Kelly Hashway

4/5 stars. Better than I expected.

Plot: 3.5/5
Oh, no! I’ve begun using decimals.
So, for the first half of this book, I was uncomfortable with the mythology, and rightly so. One of my friends, reading the back, was outraged at the whole ‘thirteenth sign of the zodiac’. I don’t mind that. I understand existing reality must be tweaked for story purposes. But, until they explained it, the mythology seemed unsustainable. But then the explained it.
And then the ending, or rather, two chapters preceding the LAST couple of chapters… in those two chapters, some things happened that seemed very…abrupt. There was no lead-up to those events, or there a very little.
I feel that the part after the middle of this book and before those couple chapters was the best, plot-wise.

Characters: 3.5/5
Matt: reminded me SOOO much of Matt from TVD
Jodi: Hey, she agrees with me about Mac-and-Cheese (it’s gross), so, points for her!
Alex: his Mac-and-Cheese obsession, aww. His cuteness, aww. And, WTF??? (those last-ish two chapters)
Victoria and Troy: I liked neither of Alex’s parents. Troy, though he only spoke, like, three times, was undeniably mean and Victoria was very slimy.
Medusa: Medusa is cool. Me likey.
Abby: insecure-bitchy-mean-girl? I think.

Romance: 5/5
Concerning Jodi and Alex, not Jodi and Matt:
Although, yes, there was a bad case of intsalurve here, I found most f their exchanges to be natural, no cheesy. While I have said that, for the most part, I don’t mind cheesy, it was nice to not say “Cheesy” every couple of pages.
“Yeah, well, I hate to break it to you, but the last thing a girl wants to see when she opens her eyes is a knife in the hand of the guy she—” I caught myself in time.
Alex cocked his head to the side and smirked. “Go on. The guy she…”
“She’s training with.”
Nice save, Jodi.
(The whole knife part of that exchange makes more sense in context)

Overall grade: 12/15
Not outstanding, but decent.


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"Touch of Death" is a fast paced, entertaining read about Jodi, a teenager who discovers that she has the power to kill and the power to revive the dead. I have no idea how true the mythology that is woven into the plot is, but it was enough to keep me intrigued and riveted. The story itself is essentially divided into two parts, even though it's not officially broken up as such. Thankfully it didn't take much mental effort to shift from part 1 to part 2. There were a few plot points that seemed a bit contrived (for instance, much of the initial interaction between Jodi and Alex seemed a bit implausible), but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. Definitely going to be looking out for the sequel!… (more)