Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance—even her closest friends—and it seems as if her senior year is going to 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 is on a mission. He’s been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie’s soul. It should be easy—all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance. But he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can’t be far behind. And sure enough, it’s not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. It isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie’s soul.

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

Lucifer Cain wants Frannie’s soul. But so does Gabe.

Coming in a mission, Luc needs to claim Frannie’s soul because of her skills. The King of Hell himself set the mission for Luc, and he must be successful, but what will he do when Gabe, coming directly from Heaven, wants to claim the soul too? And is the soul what is really at prize between the two of them?

Frannie is a plain girl—well, not so plain—who finds herself in the hard place of choosing between the two hot new guys. And, seriously, she couldn’t be more confused and undecided! We see her flirting with Luc and Gabe, thinking about one and then the other one, without deciding who she likes more… Each one of them has special characteristics that draw her attention, and she has no clue at all why they’re both interested on her.

Truth be told, we don’t know exactly why they’re so interested on Frannie’s soul for pages and more pages—so if you think that’s the key on this plot, sorry to disappoint you. Personal Demons brings a battle for her soul—but also her heart. She falls for both of them, and it seems they both fall for her as well, as it’s easy to predict from reading the synopsys…

We see during the pages how the characters grow to win her heart. Luc, the typical bad boy, starts to show a side that really cares about Frannie, but we need to tell that we liked bad Luc better. Gabe is the good guy, the one we would like to see with our daughter—but not so much with us. Yeah, good guys don’t always win.

The narrative alternate points of view between Luc and Frannie and we thought it was a good resource used by Lisa Desrochers. Frannie, like all main characters, is often tiring and the lapses we see of Luc are a bless—if something to do with Hell can be a bless. The book is good, it is good to pass time, but don’t expect a wonderful and intrincated story. It is easy to read, fast to read and fast to forget too…

The fact is, you finish reading this book and you don’t know what possibily could come in a sequel—Original Sin comes out this summer—, but you want to read because you got to know these characters and want to see more of them. The battle between good and evil isn’t the main plot, it gets blurred by the fact that both end up with just one reason to be on Earth: the love of Frannie.

Lisa’s created a good book, but nothing we could call fantastic.

Author: Lisa Desrochers
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication date: September 14, 2010
Pages: 368
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Our favorite quotes on this book are bellow.

And even though I know fate is a crock—nothing but an excuse for mortals to make choices they wouldn’t otherwise make—this is a sign.

“Go to Hell,” and I smile, because I think it’s cute that she’s inviting her friends along.

It’s dangerous to believe in something that can only hurt you. So I don’t.

“I just don’t want Frannie to get hurt.” Yeah… right. That’s why I’m trying to drag her into the Absyss for an eternity of pain and torture.

Satan save me, I’m getting paranoid.

Praying doesn’t work. I’ve tried.

“How come you had to change schools a month before graduation?”
I smile inwardly. “Business.”
“Your father’s?” she presses.
“In a manner of speaking.”

“So how do you know that Gabe guy?” (…)
“It’s a very long story.” Seven thousand years long.
“Are you, like, friends or something?”
“Not really. We play for rival teams.”
“Like, football?”

He stares into my eyes. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten you.”
But you do frighten me. Both of you. You scare the hell out of me.

“This is war, Lucifer. All is fair.”
“So, your side is resorting to brekaing the rules, then? Because it seems so out of character.”

“You’re the most cynical person I’ve ever met.”
“Just a realist.”

“Well, I’m not quite sure. I like you a lot.” Understatement of the millennium. “So, can we just see where it goes?” Like, to Hell, maybe?

“Just leave me the hell alone.”
But the thing is, Hell isn’t going to leave her alone. That much is clear.

‘Cause I want to kill him. But I also want to kiss him. The thought of not being with him—not touching him again—is going down like a jagged little pill, leaving my insides a raw bleeding mass of frustrated confusion.

“I’m not what you think I am.”
“I don’t think you’re anything.”

I’m not a pig, I’m a guy—which, now that I think about it, is pretty much the same thing. Point taken.

“Look at me and tell me exatcly what you see. What’s different?”
“Well… the horns are kinda new, and your eyes are glowing a little more than usual. And I hate to say it, but you stink.”

“I’m not saint.”
“I never said you were. But, like it or not, this is what you are. Who you are. And my job is to be here for you—in any way you need me.”

“Demon possession can knock the Hell out of you.”

“I thought it was vampires that have a problem with crosses.”
“They do. But in this case, the other side keeps saying ‘Jesus saves’ and I’m hoping they’re right.”

As I sit here with my face buried in her hair, feeling the sobs rack her body, I wonder if love truly does conquer all, because otherwise, despite what I promised her, I think we’re screwed.

“You’re coming with us. Girls’ night,” Taylor says.
“It’s not ‘night’ and it’s not Wednesday. What’s the deal?”
“Just shut up and do as you’re told,” she smirks.

That’s just stupid. That’s like saying I beat you in poker cause I stacked the deck, but you’re glad I have all your money.

“Forgiveness is the key to everything, Lucifer.”
“You celestials make everything so hard.”

“Go to Hell!”
“I will, but I’m not taking you with me.”

“How are you feeling?”
Luc flashes his winning smile and squeeze my hand. “Invincible.”