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Review: "Personal Demons" By Lisa Desrochers

Kristin Yinger |
January 20, 2011 | 10:30 p.m. PST

Staff Reporter

(Kristin Yinger)
(Kristin Yinger)
The first book in a new series by Lisa Desrochers, “Personal Demons,” seeks to navigate the world of vampire-centric teen literature and bring a new twist to it.

Yet this novel, while dealing with the supernatural and out of the ordinary, is about angels and demons and powers stronger than both found in a human: one seemingly average teenage girl named Frannie.

“If there’s a Hell on Earth, it’s high school” proclaims the first line of the novel and though not uttered by the main character Frannie, it holds throughout as a theme, not only in the chapter titles, but in the at times cheesy and clever banter of the characters.

Frannie seems like an ordinary teenage girl trying to survive her hell hole of a high school, Haden High—jokingly referred to as “Hades High” throughout the book—and go to college far away in California.

She’s smart and can take care of herself as she is trained in judo, but her downfall lies in her choice of guys to pursue and the pressure she feels to keep some things about herself a secret from everyone she knows.

She’s got a bit of a dark side which she likes to indulge, something her highly Catholic family monitors closely after she got kicked out of the Catholic high school the rest of her sisters (all named Mary-Something) attend.

So when Luc, a demon from hell in human form sent to tag her soul for hell arrives at “Hades High,” Frannie’s instantly intrigued and sort of smitten.

And when Gabe, an angel from heaven, glides in to protect her from sinning and tag her soul for heaven, the guys begin to fight for more than her soul.

Frannie has powers greater than the king of hell and the big guy in the sky has ever seen and each side wants her on their side, to make use of her powers.

There were some overused words peppered throughout the book, such as the colloquial contraction “‘cause” uttered by all of the high schoolers and “lascivious,” always coupled with descriptions of Frannie’s feisty and lusty friend, Taylor.

Desrochers has interesting concepts of the rules of heaven and hell, such as the telepathic connection all demons have with one another and their king, who can summon his servants whenever he pleases telepathically.

In her seemingly easily and vividly written novel, if a soul is not tagged for either heaven or hell, it will go into limbo, so the race for Frannie’s soul seems even more imminent and important to Luc and Gabe.

The concept that human emotions have scents that demons smell is especially intriguing and adds a lot of color to Desrochers' descriptions of atmosphere in the novel.

“The bell rings as I make my way out of the door into the now bustling halls, and the scents of the sea of teenage humanity hit me in waves. There’s the tangy citrus of fear, the bitter garlic of hate, the anise of envy, and ginger—lust. Lots of potential” Luc comments as he enters into Haden High’s hallways.

Although it may seem easy to simply focus on the love triangle involving the three key figures in this plot, the supporting, human characters truly bring the story heart and complexity beyond the main action.

Frannie’s two best friends, Taylor and Riley, are always there to add humor and reality to the outlandish and sometimes frightening episodes Frannie experiences when Luc and Gabe crash land in her world.

Some of the most interesting and complex relationships developed in the story are with Frannie’s grandfather who acts as good friend and mentor and Frannie’s dead twin brother, Matt.

Even though Matt died at just seven, his death and the guilt that wracks Frannie’s conscience everyday greatly influences her life and decisions.

And the allusion to the circumstances surrounding both Matt’s and Frannie’s grandmother’s deaths leave the reader guessing just how their deaths relate to Frannie’s powers and what Frannie must ultimately do to conquer her guilt and sorrow.

Though Desrochers’ primary intended audience is teenagers, those older can still find a good, juicy read in “Personal Demons” that takes a different spin on supernatural elements, steamy encounters, and the unexpected that occurs when forces greater than humanity clash.



 

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