Title: Touched (Sense Thieves #1)
Author: Corrine Jackson
Release date: November 27, 2012
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Pages: 343
Source: Publisher
Reading level: YA
Remy O’Malley heals people with touch—but every injury she cures becomes her own. Living in a household with an abusive stepfather, she has healed untold numbers of broken bones, burns,and bruises. And then one night her stepfather goes too far.
Being sent to live with her estranged father offers a clean start and she is eager to take it. Enter Asher Blackwell. Once a Protector of Healers, Asher sacrificed his senses to become immortal. Only by killing a Healer can a Protector recover their human senses. Falling in love is against the rules between these two enemies. Because Remy has the power to make Protectors human again, and when they find out, they’ll becoming for her—if Asher doesn’t kill her first.
Earlier in the year I read Corrine Jackson’s debut novel, If I Lie. I adored it and I was very much looking forward to reading Touched, her first venture into the paranormal. While I still greatly enjoyed Corrine Jackson’s writing, Touched really fell flat for me.
My biggest issue with Touched was that, while the premise seemed unique, the story actually wasn’t very original. I know readers aren’t supposed to compare books when reading but I honestly could not stop thinking about Twilight while reading this one. There was this dark, brooding boy with a secret, a rather plain girl who fell in love with him, this group of people out to stop the human world from finding out about the paranormal creatures, and so much more! I’m not saying that Corrine Jackson stole the story from Stephenie Meyer, I’m just saying, it’s all been done before. I would have much rather read something with more originality.
Remy, however, didn’t really remind me all that much of Bella. Remy was a strong character who had to deal with a lot. Her ability made her a target and so she was always keeping her distance from people. She knew that if people found out it could ruin her life. She was a little rough around the edges because of this but she was really easy to like. Asher, on the other hand, was a little harder to like, mainly because he reminded me so much of Edward. Like I said, he was dark and brooding, but he also kept trying to keep Remy away from him. He kept going on and on about how dangerous he was for her. I just wanted to reach in and slap him.
The plot had some holes but it is the first book in a trilogy so that was to be expected. Things really started to come together in the end and of course, then it ended. I was left with quite a few questions but nothing that left me disappointed. There was just enough mystery to keep me interested for the next book.
Overall, Touched certainly had it’s flaws but it is still a solid start to the Sense Thieves trilogy. So far I have been pretty impressed with Corrine Jackson’s books and I look forward to more in this trilogy.
Looking for more reviews of Touched?
Two Chicks On Books’ review
Leisure Reads’ review
I was really looking forward to this one but this is the second time I have heard it is so much like Twilight. :/ I am a Twilight fan, but I’d rather not read something exactly like it. It’s good to know the main character wasn’t just like Bella, at least. I may still read this some day, but for now I will put it off. I have If I Lie still to read and I’ll focus on that instead. Thanks for the great review, Katie! 🙂
~Sara @ Forever 17 Books
This one is on my to-read list, but I hadn’t seen a review on it yet. I hope to still read this one, but hopefully I’m not too jaded by Twilight-alikes to not like it. 😉
I’m debating on reading this or not – her debut sounds promising (and I love good contemporary stories), but I can’t help but wonder if reading another ‘meh’ paranormal book would be boring anymore. There are so many good ones out there, and there are even Twilight read-alikes out there with more interest in them.
Thank you for the honest and helpful review, Katie. I may keep my eye out for this, but I don’t think I’ll clamor to read it over other YA paranormals.
This is the first I’ve heard of Touched, but it sounds too much like twilight for me. Happy Reading in 2013!
I’ve definitely seen people complain about how much this reminded them of Twilight, and it seems like you found the similarities striking as well. This concerns me a lot, because I’m definitely not fond of Twilight-esque books. However, it’s good to see that the MC isn’t a Bella Swan, at least. She seems pretty likable, even if the main guy doesn’t.
Thank you so much for this lovely review Katie! This book definitely seems like it has potential, so I may end up picking it up just to see what I think of it for myself. The redeemed ending definitely gives me some incentive to read this one. =)
This is a book I’ve been wanting to read and pondering whether it was worth buying. So when I saw you reviewed it I scrolled right down to your rating before reading the review. Like you said, it sounds like a solid start to a series. Unfortunately I think I’ll be getting this one from the library. I’ve read about enough brooding Edwars to last a lifetime. Yet, Remy sounds amazing. So I will be reading it.
I’ve heard that this is very similar to Twilight, too. I’m glad you warned us about it! I guess the only different thing about it is that Remy has abilities, while Bella.. doesn’t. I’m really glad to hear that you liked Remy though, that she was a strong character.
I’m still not sure if I should pick this one up, but I might just pick up Corrine’s contemporary novel for now. Thanks for the honest and brilliant review, Katie!
Compare away. I do it all the time. You can’t help it when it feels like you have just read that story.
Thanks for warning about it being so close to the Twilight books. I was looking forward to this, the lot sounded really good. Not real sure though. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Jenea @ Books Live Forever
So impressed that she had too books come out in one year! Touched sounds really unique and interesting and I can’t wait to check it out (even if it has some similarities to Twilight)
From the summary I can tell this one is probably not for me. I’m sorry to hear that it reminded you of other books, and lacked in originality. I hate it when that happens because all I can do is compare the book to the one it reminds me of, and usually I think the other is better. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the rest of the trilogy much better and maybe get some answers to those questions you were left with. Thanks for the honest review 🙂
I truly loved this book! I loved the characters (especially Remy because like you said she was so strong) and it wasn’t as emotional as If I Lie but it was engrossing I think 🙂
Lovely review:)