Cursed - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Cursed is one of the ARCs I snagged at Book Expo. It was one of those books that I read the back of, and instantly knew that I had to read it, no matter what. In this case, the driving 'omgomgomg' factor was the main character's special talent. If there's one thing that Shatter Me and X-Men have taught me, it's that chicks who kill with a touch tend to be pretty awesome.

Cursed is the story of Ember McWilliams, a high school student who died in a car crash. Unlike most tragic stories of teenager death, however, Ember had a little secret: her sister, Olivia, was a healer. In fact, she was such a good healer that she brought Ember back from the dead. But everything comes with a catch, and after her visit to the afterlife, Ember is cursed with the inability to touch anything without it dying. No more pets, no more hugging her sister, and no chance of ever having a boyfriend or a family. To make matters worse, her mother is stuck in some kind of dark trance after the death of her husband in the same accident, so Ember has to take care of Olivia on her own. But things are okay--usually. Until the day that everything changes and Ember's worst nightmare becomes her reality.

The next thing she knows, Ember and her sister are placed in a new home in West Virginia, where she has to adjust to a new life. Here, she lives with a family of adopted 'gifted', and they promise to take care of her sister. In order for Ember to feel safe, though, she has to trust the man running the house. But when she learns that the accident that killed her and her father wasn't an accident, she can't help but feel suspicious of the man who collects super powered children like baseball cards.

In all honestly, I'm not sure if I've ever read a book by Armentrout before. The books listed on her website don't sound like I've ever read them--but do, I might add, have some incredibly sexy covers--, but I could have sworn that her name was pretty familiar when I got in her line at Book Expo. Either way, I'm pretty happy I chose the line I did, because I thought this book was fantastic.

To begin with, I loved Ember's power. That's probably a given, since I already said that I enjoyed Shatter Me and Rogue, but it still needs to be said. I just love the idea of it, and I could read a thousand books about super powers like it and still be in love with it. Honestly, I kind of love -everyone's- powers in this book. Her sister is a super healer who can bring people back to life, one of the girls is an empath, there's a telepath, and... well, one of the boys is an 'enerpath', and that's a made up term, so don't ask me entirely what that means. Something about being able to bring down houses and make garbage cans split by draining energy. Wish I knew more about it, but it seems pretty cool.

The plot of this book is pretty interesting, and I liked following Ember on her path to figure out all the mysteries that are thrown her way. It's a little predictable at times, but overall, it's a pretty good storyline, and I look forward to any potential sequels that follow up on the many topics that were brought up but never concluded.

 Character-wise, I felt that most of the characters were very real, very human and flawed in the right ways. Ember's little sister was a very good character, and definitely encompassed to me what a 6 year old is. At times I wanted to hug her and cuddle her, and other times I kind of wanted someone to just take away all her pretty toys and make her stand in a corner for a while (or worse), because she was so typically bratty. But at the same time there are slight exceptions. The main love interest, Hayden, was my least favorite character possible, because he was so...meh. He was super powerful, magically able to handle Ember's death touch, gorgeous, and honestly...kind of bland, too me. Even his big background reveal towards the end of the book, which I obviously can't spoil for you...well, it was a really big issue, but it was also the exact same kind of thing I've read in a million other stories. The love story itself is deep with angst and happiness and fluff, but I feel the male lead could have been better.

That being said, I think the book was really good overall. I'd definitely recommend it, particularly to fans of Shatter Me who want to try a book of the same flavor minus the dystopian influence. I'd also recommend it to the readers who are hungry for semi-paranormal stories that don't involve vampires, fairies, or werewolves for once. Finally, all the current YA readers who are dying for another love story without the love triangle influence, like I typically am, should definitely pick up a copy of Cursed when it comes out on September 18, 2012!

Random Notes and Goodies!

Hey guys! As you probably know, I've been really busy with school, so I'll apologize for the millionth time for being so slow to post these last two months! But I figured I should give you a heads up!

Book Expo America is quickly approaching, and Zenita Dee and I will definitely be finding our way there this year too, haha. I'll be going at least one day, possibly two, but I have to miss June 7th because I'll be at Bucknell University participating in this really awesome summer program that I'm lucky as hell to have gotten into. I'll try to write up a recap of Book Expo sometime right after, so that I don't forget amidst the chaos of school again.

Starting this May, I'm also going to start doing giveaways~
Most of my giveaway goodies will probably come from Book Expo after I've reviewed them, since my bookshelf is already doubled up, but I'm going to see what I can do for other stuff, too.
The first giveaway will start on May 1st. It's nothing superawesomeamazing, because this is my first giveaway and it's a test more than anything else, haha. The official announcement will tell you how to enter, but I can tell you now that the prize is a signed bookmark from Rachel Caine's Last Breath release. If you're interested, be sure to check back.

