Embrace is a seductive and mesmerizing leap into a world where otherworldly danger intersects with everyday life and nothing is what you thought it was. This is a wonderful debut novel with a perfect balance of great characters, clever mythology and coming of age themes that are made even more urgent by finding yourself in the middle of a battle of good and evil.

If you think that Angels have been overdone then you will find this a refreshing and intelligent reason to give them another go. Jessica Shirvington is able to weave the detail of the angel hierarchy with a light touch as she allows the story to enfold.

This is a real page turner. The writing has a clarity that many long-published authors fail to achieve and the characters are natural yet they have a depth that makes you want to get know them more.

At its heart we have a love triangle between Violet, Lincoln her Guardian partner and Phoenix, the enigmatic bad-boy. I couldn’t help but feel very sorry for Lincoln who was portrayed as the good friend/confidant who wants, but is not allowed, to return Violet’s affections. This is the guy who has been Violet’s stalwart friend for years, but when Violet learns of the secrets he’s been keeping from her she refuses to have anything to do with him. Because this story is written in the first person we get to go through the anguish and confusion along with Violet, completely drawn into her feelings:

For what seemed like forever I wandered the city aimlessly, wanting to be somewhere else – wanting to be someone else. I thought about Griffin’s words. There had to be some other explanation, a way out of this mess. But somehow I knew he had been telling the truth. It was crazy to find out all of this stuff, to discover my whole life had been a lie. I knew deep down it was all shadowed by something else, something worse – my heart was breaking.

Enter Phoenix: complex, confronting and oh so very sexy. There’s very little that feels safe about Phoenix, and as his background and powers are revealed … well there really is something so very appealing about the bad boy isn’t there? He’s up front about being an exiled angel and we’re never quite sure if he is a dangerous stalker or simply always there when Violet needs him. With Phoenix we are both repelled by his manipulation and attracted by his flashes of vulnerability. Really it’s very difficult for the good-guy Lincoln to compete.

As with any YA book, it is important to allow that the characters are young and supposed to anguish over questions of friendship, loyalty, betrayals and love. Thankfully Violet is believable and the difficult and dangerous world she now finds herself a part of keeps the teenage emotional agonizing well balanced with action. (I must say that I was stunned by just how much coffee Violet kept drinking! If I’d be her I’d not only be climbing walls at the climbing centre – I’d be flying around the room!)

There were a few other jarring notes, such as the convenience of having Violet’s father so emotionally and physically absent, however my greatest problem was that at no time did we find out where this story occurred. This seemed so contrived – such an obvious attempt to place the book as globally marketable – that I found myself searching for clues to where this might be. In fact this anonymity of location was a huge distraction from what is a really really good book.

The absolute joy of this book was the wonderful mythology and how Jessica Shirvington was able to weave this so well into a story of a teenager confronting all she thought she knew about herself and the people around her. The question of whether or not she will Embrace her new existence will keep you guessing as you devour each page.

Thankfully this is part of a three book deal and we can already look forward to the sequel, Entice, in the first half of 2011.