ARC REVIEW: Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: N/A

Pages: 312

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Genre: Young Adult

 Pre-order Amazon: Cursed

Release Date: 18^th September 2012

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

Review: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout was kindly provided to me by Spencer Hill Press.

Ember McWilliams knows what it is like to die, she was involved in a horrific car accident where her father was killed as was she but her younger sister who has an extraordinary but unusual ability to bring things back from the dead did just that, except life is now very different for Ember, she has the opposite effect and can now kill anything with the touch of her skin.

When the Cromwell’s show an interest in Ember and her young sister Olivia, Ember’s trust levels are certainly put to the test – they have more or less kidnapped her with the threat of putting her in an unknown facility over her head, life as she has known it has been turned upside down and the only person who seems to understand and like her is Hayden Cromwell who has an unusual ability of his own.

I felt terribly sorry for Ember and the lonely life she has had to lead since her fathers death, her mother doesn’t acknowledge her or her sister anymore, she is virtually raising Olivia, she is a social outcast since the accident and she can’t touch a living thing but she soldiers on and remains strong, her sole purpose now is to take care of her sister.

I absolutely adored Hayden, he was mysterious, kind and had been watching over Ember for two years, he was compassionate and wanted to help her with her gift, he never feared her nor saw her as cursed. I loved most of their interactions and the way he was so keen to be with her was really sweet. There were a number of firsts between them which I loved reading about but there were also a few miscommunications that they could have handled a lot differently.

I honestly had no idea who could be trusted in this book, it seemed to me everyone had their own motivation to use Ember or want her out of the way, especially Cromwell. I must admit I was able to guess who the villain was from the very onset but I was clueless as to the motives which I found to be interesting.

All of the secondary characters were written perfectly, I was saddened by Adam, I adored cute little Olivia and her little outbursts, I despised Phoebe, was intrigued by Parker and questioned Kurt’s purpose. As for Mr. Cromwell, I was convinced he was up to no good from the very start but he surprised me.

Ms Armentrout is amazing with her story-telling; the mystery, humor, action and fascinating plot kept me absolutely enthralled. Her writing is entertaining and perfectly detailed, you are immediately pulled in to the world she has created and drawn to the well-developed characters.

Overall, Cursed was a book filled with drama, tension, mystery, action and a really sweet budding romance. I would love to see this made into a series.

Thank-you to Spencer Hill Press for providing me with a copy of this wonderful book.