Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published by Spencer Hill Press on September 18, 2012
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: BEA
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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 hell, 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.

Jennifer L. Armentrout continues to impress and enthrall me. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors and while Cursed is not her best, it’s still a great story.

Ember wasn’t always an outcast at school. In fact, she used to be popular. That all changed the day she died and her little sister brought her back to life. Ever since then everything Ember touches dies. Ember knows she will never be able to get close to anyone so she shuts herself off from the world. All except her best friend, Adam. Adam stuck with Ember through it all even though he didn’t know what exactly changed with her. Then Hayden Cromwell showed up and changed her life all over again. Suddenly Ember finds herself, her little sister, Olivia, and their mother living with a stranger who has taken in a bunch of other “gifted” kids. What exactly does he want with the kids though?

Once again I adored Jennifer L. Armentrout’s writing and I found myself hooked from the very beginning. She has a way with words that makes it impossible for readers to put the book down. Her writing style is simple, easy to understand, and super fast-paced. Her writing is one of the best things about her books, in my opinion.

Another great thing about Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books is the romance. She knows how to write sexy guys and steamy scenes. While Hayden didn’t compare to Aiden from the Covenant series, he was sweet, funny, smart, and like I said, sexy. He was one of the better characters in the book. He was well-developed and I found his story to be very interesting.

Ember, on the other hand, was not one of the best characters. I was really disappointed with her as a character. She just seemed very contradictory. At the beginning of the book all she can talk about is how much she loves her little sister and how it’s her job to take care of her. However, about 60 pages into the book Olivia just seems to disappear. She plays almost no part in the story from then on out. I really thought she was cute and I loved her relationship with Ember so I was really sad that she didn’t play a bigger role. Adam also disappeared not too far into the story. The whole thing with Adam really upset me and if I had been in Ember’s place I would not have let it go like she did. She barely put up a fight and it made me think that she really wasn’t a great friend. She was also kind of a bitch. Because of her curst she shut herself off from everyone and she did that by being nasty to them. I expected a lot more from her.

The story itself was not that impressive but still interesting. I guessed who the bad guy was very early on but I did not guess his motives. That is what kept me reading. No matter how hard I tried to piece things together I just couldn’t. I was really surprised by the end of the story and it made the book worth it. Jennifer L. Armentrout definitely knows how to write suspense.

Overall, Cursed will greatly appeal to Jennifer L. Armentrout fans. While I doubt it will be a favorite of her books, readers will still enjoy it.