Book Review – Divine Vices

Story (5 out of 5) Hottness (1 out of 5)

Book Description

In the quaint little town of New Haven, Maine, sixteen year old Cassie Foster and her father try to restart their lives after the tragic loss of her mother and sister. With her two best friends, Ian and Gwen, Cassie takes on the world of preppy high school drama with rock ‘n roll, leather jackets, and muscle cars. Just when life seems to be getting back to normal, sarcastic, arrogant, and devilishly handsome transfer student, Jackson Matthews, makes an appearance that doesn’t go unnoticed by anyone, including the introverted Cassie. With his arrival also comes a wave of unexplainable and dark events including disappearances and cult-related murders. As she begins to fear for her life, Cassie can’t help but wonder if there could be a connection to the sexy new transfer student’s appearance and the spree of peculiar happenings around town.

Review

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Divine Vices as I picked it up. This is the first novel written by Melissa Parkin that she self published in November 2013. There aren’t too many reviews out there for this book, but the ones that I read gave it high marks. Combine that with receiving a copy to review from the author herself and I was pretty darn excited to start reading (Thanks, Melissa!)!

As someone who has read a lot of books, I admire the time and commitment that the journey of creating an imaginary world takes. I always love reading an author’s first book so I can follow along with his/her literary journey. Lucky for me I got my hands on this gem because Divine Vices has made me a Parkin follower! Once I got to the second chapter, I became immersed in the effortless flow her writing takes as her characters share easy and hilarious banter with each other. I could see myself back in high school [shudder!] all over again with mean girls like Stacey and “outsiders” like Ian. I got so sucked into this book that I forgot to go to sleep. When I remembered that I had work the next day and went to sleep, all I did was dream about what could possibly happen next. Let’s just say not even my imagination could have come up with the twists and turns that Parkin takes.

As a YA Paranormal Romance, Parkin gives us a story about angels and demons unlike anything currently on the market. The story is wrapped up tight in mystery as Parkin slowly reveals the true motivations behind each person’s acts. This really kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages (aka tapping my kindle screen) as quickly as possible. There is a love triangle, super sleuthing, and references to Jane Eyre. I mean seriously, you can’t go wrong with that combo.

The matching of wits between Cassie and Jack is priceless. I love how she comes out of her introverted shell to sock it to him verbally. The love and support that her friend Ian shows her is utterly sweet and comforting. Her friend Gwen is an all around peppy Nancy Drew looking to solve mysteries and get Cassie hooked up all in a day’s work. With characters that are so relatable and funny, Parkin gives us a look back on high school with the twist of the paranormal. I highly recommend Divine Vices. It is currently $.99 on Amazon.com (click here), so get over there and start reading this book ASAP! I cannot wait until she comes out with the next book!

Check out Melissa Parkin’s Blog!