Last Rite by Lisa Desrochers – review

Torn between hot Celestials and hot Infernals, Frannie Cavanaugh’s soul has been waged over by the forces of Heaven and of Hell. What is it about her, what sets her apart and distinguishes her, that would cause an Infernal to give up his place of honor in Hell and become a human, or an angel to switch allegiances and become marked for damnation? Lisa Desrocher’s Personal Demons YA paranormal romance trilogy, that began with Personal Demons, helped change my jaded perception of paranormal romance and made me reevaluate its worth as literature. Like any other genre, the best, as with the Personal Demons trilogy, shines out and I can honestly say that I’m glad to have gotten the chance to read this edgy, page-turning series. I was not disappointed when I read the second novel in the series, Original Sin, and I have been anxiously awaiting reading the conclusion of the trilogy, Last Rite.

Is Last Rite as great as the preceding two books? Is it worth spending your money on? In my opinion, Last Rite might very well be the best book yet in the Personal Demons trilogy, and I’ll let you know the reasons why I think so in this review.

First off, Lisa is very skilled at developing believable characters with very believable motivations for their thoughts, behavior, and actions. As with the other novels in the series, the POV is alternated between the main characters, so that we get to see the plot and what occurs from multiple viewpoints. It’d be a great trilogy if it’d just been told from, say, Frannie’s POV; but, it is made even better, IMHO, by the author’s having chosen to write it from Luc’s (Lucifer’s, the main hunk from Hell) and Gabriel’s (the hot Celestial’s, or angel’s) POVs, as well as Frannie’s.

Frannie, if you’re unfamiliar with the series, is the Chosen One. She potentially is the most important human on the planet, so it would be a great coup for her to be marked, or tagged, for either Heaven or Hell. She is part Nephilim, or Celestial, but winning her soul over to either side would be a very major deal in the grand scheme of things. Luc started out as being the “Bad Boy,” but he has become more and more allured to Frannie over the course of the trilogy, to the point where she is worth more to him than anything else, even Satan’s approval of him.

In Original Sin, complications arose when the Queen of the Succubi, Lilith, sought to damn Frannie’s brother Matt’s soul. She also sought to foil Frannie’s and Luc’s romantic relationship. Other demons also became involved, and eventually, this resulted in the death of Frannie’s best friend, Taylor. Frannie blames herself for all of the bad things that have happened to the people she’s cared the most about in her life, though it’s really more that those near her tend to become “collateral damage,” due to demnic forces beyond Frannie’s control.

I don’t want to give away much more than I already have, but Matt’s infernal fate and Taylor’s death has made the stakes even higher than they were before for Frannie. She desperately wants to do whatever she can to keep the rest of her family and friends–and Luc and Gabe–safe. Much of the initial chapters of the novel she tries to do this, by going on the run. But, as she finds out, it’s not so easy to evade the combined efforts of Heaven and Hell. One thing Frannie has going for her is her special power, called Sway, which she is working at trying to control better. If she doesn’t master it quickly, though, the consequences could prove to be fatal not only for her, but the entire world.

Last Rite by Lisa Desrochers is a Heavenly good read, and a great conclusion to the Personal Demons trilogy. I wasn’t sure when I’d finished reading the first book, Personal Demons, how Lisa could keep the quality of the series going, as the debut was such a fantastic read; but, she just seems to keep getting better and better! I look forward to reading more from Lisa Desrochers in the coming years. I trust that Last Rite won’t be the last excellent book that we can expect from this gifted author.