Cursed by Jennifer Armentrout

Title: Cursed [Goodreads][Amazon]
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Format: ARC
Release Date: September 18, 2012
In My Opinion: Add to cart!
One Line: A great take on the mutant/special abilities genre, but not as exciting and riveting as her other novels.

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.

First off, you know I’ a huge fan of Jennifer Armentrout and will read anything by her. With that said, I’ll admit that although Cursed was a good read with steady pacing and an interesting storyline (who doesn’t love humans with special abilities/powers), it wasn’t one of my favorites. I didn’t feel the pull that I usually get with Jen’s books and found myself pretty blasé while reading it.

I felt like Ember wasn’t as strong a herione as Jen’s female characters usually are. She quickly accepted her circumstances after her run-in with the Cromwell family and basically let them run the show. I understand she was outnumbered and inexperienced, but her inner strength and determination didn’t shine through as much as I would’ve liked. I definitely sympathized with how she lost her parents and had to raise her little sister on her own and thought from those hardships she’d be a tough one to mess with. But she easily lets the Cromwells steal the show and run her life without much of a fight.

Hayden was nice enough, although I felt like his character needed to be a bit more developed and I didn’t fall for him right off the bat. He also played the “hot and cold” game that I hate so much, so that was a turn off. Still, I’m glad that although there as an instant attraction, Ember’s relationship with Hayden developed at a believable and sweet pace. Hayden’s power is pretty cool too, and I wished there had been more about him and his skills. There were also a few suprises in Ember’s past that come up and you learn just how entertwined her life is with the Cromwells.

I felt pretty frustrated for Ember through much of the book, but the ending was pretty killer and very exciting. It was easily one of my favorite parts of the book, besides all the kissing scenes, of course (I’m a sucker for those). I think if Jen has the chance to add a second book to Cursed, more details and character development could be established and this could be a really great series.

While the storyline progressed readily enough and there were a few suspenseful mysteries that slowly unraveled as you read, it wasn’t enough to really capture and entice me. I still enjoyed it enough and regardless, Jen’s writing is as stellar as always in Cursed. It’s definitely worth adding to your shelves, let me assure you. If you like kids with special powers, an on-going mystery, and a sexy, sweet guy (Come on now, who wouldn’t?!) – then you’ll definitely want to give Cursed a read.