Book #103 - Cursed

Cursed, Jennifer L. Armentrout
paranormal romance
Started 9/13/12
Finished 9/15/12
5 STARS

I know I'm reading a good book when my own reactions to the story mirror the characters'. When they get angry, I want to throw something. When they are sad, I'm bawling like a baby. When they're scared, my chest gets tight and it's hard to breathe. Somehow, Jennifer Armentrout has the uncanny ability - moreso than any other author I've ever read - to do this to me. Cursed is amazing.

Ember's little sister has the extraordinary ability to bring the dead back to life with her touch. Which she did when Ember died in a car accident. Only, that act changed Ember forever, because now Ember's touch kills. Her school life is torture, and Ember is struggling to keep her little family together. Then, a blessing in disguise shows up in Hayden Cromwell, a beautiful boy who shows up to kidnap Ember and her sister - and in the process of doing so, touches Ember and lives to tell about it.

Although Ember is taken from her own personal hell, she's dropped in another of sorts. Her new housemates are so scared of her, they treat her horribly. Her sister seems to like her new caretakers better than Ember. Hayden runs very hot and cold. And - oh yeah - someone's trying to kill her. The question is, can Ember gain enough control over her touch of death to live and love like a normal girl?

This was a very emotional book for me. Ember goes through the full range of emotions. Armentrout was amazing, as she made me feel it all. There were so many times when I was crying right along with Ember, when my chest was tightening up as Hayden got close to her, and when I was so utterly furious, I wanted to scream. I honestly don't know of any other book that has elicited this type of reaction from me. For that reason alone, this is a 5-star book.

The characters were so multi-dimensional that I swear they could've stepped off the page fully formed. The setting and concept of the town ruled by the head honcho and Hayden's adoptive dad was unique. If I had to get nit-picky and name something that was less than perfect, I could only say that the bad guy was pretty predictable; I figured out who it was from nearly the beginning. And, the concept of a girl who's touch kills everything but a certain cute boy has been done (Shatter Me and Jenny Pox to name a few). But, everything else in Cursed was so amazing that I didn't care at all about that. Honestly - go out and get this book now. You will not be sorry.