Cursed Review

From Goodreads

Cursed 
by Jennifer Armentrout
Expected Publication: 09.18.2012
From 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.

My Thoughts:  It didn't take me too long to get into Cursed, and once the book really had me, it kept me until the end.  Partly because it reminded me of the Dark Vision series by L.J. Smith that I read back in the day when I was an actual teenager (any of you Midnighters old enough to have read that series?). 

Ember is cursed with a deadly touch, which she believes she received when her little sister brought her back from the dead.  It's been two years since the accident that killed her dad (and technically Ember too), and her mom has mentally checked out.  The sisters are yin and yang- Em kills with her touch, Olivia brings things back to life, like hamsters and kitty cats and sisters...  Em is the one taking care of the family, and she's not dealing well with her "gift".  She has to wear gloves and long sleeves to avoid killing her classmates- although why she bothers to keep her tormentors safe boggles my mind, I personally would have been wearing tank tops and shaking hands like a campaigning politician.  Of course, Ember thinks she's evil and I happen to know that I am.  There's a lot of freedom in removing doubt from your life.

So quickly a few things happen.  Ember notices a cute boy who looks familiar and he's suddenly everywhere she goes.  Her douche bag jock ex-boyfriend who likes to bully her turns his verbal attack into a physical one, which can only end badly.  For him. 

And then for some reason Ember gets pissed off when someone comes in and Takes Care of All Her Problems. New, free place to live?  Taken care of!  Dead body left in a parking lot? Taken care of! Little sis being looked after? Taken care of!  Crazy mom being treated? Taken care of!  Living with Hottie McGifted who turns out to be that cute boy who can also touch her for a few seconds without dying? Yup, Ember's teen hormones are Taken Care of too!

Okay, so maybe all of this happens a bit too fast and creepy for Ember.  She is practically abducted from her old life, and its clear that other than Hottie McGifted (whom the author chose to name Hayden instead), everyone is the house either hates her or fears that Ember's going to go on a killing spree.  Hayden's dad is mayor of a town and he collects children like Em and Olivia.  All the kids have different gifts, but even amongst her own kind, Ember is still the freaky one.  A few of these kids would do well with a prescription of Xanex, because they all need to chill just a bit.

Ember starts a new school, gets mysterious "presents" in her locker, a few attempts on her life, and has to deal with all the new changes.   Em gets a bit whiny in the book, not without reason, but her character really shows some growth in this book, which I love to see.  I did figure out a major part of the mystery early on, but it was still compelling to read further to get the answers behind the reasons why.  Since this book is part of a series, not every question raised will be explained in this book, but enough was done to make the ending feel complete enough and still make me want to read the next book. 


Cursed isn't the most original idea out there in YA today (lots of heroines can't touch without killing these days), but I liked what Armentrout did with story and the characters. 

Cursed gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover gets a Midnight Cover Rating of:

Love the red hair!  

**I received a copy of Cursed through Around The World ARC Tours in exchange for my honest review**