Finally, I'd just like to thank those of you who are returning visitors. It's really nice to actually see that I'm not reviewing to an empty room!

Thanks guys! Check back in the next few weeks for the contest, and I'll see you soon with a review for The Moonstone Series by Marilee Brothers!

BEA Review

As of 11pm today, I got home from my very first BEA convention in NYC. Sadly I am too much of a poor high school student to manage to go more than one day, particularly when that one day involved skipping school, so I sadly won't be able to manage the rest of the week. But that's okay, because if there's one thing I've learned in my con experience, it's that even one day can leave you completely exhausted. I don't think I could handle a second.
I went in with a group consisting of Zee from Lost Train Of Thoughts and a mutual friend, Candyss. Despite waking up at 4am to catch trains and rides and arriving a full HOUR before the start of the con, we arrived at the con too late to get our hands on any of the special autograph tickets. Needless to say, I'd like to suggest to all the people who work on BEA that they put together a system that's a little more fair than 'arrive 2 hours early or no tickets for you!' But we got over it, and headed out, picking up our badges and checking luggage. We arrived too early to start anything, so we headed out to grab breakfast, arriving back at the con 10 minutes after what we later heard was pure chaos to get in.
My first sight of BEA was stunning. People, books, chaos, it was beautiful. The group and I spent the first half an hour looking around and getting a lay of the place, at least until we stumbled upon the gorgeousness that was Penguin, where ARCs and other books were laid out in abundance in every corner. Our morning was looking up, particularly after picking up gorgeous tote bags from DK to carry some books in.
After the first few minutes, the day gets a little fuzzy. Most of BEA was spent wandering, waiting in lines, and marvelling. But there were plenty of interesting key points that I doubt I'll forget anytime soon.
Harlequin had a series of author hours, for instance, and I went to three of them. The first hour was paranormal, and while the line was long, it was worth it because the end of the line took you by each of the authors signing their books instead of individuals. Thus we joined the forming line for the young adult line early, and spent 30 minutes waiting, then another 10 because of a delay, only for someone to finally tell those of us waiting that this hour was going to be individual lines instead. Needless to say, the place erupted into chaos with nobody being entirely sure where each line lead and people completely ignoring the fact that there had been people already waiting in line, and jumping the lines entirely. I was far from the only person displeased with the situation, if the mood of the crowd and muttering was anything to go by. However, I was pleased to get a copy of the two books I wanted, even if I did miss out on spellbound. The third hour was back to one line for all authors, thank merlin.
The girls and I spent a few hours line hoping in the autograph area, jumping into the short lines and getting multitudes instead of picking a long line and waiting. We probably missed out on a few good things, but we found some really interesting authors we wouldn't have otherwise noticed, so it was pretty epic.
Between the bags, books, and random freebies, I must have brought home over 900$ worth of awesomeness, the majority of which you can expect reviews on over the next few months. It was an interesting attempt to get the bags back to my bus, needless to say. Overall, BEA was a fun and really interesting event, and I can't wait for next year.

Key Points of BEA:
The Good

• Free arcs and books everywhere!
• Incredibly friendly authors and fellow bloggers that I managed to speak to in the lines.
• Getting to meet favorite authors and learn about ones that might be just as good
• Friendly, helpful staff
• Multitude of food and drink options everywhere
• A wide range of different genres, from the dictionary to warhammer books.
  

The Bad

• A horrible lack of manners and abundance of rudeness in the crowds, to the point that while I was attempting to get through a crowd and apologizing, a woman shoved into me to force her own way through instead of waiting.
• Incredibly crowded walkways, particularly near places such as Penguin, which had popular booth signings
• Unorganized signing systems, such as changing systems midsignings and giving out numbered tickets without organizing by number
• Rushed authors, to the point that at least one didn't have time to talk to fans, let alone personalize signatures
• Overexpensive food everywhere. 4$ for an ice cream bar, anyone?
• Needing to arrive needlessly early to get tickets
• Mixed signals. The staff discouraged starting to stand in line for booths too early, but then gave out tickets to people who did.

Tips

• Bring a rolling suitcase, particularly if you need to walk anywhere with your load of books
• Make and bring business cards, no matter if you're a blogger or salesman.
• Network. The lines are long, make conversation.
• Don't be afraid to jump in the lines that nobody else is in. Sometimes those books end up being really good.
• Arrive early if you want to get ticketed events.
• Bring a sturdy, comfortable bag you can carry with weight in it.
• Check your bags. It's pretty cheap, and it saves a lot of time and effort, particularly after those bags start to weight 30-40 lbs from books.
• Have fun. You're there because you like books, or you should be. Mellow out, go with the flow, and let yourself enjoy everything, even if you don't get everything you want.