Review; Blessed by Tonya Hurley

Title: Blessed
Author: Tonya Hurley
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: September 25th 2012
Pages: 416
Genre: YA Paranormal 
Series: The Blessed #1
Source: ARC copy

 

Brooklyn teens Lucy, Cecelia and Agnes find themselves in the emergency room at Perpetual Help Hospital at the lowest point in their lives. Lucy, the superficial party girl; Cecelia, a drop out rock chick; and Agnes, a hopeless romantic. All rebels running from their lives and themselves, plagued by broken hearts and broken dreams. Enter Sebastian. Mysterious, compelling, seductive. He seems to bring each of them what they long for...

But in the battle for his heart, will they lose their souls?

I was really excited to get my hands on this book. It looks creepy, sounds interesting, and I loved the Ghost Girl series by Tonya Hurley. I was so happy to be on the traveling ARC tour through Southern Book Tours. I finally received the book and dove in. The story was not at all what I expected. The book was an OK read, the story was interesting enough that I was was eager to see where it was heading, but it was not the thrilling, creepy read I was expecting. I really have mixed feelings about the book but I am still glad I read it. 

CeCe, Lucy, and Agnes are three teens that live in Brooklyn and all three have accidents of some sort that end them in the ER room on the same night. Each girl was given a bracelet. They all live separate lives, but all have one thing in common, they are not happy with their lives. CeCe is a aspiring rock star and barely making it by performing in dives, Lucy is a party girl who lives to be in the media, and Agnes has fallen for the wrong by when she thought he was Mr. Right. None of the girls come from a good family life and none seem to have any positive in their life. On a stormy night they all end up in the same church with a strange boy. They are stuck in the church for hours while they wait out the storm and find that they may just have a great purpose in life. 

This book is really hard for me to review as it was pretty had for me to wrap my head around. There was something very intriguing about the book that kept me reading but I was never fully aware of what was going on or where the story was leading me. I liked the idea behind the story. Three girls that have nothing to seem to live for but they all have a purpose in life, to help someone else. At least that is what I think the story was about. Each girl had to fight their own demons so that they could help others. 

The writing was a bit slow but still kept my attention. I kept waiting for something big to happen and it wasn't until the very end where anything exciting happened at all and I was pretty confused through the entire process. The author did a great job of pulling me in but I feel like I really didn't receive the what I was promised. The book does have a dark tone to it and I really did enjoy the tone of the story and I did enjoy the individual stories of the the three girls. The story as a whole lacked something for me. 

I never really grew attached to any of the characters. They were interesting enough and completely different from each other, each with their own story to tell. The problem I had was they all felt the same to me. I got the feeling they were supposed to be totally different girls and yet they all read the same to me. I was not able to really get to know them, to feel the conflicts, their sadness, and their loneliness. I knew it was there but I just couldn't feel it. I really didn't get Sebastian much at all. He was there and he brought the three together.  I liked his direction with the saints but I didn't really get the connection, how did he know these three were the three saints, and what was his part in all of this. I really feel that if the character development would have been there, I would have liked the story so much more. 

I was a little disappointed in this book and I am really confused over my feelings for it. I didn't like it as much as I wanted but for some reason I am still interested in seeing if the next book will be any better. I am not sure I will read the next book but I have not ruled it out either. A confusing and lacking read but still interesting.