Author: Tonya Hurley
Series: The Blessed
Pages: 400
Genre: YA
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Amazon: The Blessed
Synopsis. (Goodreads)
From the author of the New York Times bestselling ghostgirl series, the
start to a captivating and haunting teen trilogy about three girls who become
entangled with an enigmatic boy—a boy who believes he is a saint.
What if martyrs and saints lived among us? And what if you were told you were one of them?
Meet Agnes, Cecilia, and Lucy. Three lost girls, each searching for something. But what they find is Beyond Belief.
What if martyrs and saints lived among us? And what if you were told you were one of them?
Meet Agnes, Cecilia, and Lucy. Three lost girls, each searching for something. But what they find is Beyond Belief.
Review: 2 out of 5 stars
Thank-you to Simon &
Schuster Pulse It for the opportunity to read The Blessed by
Tonya Hurley.
The
Blessed
is the story of three young girls, Lucy, Cecelia and Agnes, who each end up in
the emergency room for differing reasons; Lucy overdosed, Agnes tried to commit
suicide and Cecelia almost drowned in a pothole but each of their lives are
somehow intertwined and their destinies linked.
After they leave the hospital, they are eventually
reunited at ‘The Church of the Precious Blood’ where they encounter the
enigmatic and mysterious Sebastian who also appeared at the hospital with an
unusual bracelet for each of them which is what has drawn the girls together.
Besides Agnes, I couldn’t connect with each of the
characters, I was curious about Sebastian, his past and his stint in the
psychiatric hospital but none of them I found to have any real qualities or
personalities of interest.
I was initially intrigued by The Blessed’s plot about the saints and the history of these martyrs
but it was executed in a way which I found to be quite confusing as well as disturbing;
it was rich in religious pretenses which didn’t work for me at all.
Unfortunately, this story failed to draw me in; I
didn’t have high expectations as I wasn’t too sure what it was about from the
vague synopsis but I found the pacing to be slow and the unexpected twist
around the half way mark turned it into a somewhat gruesome, cruel and violent
read.
Despite this book being beautifully presented and
written well, it wasn’t for me.
Thanks for the review. I was wondering about this book.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, this one is very vague, yet kinda sinister. I have an ARC sitting on my desk and I'm hoping to start it tomorrow. Maybe I'll like it, but ugh, I HATE when you are looking forward to something then it just lets you down. :(
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, I was confused with everything that happens and I didn't connect with any of the girls. There wasn't enough information given about the background and I just couldn't get into the story.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a unique plot but slow and unlikeable characters isn't good. I am a bit curious about the unexpected twist around the half way mark turned it into a somewhat gruesome, cruel and violent read?!!! Hmmm Probably will skip this one though.
ReplyDeleteI recently bought this book in paperback but the cover I have is different . . .although I haven't had the chance to read it yet . . .I was interested to read your review though :-)
ReplyDelete