Cursed by Jennifer L Armentrout

Cursed

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A compelling novel from Jennifer L. Armentrout, the New York Times bestselling author of the Covenant and Lux series.

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 with abilities even weirder than hers.

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not have 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.

Reviewed by Angie on

2 of 5 stars

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I love books about death. I'm sure that sounds weird, but I do. Sadly, Cursed didn't work out too well for me. Ember can kill with her touch. For the last two years she's been very careful not to touch anyone (including plants and animals). On the flip-side, her little sister can bring things back from death. Including Ember after they were in a fatal car crash. Suddenly, a strange boy appears, then Ember wakes up in a strange house and is told it's her new home, full of other gifted teens. It's time for her to learn to control her power or die trying.

Cursed and I got off of a bad start. Olivia, Ember's five year old sister, is super annoying. Maybe this is how real children behave. I wouldn't know, but she got on my last nerve. And it seemed like everything revolved around her for the first third of the book. That child is spoiled and misbehaved, and I wanted to learn about Ember! Then when they're in the mystery mansion, things got even more frustrating. Everyone is going on and on about how Ember is sooo dangerous and can't be trusted around people. Um, what? She's spent two years covering up every inch of skin to avoid accidentally killing someone. How is she out of control and dangerous? This just seemed like a forced way to make her isolated even among her "own kind." No.

Of course, there's also a romance at the center of Cursed. Obviously Ember has to be able to touch the strange boy, Hayden. Yes, it's insta-love, but not even believable insta-love. She doesn't trust him, since he essentially stalked her for two years, then kidnapped her and her sister. He does try to help her control her ability so she can live a normal(ish) life, but his method was stupid. He wanted her to believe that she was gifted and not cursed. Unless you're a psychopath or a vigilante, killing with a single touch is not a useful ability. But he believes in her and thinks her scars are beautiful, and he can touch her because he's special. Kissing.

I just didn't care for Cursed too much. It did get better toward the end. Someone is trying to kill Ember, so that was fun, even though I knew who it was. Then the villain gave a several pages long monologue about the why of the situation, and it was just dull.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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  • Started reading
  • 2 July, 2015: Finished reading
  • 2 July, 2015: Reviewed