Cursed

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

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.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things - including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming that Ember's 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 weird even her out.

When Ember learns that the accident that turned her into a freak may not have 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 gets to losing not only her heart but her life. For real this time.

©2012 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Armentrout puts a fresh twist on this occult tale, creating a paranormal setting that has the right mix of suspense, mystery, romance, and adventure. Gripping characters with an X-Men feel drive the plot, leaving readers wondering who is innocent and who is guilty."----School Library Journal

Why did I wait so long to listen to this GEM!

In a word this book was emotional. I really enjoyed the ride the author took us on.
Ember is struggling not only with being her sister’s caregiver but because of what her sister can do and the results of the tragedy she has lived through.

I loved the world building Jennifer gives us, it’s never forced it always seems so organic. It makes for an intriguing story and one you won’t want to put down.
I kind of wish this was a series because I would love to know more about some of the other characters and even more Ember I mean the way the book ends it could lead to so much more.

I loved the narration Saskia gives the emotion the inflection and the heartbreak in her voice it's wonderful and keeps you gripped in the story.

Loved it!

I really hope there's another book! I want to know what happens next with everyone....

Couldn't decide if the family was good or bad

Ember's gift was triggered by her death & resurrection. Her new life sucked but she did everything possible to care for her little sister. Not being able to simply touch her sister w/o gloves is heartbreaking. All that I could empathize with but being immediately attracted to a guy who is clearly dangerous, especially when all Olivia has is Ember to care for her. I don't understand but maybe that's just my wariness showing. Then the whole kidnap/adopt thing, again hard to believe & the family just seems off, morally ambiguous, broken, etc. The one redeeming thing about the Cromwell family is that they love each other. Hayden, is a stalker & totally messes with Ember's head. She is so vulnerable after being unable to touch or get close to anyone for two years. Add hormones to that & Ember was in trouble. Hayden didn't act like a gentleman. The story was interesting in a read once kind of way. The narrator was good but I prefer the males to sound more male. This definitely isn't one of my favorite books but I did like the book.

Great story and excellent narrator!

Captivating and an easy listen. While I did predict who the villain was pretty quickly, I couldn't predict all of the twists and turns and thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Lots of mystery

All of JLA's books pull me in immediately and I ever want to leave. There is a lot of action, mystery, and always second guessing everyone. This is an awesome storyline. A lot of the characters have gifts that they had to figure out how to use.

Decent story

It was slow to start and this narrators voice wasn’t a hit for me personally, but it was a decent story overall. It was fairly predictable until the very end and it was a little odd how sometimes she would use adult language and other times it would be almost like being censored for a younger audience.

Definitely recommend

LOVED it. first audio book since Harry Potter that I've liked and have been able to finish. Jennifer L Armentrout's novels are beautifully written. I just wish there was more to this story.

least favorite book from Jennifer

I really wanted to love this book as I have loved every book I've read written by Jennifer so far but this one just fell incredibly flat. one of the things I love about her writing is how unpredictable the turns of her stories are but this one couldn't have been more predictable if it tried. the story also doesn't really go anywhere it all just feels like a giant preamble and then it ends. I kept waiting and waiting for it to pick up and then it just ended. I think the universe could be interesting to explore and it could definitely go somewhere if the story was continued but as is unfortunately not worth it.

Great story

I loved ever minute of it. I have to find more like this one now

Great

Great story! I enjoyed listening to this book. Narrator did a good job. Crazy twist and turns in the book.