personal Demons, Book 1) [Paperback]

Lisa Desrochers (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 14, 2010

If you had to choose between Heaven and Hell, which would it be?

Are you sure about that...?

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a wicked streak. She's spent years keeping everyone at a distance--even her closest friends--and it seems her senior year will 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 works in Acquisitions--for Hell--and she possesses a unique skill set that has the king of Hell tingling with anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he's as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Luc doesn't get what he came for. And it isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just her soul.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In this steamy case of adolescent wish fulfillment, high-school senior Frannie finds herself caught between two impossibly hot new schoolmates who turn out to be a demon and an angel wrangling for her soul. Will she choose dark, thrillingly dangerous Luc (a First Level demon from his namesake’s Acquisitions Department, and her co-narrator) or blond, dazzling Gabe? Rather than go for a metaphorical level—Frannie, as it turns out, is being wooed because she possesses a psychic ability that would be invaluable to “the Almighty” and Lucifer alike—the author crafts a suitable plot for her Buffy-style protagonist, well endowed with innuendo-laden conversation, heavy breathing, and battles with hell-spawn set against a backdrop of shared school assignments and weekend parties. Ultimately, Frannie falls in love with Luc, as he intends, but to his stunned dismay, he finds himself reciprocating—introducing some wild twists in a tale that stands alone well enough but leaves avenues for sequels. Though the theology doesn’t bear close examination, readers may have to take breaks to cool down. Grades 9-12. --John Peters

Review

"Personal Demons is Twilight with a soul." --B&N Review, Paul Goat Allen

"Lisa Desrochers' debut is fantastic. Full of shivers, surprises, and sultry romance. You'll be laughing one moment and shrieking the next -- such a great read!" --Andrea Cremer, New York Times bestselling author of Nightshade

“Personal Demons is as scary--and sexy--a book as I’ve read in a long time.”--Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author of Hourglass

“Fun and entertaining . . . the fight for Frannie’s soul isn’t going to be easy, and the excitement doesn’t stop. Good versus evil shouldn’t be this much fun, but it is! A hot debut.”--Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of Fire Study

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Tor Teen; First Edition edition (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765328089
• ISBN-13: 978-0765328083
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 1 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #997,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Desrochers lives in northern California with her husband, two very busy daughters, and Shini the tarantula. If you'd told her five years ago she'd write a book, she'd have laughed in your face. As it turns out, she'd owe you and apology. Writing has become an addiction for Lisa and A LITTLE TOO FAR (HarperCollins, Sept. '13) is her first novel for adults. She is also the author of the YA PERSONAL DEMONS trilogy (Macmillan). When she's not writing, she's reading, and she adores stories that take her to new places, and then take her by surprise. Find her online at www.lisadwrites.com, on Twitter at @LisaDez, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lisadwrites.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sexy, intense and action-packed! September 14, 2010

By Katie Dahlberg

Format:Paperback

Personal Demons is a sexy, intense and action-packed thrill ride that takes us back and forth between light- the sweet angel, Gabe. And dark- the dangerous and seductive demon, Luc.

This novel definitely balances all of the things that paranormal fans will go gaga over; handsome angels, sexy demons, intense intimacy, suspenseful action and love triangle to top all love triangles. And let's not forget that Frannie is a kick-ass character who refuses to take her newly dubbed fate laying down. I really enjoyed her persistency to keep herself grounded, even with an angel and a demon pulling her in two different directions that could mean the end of normalcy for her.

The one thing, and probably the only thing, that threw me off about this book was Frannie's back and forth jumping between Luc and Gabe. She loves Luc one day, possibly loves Gabe the next, hates Luc and then loves him all over again .. it left me so dizzy at times. I did enjoy her conflicted feelings, because it even gave me conflicting feelings of what team I wanted to be on, but I felt like the dance between the two could've been knocked down a few levels.

Overall, Personal Demons is an intense page-turner that's sinfully sexy and edgy and passionate and gah. The lines between good and evil are blurred in this wonderfully written debut, and I urge all of my fellow paranormal fans to pick this one up immediately!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Unoriginal and One-Dimensional Tween Like Paranormal (D Grade) February 26, 2011

By Katie Babs VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I found the writing a bit too ho-hum and the whole play on the angel and demon scenario wore thin very quickly. And when your main characters act more like immature kids better suited in grade school and not thousand plus year old supernatural creatures, along with a heroine who is considered to be a rebel on the sole basis of her thinking naughty thoughts, you can't help but wonder what the author is trying to get across. This is a very tame, lacking tween love triangle that strides too hard and fails.

