Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Tuesday #Review - Personal Demons by Rachel A. Collett #YALit #Paranormal

Series: Personal Demons # 1
Format: E-Book, 374 pages
Release Date: January 28, 2017
Publisher: 
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal

YOU ARE A FOOL. I SHOULD TERMINATE YOU NOW TO SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE OF DYING LATER.”

Deadly with a knife and skilled in hand-to-hand combat, nineteen-year-old Sarah Mathis is far from normal, despite her efforts to be so. Trained from youth to battle the paranoid imaginations of her father, she pushes into society after a lifetime of isolation, only to learn that a supernatural adversary wants her hidden… or dead. 

When her best friend dies in a horrible crash, Sarah learns that the collision was triggered by a man named Jonathan, a deceptively handsome demon that now stalks her—in life and in her dreams. No longer just imaginary shadows, the agents of the supernatural realm target Sarah, compelling her to uncover the truth her father kept concealed. Sarah must accept her destiny as mankind’s Defender and defeat her personal demon before he destroys her soul and everything she loves.




"Simple things will tell you all you need to know about someone you don't know."


Personal Demons, by author Rachel A. Collett, is the first installment in the author's Personal Demons trilogy. As the story opens, 19-year old protagonist Sarah Mathis has suffered a devastating loss of someone who was the first person to ever love Sarah outside of her parents. She has two friends, Laith and Elisa, who she has the same course in college with. What makes Sarah different? She has very vivid dreams. Dreams that have attracted the attention of a character named Jonathan who seems to be everywhere she goes. 

Sarah has had years of training. Training that very few other people have had. She's been taught boxing, self-defense, knife fighting, wrestling, archery, and quarterstaff. She is able to fight off an attacker, and not break down into an emotional wreck. This is sort of a diabolical story in many ways. We, as readers, are told, besides her curious training, that Sarah has an unknown destiny. We are told by a familiar character that she must accept the truth that has been kept from her. She must find what needs to be found. She must accept the destiny that was meant for her. And, she must fight for those left unprotected and right what has been wronged. 

Sarah has had a slew of close calls. People have tried to kidnap her, her house was set on fire by gangsters, a woman tried to run her over for no apparent reason, and mean girls ganged up on her in a bathroom. She does have a curious pendant she got from her deceased mother that seems to warn her when danger is happening. But, Sarah isn't a patient character. She tends to take off to another state entirely and ends up finding major trouble that leads to even more questions, and perhaps a major turning point in her own life as well. 

Jonathan is the most in your face character in the entire book. He is every place that Sarah goes. He haunts her, he tempts and teases and taunts her. He has answers that Sarah needs, but it will only come when Sarah has nobody else to rely on. I also liked Aaron, and that's mainly because he seems to be one of the few who can actually help her stay out of trouble. Elisa and Laith are also interesting characters, but it takes a whole lot of time for them to open their mouths and let Sarah know what is really happening to her. I am totally not impressed with Darius. I think there is more to him than meets the eye test, and will hopefully discover that on my own by reading the sequel.






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