A Wee Touch of Enchantment

Touch of Death
By: Kelly Hashway
Reported by: Julianna Helms
Source: ARC via tour
Release date: January 15th, 2013 via Spencer Hill Press

Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

-Summary from Goodreads
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Now here we have something interesting.

Zombies + Greek mythology? Sounds like an epic tour de force, yeah? That's what I thought, too. But Touch of Death is about as deceptive as its cover--what at first seems like a gorgeous and dark tale is really about a girl, insta-love, plus predictive plots weaving the way. *cues drumroll*

It's not that the book was bad, rather that it was more... bland. It's interesting in the way that a rock might be in a sea of desert sand: cool compared to the unspeakable works of "literature", yet not necessarily a means by which one entertains oneself. A lot of people have geeked out over this book, so maybe it's just me, but let me explain why I wasn't such a big fan first:

1) Jodi Jodi Jodi--Oh, Jodi, where do I start? In the beginning, you were okay. But... WHY? WHY INSTA-LOVE WHEN YOU JUST- *headdesk* No spoilers, folks. Man! I saw this speech once, and the quote that comes to me right now is, "girl, you are so on a rebound." That doesn't even begin to describe the magnitude of her decision. I'm not the character, and I'm not going to say what she should/shouldn't do, but Jodi's actions and voice are often so childish that I just couldn't relate to her. 

2) Twists--You're all book-lovers here, or otherwise ya probably wouldn't be reading my blog. I'm going to, therefore, assume that you've read a lot of books. You know how some books sound SO ORIGINAL and then you read it and you're just like, oh, that's great, didn't I just see the same situation happen in that book, that book, and that other one I read just last week? Same old, same old. There are definitely really cool plot elements in the story, but if you're someone who values unpredictability (like me), prepare to be disappointed by the lack of actual twists.

That said, I did finish the book, so it definitely has promise! It's intriguing in the way TNT is fascinating: you don't know whether or not everything will blow up in your face, and you're not sure whether or not you want it to. It's worth the investment of time, I think--lots of people have loved this book. 

Just remember, though, that sometimes TNT short-circuits, and as much as you want something cool to happen... well, as the saying goes: "Life's full of disappointments!"