The basis of the plot is that Luc Cain (how about that play on words?) has been sent to Earth as a teenager to tag Frannie Cavanaugh's soul. Frannie comes from a large family with parents who are devout Catholics. Frannie is not into her religion as her parents and some of her siblings are, and was kicked out of Catholic school for questioning the existence of God since her beloved brother, Matt was killed. She goes to Haden High aka Hades High (note the play on the words again) and is partnered up with Luc in her English class. He rubs her the wrong way since he comes across as a bit egotistical, dark (in the literal sense from his hair and his clothes), and too handsome for his own good. And yet she's strangely attracted to him (dare I note the Twilight comparison here?)

But Frannie, who I can't help but compare to a Mary Sue, because she's written that way, has many boys in school who like her. The drama, the angst of who she should pick to kiss and hang out with! She has no clue that Luc has devious plans for her that he can't fail at, or he'll mostly likely burn for all eternity. Things become even more difficult when Gabe (think of the angel Gabriel) shows up to protect her from Luc's tagging. These two boys... or men since they're older than dirt, vie for Frannie's soul while falling in love with her.

Sorry to say, but Personal Demons comes across as too tame, to dull in the sense we've seen this all before in the vast amount of Paranormal YA's that are being published. The writing lacks that originality to make it stand out. The characters, or rather I should say caricatures, are too one-dimensional and have a very been there, done that in the sense of their personality and characteristics. Seriously, do all bad boy demons must wear black, drive hot classic cars and have a piercing or two? I also found Frannie too wishy washy with no sense of direction.

Personal Demons may interest more of the tween reader under the age of twelve, but most likely won't appeal to older teens and adults.

Katiebabs

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Concept, Lousy Writing December 2, 2010

By Diane B. Wilkes VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This book echoes the Twilight saga, plot-wise. Ordinary girl Frannie has two amazing guys vying for her attention. Bella is a newcomer to her school and Frannie's two admirers are the newcomers, but the principle is the same. However, instead of the guys being a vampire and a werewolf, Frannie's swains, Luc (short for Lucifer) and Gabriel, are straight from Hell and Heaven, vying over who will "tag" her for their respective hometowns.

"Tag" isn't meant in the sexual sense--it's the afterlife equivalent of baggage identification. Which destination will Frannie choose--Hell or Heaven or no destination (free will?) at all. Frannie is deeply attracted to both bad-boy, pierced-eyebrowed Luc and radiant, love magnet Gabriel--and has some dark secrets of her own.

The story is told in first-person narrative style, and the point-of-view switches between Frannie and Luc, who finds himself going to the lighter side the more he merges his energies with Frannie. What Stephenie Meyer does for Mormonism, Lisa Desrochers attempts to do for Catholicism, in a heavier handed way. All of Frannie's sisters' first names are Mary--and so is Frannie's. Frannie was raised Catholic but after her brother dies, she questions God's existence and is thrown out of her (Catholic) high school. I'm sure you can guess, at least in part, whether or not Frannie's faith is redeemed.

As a reader, I was very curious as to how this triangle would end--but as a critical reader, getting to the actual ending was a rather torturous process. The banality of the writing intruded on my attention as if it were a succubus of its own, bringing with it its own sulfurous odor.

An example:

"So, let's not go to the cafeteria," I say, not quite ready to face Gabe with Luc in the same room.

He grins. "Did you have something else in mind?"

"I've got some munchies in my locker. It's a nice day. We could just hang out on the lawn."

He slides his arm around me, and I almost purr right out loud. "Sounds good."
***

It reads a little too much like an average 15 year old's diary that hasn't been edited--yet it doesn't sound authentic, either. And when Grandpa (yes, Grandpa) says "ya" instead of "you," I want to shudder. Repeatedly.

On the up side, I like the way the author assigns scents to emotions--rose to sorrow, ginger to sexual interest, and chocolate to love. And even though it turns out that, like Bella, Frannie has her own special powers--hence the reason both Heaven and Hell want her so badly--this isn't a rewrite of TWILIGHT. Though I wouldn't be surprised if a sequel to PERSONAL DEMONS was in the works.

I won't be reading it...unless there's absolutely nothing else in the Limbo library.