Audio Book Review: Embrace

Title: Embrace

Series: The Violet Eden Chapters

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Format: Audio book

Length: 9 hrs. 56 mins.

Narrated by: Rebecca Macauley

Genre: YA Paranormal

Overall Goodreads Rating: 4.01

Published: October 1st 2010 by Hachette Australia (first published 2010)

This book has everything I want in a YA book.I love this book so much I have read it one time, and listen to it on audio. I loved it even more the second time around.

Nothing in Violet's life is simple, and nothing is ever what it seems. The line between love and hate take on an entirely knew definition in this book.

Our main character Violet is just trying to get by at life. She has suffered loss that has left its mark on her family, a past that has left her feeling broken and defenseless, and sufferers from what she assumes is unacquainted love. She tries to fill the voids in her life with creating art, lots of coffee, days with her best friend, and taking self defense lessons from a cute boy.

Violets life quickly takes a drastic turn, and she's left with either walking away from her destiny, or saving the one her heart beats for.

The characters are so complex in this book. You have the two main love interest who are truly night and day. They both have such different qualities. One is light and always seems to make the right decisions The other is dark and mysterious, and while he doesn't make the best of choices you find him pathetic and redeeming all at once. I liked the romance in here because I find it realistic in ways that other YA books lack. In real life you aren't always going to make the best decisions, and you make mistakes you may learn quickly, and others may take awhile to show there scars.

Violet is strong headed, messy, and vulnerable all wrapped up in a teenage girl fighting for her life as well as others. She puts her loved ones first, and will go through hell and back for them without thinking twice. She TRIES to make the right choices, and sometimes she falls short and I appreciate that realistic quality of hers.

Her best friend Steph is the best friend we all long for. Trustworthy, independent, and not afraid to tell it like it is. She loves Violet for who she is flaws and all. She never judges Violet for her actions, and supports her all the way. We need more Stephs in the world.

Overall the characters drive this story for me. While the plot is fun and exciting, I pulled for these characters like they were my family. There are more characters that I didn't mention, but just know that every character that is in this book is so well written that they truly feel like real people. These characters are not written with morals that are strictly black and white. There are gray areas in these characters that take their toll, and make you question if light is truly glory, and if dark is damnation.

I loved the world building in this book, because it wasn't too complex. Sometimes a world needs to be simple to make an impact. This world was more believable to me, because of it's simplicity. While it is still a paranormal world it wasn't so complex that you had to write off every day natural. It wasn't a high fantasy that created it's own world. This world interacts with our world, and just unfolds in ways that people without powers cannot see. It was written well and in a simplistic way that it felt natural.

Overall this book was a fun read that had me escaping my every day life. It had me believing in a world where the supernatural is fighting all around me in a dimension I couldn't see. I highly recommend this book if you couldn't tell. I recommend reading this book with a great cup of coffee in hand, and Florence and the Machine playing in the background!