Cursed

The Watchers Trilogy, Book 1

By: S.J. West

Narrated by: Christa Lewis

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Since she was eight years old, Lilly Rayne Nightingale felt like Fate was trying to wipe away her existence through a series of odd, near fatal incidences. Luckily, her best friend Will was always one step ahead of Fate preventing her from being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Will was her knight in shining armor until he broke her heart after their one and only kiss.

On Lilly's first day of college, she meets Brand Cole. Intrigued by Brand, Lilly must decide whether or not she can give up her adolescent fantasy of being reunited with Will and allow Brand the opportunity to conqueror her heart.

Not only do Will and Brand both love Lilly, they share a dark secret neither wants Lilly to discover. Lilly thinks Fate is after her once again when a new series of attempts on her life start to take place, but she soon learns someone of flesh and blood is trying to kill her this time.

©2014 S.J. West (P)2014 Sandra Jean West

Wow!

I have not read this author before but she is definitely someone I will read in the future!

Not a New Idea, But Maybe a Better Read

So, if you're a lover of this genre it probably hasn't escaped your notice that there are several series out there with a similar theme: young woman comes of age in her freshman year and discovers that she's far from normal and everything she thought she knew is a lie. She's been watched her entire life by beings she knew nothing about because she's being prepped for a very special mission that will likely hold the fate of humankind in her hands. Yep. It's a popular storyline and has a lot of different versions with tons of fans.

But this series is different.

It's all in the foundation of this story. You can spot it in the main character, LIlly, as well as in the Watchers themselves. It's in the way they talk about what they believe and why. It's in the way Lilly conducts her life, and the way certain people who are key in her life support her. Lilly may have had a really messed up childhood, but she was still raised with a system of beliefs, a code of ethics which she strives to live by in her daily life. She's not an annoying judgy person. That's not her style at all. She would be about the last person to look down on others. Nope. She's just trying to live her life to the best of her ability. That is, until her crazy, awful life gets even crazier and... awfuler...LOL.

The characters and story line here are great--rich and diverse. There is plenty of suspense, drama, trauma, angst, mean-girl-isms, and holy cow moments to keep those pages turning. There's also plenty of sexual tension going on, with Lilly seemingly surrounded by hunky guys who want her to be theirs. *sigh* It's also hard to know who's a good guy, and who's telling the truth (if, indeed, anyone is!). It's a well written story that grips and intrigues. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Great start love the twists

I truly enjoyed this story the book and audiobook are amazing, I can't wait to see what happens next. it got me intrigued from the start, the world building is great, like the new ideas the author presents. I love all the guys they are dreamy in their own way

Why isn't there more?!?!

Any additional comments?

I seriously loved this book and have NO idea why there isn't more! Please S. J West! Make more books on audiobook!

Great!!!

Love both the book and the narration. The story is captivating from beginning to end.

Okay.....

So, it's okay. The narrator is hard to grow accustomed to. the character development is lacking. It's a decent YA read, not really suited for NA due to lack of overall plot development.

Can't Stand the Narration

Would you consider the audio edition of Cursed to be better than the print version?

I did not read the print version

What didn’t you like about Christa Lewis’s performance?

I am 15 minutes in to the book and I can't stand the narration. I want to shut the book off - but I paid good money for it so I am going to hold out until the end... but man..... really hate the narration. It's very slow and she sounds like she's super old, when the character is supposed to be a freshman in college.

moves really slow

The story premise is good. But if I had been just reading the book I may not have finished it. The narrator's voice is so mousy I had to turn up my volume pretty high. Bought the next book in the series just because the cliffhanger in the first was so intriguing.

Being from Mississippi...

Disclaimer: the story is great, this review is on the narration.

Listen, the story is amazing, well worth the read, but I was so distracted by the narrator. Why is it that the main character has no accent yet grew up in Mississippi with the rest of them? And the southern accents that were given sound more like something from gone with the wind than anything you’d likely hear in the past 50 years

And why does her best friend sound like the token black girl in a made for TV movie, directed by people who have never met a southern black woman? Why does she pronounce poor Utha Mae’s name like that? That hard T made me cringe every time.

Plus the husky whisper she gave Lilly came off as someone in her late 40s reading fifty shades for the first time rather than a freshman in college. She manages to pull off a younger tone for the other characters so I’m just confused. It’s a no for me. I had to switch to the kindle version.

Sincerely,
A southern black woman from Mississippi with a grandma named Lula Mae.

Alright Story, Bad narrator

This story is decent. It is VERY similar to an Amy Bartol series I've previously listened to. So much so it almost makes me think one or the other was serious inspired by the other author. The narrator though...she's annoying. Her choice of voices is weird and she talks way...to...slow... I've never sped up the listening speed of a book until now. I just couldn't take how slow she reads. I will keep listening, but, he5res hoping she speeds things up a bit.