Review: Original Sin

Original Sin by Allison Brennan

Pages: 453, paperback

ISBN: 9781741668773

Publisher: Random House Australia

Date Released: February 10th, 2010

Genre/ themes: Paranormal romance / mystery / religion

Source: library

Premise:

Haunted by chilling memories of demonic possession and murder, Moira O'Donnell has spent seven years hunting down her mother, Fiona, whose command of black magic has granted her unprecedented control of the underworld. Now Moira's global search has led her to a small Californian town that's about to become hell on earth.

Tormented by his own terrifying past and driven by powers he can't explain, ex-seminarian Rafe Cooper joins Moira's dangerous quest. But Fiona is one devilish step ahead. Hungry for greater power, eternal youth, and stunning beauty, the sorceress is unleashing upon the mortal world the living incarnations of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Together with a demonologist, a tough female cop, and a pair of star-crossed teenagers, Moira and Rafe are humanity's last chance to snatch salvation from the howling jaws of damnation. (Taken from blurb)

Okay, so I was incredibly excited to read this book. The basic idea of the Seven Deadly Sins is always and exciting one, but it can get tricky, what with the religious influences and all. And when encorporating religion into a book as a main theme, you have to be careful, because some people could get offended, and others, like me, mightn't be able to get into the story because they mightn't be religious.

Usually, I have no qualms with reading books that make a character or two religious, but this novel basically had the theme of "Christianity = good, magic = bad", and that bothered me. It was uncomfortable the amount of negativity there was towards the whole Wiccan movement. It was slightly unnerving that the evil characters were only evil because of their Wiccanism. Now, I'm not religious or anything, but I do find it unsettling when someone attacks a religion (or a movement/lifestyle, such as paganism and Wicca).
That aside, I did enjoy how the concept of the Seven deadly sins were used in terms of them being seven fallen angels that had gotten loose and need to be recaptured. Other than that, though, the story wasn't particularly interesting.

Moira O'Donnell was a fairly annoying main character. There was just something about her that made me groan. She has this way of being so completely convinced that she's right, and tries so hard in proving to others that she's right, and they're wrong, when really, half the time she has no idea what she's on about, and depends on the knowledge of others, the knowledge that she so declares is wrong. It was just very hard to identify with her, especially when she was acting all snarky and sassy, even when faced with demons.
The other characters were no better. They seemed to be paper-thin, and completely lacking in personality. Moira's mother, Fiona, is the antagonist, though she really has no motive for trying to achieve world-domination, apart from her being a witch (again with the magic=bad theme... Ugh).
The love interest, Rafe Cooper was rarely around, it seemed, and had next to no relevant part in the book, apart from being involved in a rather odd and uninspiring sex scene with Moira. I wasn't impressed with the relationship between the two of them, they didn't really seem to react to each other the way normal people do if they fancy someone. I don't know, it just seems to me that the romance between them was fake and forced.

The writing made me squirm for the most part. It was written in such a simplistic manner that it was somewhat embarassing. The writing didn't flow, which completely killed the climax of the novel. There was little description, but when it was used, it was over the top and usually unclear.
What annoyed me the most in this novel was the use of italics, which were used for something different each time they were used. From what I could tell, the italics switched from being thoughts to flashbacks, to what was happening at the same time in another place, and even dream sequences and visions. It was quite confusing and irritating. It caused me to reread most pages a few times just to grasp what was happening.

Overall, this book disappointed me. Three chapters (and an unnecessary prologue) in, and I was already having thoughts of just ditching the book. But, I forced myself to keep reading, mainly to see if it would improve. Unfortunately, it didn't. A disappointing read, despite the interesting premise. I really don't think that I'm going to check out the second book in the series, titled Carnal Sin, out sometime later this month.

Cover Art: 3
Plot: 3
Characters: 1
Writing: 1
Level of Interest: 0

Total Rating: 1/5 stars