Book Review: Cursed

Goodreads summary:

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 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 review:

I don't think I'll ever read a Jennifer Armentrout book that I don't like.  I was blown away by Obsidian and Onyx, and I plan on reading her Covenant series soon.  And thankfully, Cursed does not disappoint!

If you like the plots of X-Men or Shatter Me, then Cursed is just the type of book you'll love.  And even if you just enjoy reading books with sassy heroines and lots of laugh-out-loud moments, you'll still love it.  Basically, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to every single person out there.

Ember was a wonderful heroine who struggles to stay true to herself while dealing her strange power.  I loved her character arc.  Her troubles are easy to relate to, and despite all that she's been through, she has this hilarious sense of humor and is quite witty and sarcastic.  Loved her!

Hayden was so good too!  At first I was wary because he and his father had spied on Ember for months before they actually met, and I was just thinking, "Pleasepleaseplease don't let him be a stalker; it's too creepy," but he wasn't at all like that.  He was so sweet and sincere!  He understood Ember and stuck by her when no one else would.  He was persistent and helped her try to control her power even when she was ready to give up.  I loved that for once, the love interest wasn't a "bad boy" type.  Hayden was a great character who definitely added more to the story than simply being the love interest!

And lastly, the plot.  It was clever and unique except for one tiny factor: I immediately guessed who the bad guy was.  It was, unfortunately, quite obvious, at least to me.  (That's the only reason I give Cursed a 9 out of 10) But I felt like it wasn't a major part of the story.  There was so much else happening, so many other twists and turns like who Ember could trust, trying to figure out her background, find out what caused her family's accident, etc., that I still had to keep guessing what would happen.  Despite the predictable villain, Armentrout still managed to surprise me in the end!

This was an amazing read, and even though there's no definite sequel, I really hope JLA will continue the story!  I would love to read more about Ember!  Get a copy of Cursed as soon as possible.  It's so worth it!

My rating: 9 out of 10

~ The Bookworm