Book:  What Curiosity Kills (The Turning #1)
Author:  Helen Ellis
Published:  May 1, 2010 from Sourcebooks Fire
My edition/number of pages:  Hardcover/288

Age group: Young Adult
Source:  Publisher
Series?: Yes, first book.

Mary Richards is a normal sixteen-year-old girl living in Manhattan. Well, almost normal. She goes to private school on the Upper East Side, having been saved from a life of squalor by an adoptive family. But she’s also slowly transforming into a cat.

Struggling to hide her physical metamorphosis, Mary discovers that she isn’t alone. A whole race of cat people prowls the streets of Manhattan at night, including Mary’s long-time crush, Nick.

Aside from heightened feline senses, hanging out with Nick is the best thing about discovering her inner kitty. But Mary’s transformation is special and could decide the outcome of a citywide turf war. She must decide whether to embrace her powerful feline side and become a pack leader or go back to being a normal teenage girl. Can she land on her feet or will curiosity be her downfall?

summary from Goodreads.com

What Curiosity Kills is the first book in a new series by Helen Ellis and while it was definitely unique it’s not something I will be checking out.  The first book was enough for me to realize that I am just not interested.

Mary is turning into a cat.  She doesn’t know how or why but she knows that her crush, Nick, is helping her.  He is finally showing interest in her and she is not going to let him slip away.  Too bad her sister is terrified of cats and wants Mary’s problem fixed.  What’s even worse is that there are other forces trying to keep Mary from even being human again.

So, the premise for What Curiosity Kills was beyond interesting.  The bad part was that the book did not live up to it.  And there were parts of the book where I was grossed out.  I was not into the whole turning into a cat thing and mice were involved.  Eww!  Also, I was super confused part of the time.  I didn’t get the point of the book and there didn’t seem to be a straight plot line.

Then there were the characters.  Mary and Nick’s relationship came out of nowhere and the part with Ling Ling was odd.  I didn’t get why everyone was attracted to Nick.  It would have been better if the characters were more developed so that I could actually understand some of their motives.

Overall, What Curiosity Kills is the start to a series that some might enjoy but not me.  I have to recommend checking this one out from your library if you are still interested.

First line: I wanted to scream for help, but pain like fire ants had found me.

Writing:  5

Characters:  3

Plot:  3

Ending:  2

Originality:  5

Overall:  18=D-

Cover:  5=A++