Scan barcode
triggerkat's review against another edition
I could not continue it. I didn't even get to page 100. Maybe page 85? Not sure. The three characters are not who I want to be reading about, and the plot has YET to take off. Too much character building, not enough story.
~I received an ARC from Simon & Schuster for reviewing purposes.~
~I received an ARC from Simon & Schuster for reviewing purposes.~
fantasmariana's review against another edition
2.0
Me encantan las leyendas sobre santos y mártires católicos, por eso estaba muy interesada en leer este libro. Tristemente, la ejecución de la historia es mala y este libro es prueba de que tener una idea original no sirve de mucho si no sabes como desarrollarla.
Seguiré leyendo solamente porque cometí el error de comprar la trilogía entera. Lo único que me queda de consuelo es que Hurley de pronto mete unas escenas muy sangrientas y abrumadoras que le dan un aire macabro a la historia, de resto, pésimos personajes que no me gustaron ni un poco y una historia sin pies, ni cabeza. Lástima.
Seguiré leyendo solamente porque cometí el error de comprar la trilogía entera. Lo único que me queda de consuelo es que Hurley de pronto mete unas escenas muy sangrientas y abrumadoras que le dan un aire macabro a la historia, de resto, pésimos personajes que no me gustaron ni un poco y una historia sin pies, ni cabeza. Lástima.
imnobody's review against another edition
Seemed a little hard to follow. I can usually follow book plots, even if I'm jumping between books or going long stretches without reading a certain one, but this one pushed my limits. Most likely I'll read the next book, just because I hate leaving a series unfinished.
moonlit_mystic's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The book started off strong but it was hard to understand and I lost interest and didn't care much for the rest of the plot. Sad, I thought I would've liked it more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
moirwyn's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2016/08/29/mini-review-the-blessed-by-tonya-hurley/
I picked up an ARC of The Blessed by Tonya Hurley at Book Expo a bunch of years back, and finally got around to reading it. It is by far one of the strangest books I’ve read in 2016.
The basic premise of The Blessed is that there are three girls, each of whom ends up in the hospital on the same night. Agnes ends up there because she’s suicidal, Lucy after a drunk night out, and Cecilia after she is found on the street face-down in a puddle. Each of the girls is named after a saint and a martyr. While they’re in the hospital, each is mysteriously given a chaplet.
The chaplets are linked to a young man named Sebastian who has recently escaped from the psych ward. He claims that the girls are holy and that each has been chosen to do battle against the forces of evil, which threaten to take over the world.
For most of the book, readers are left wondering whether Sebastian is authentic or whether he’s dangerous (or both). But through their interactions with him, each of the girls begins to realize her own strengths and feel a calling toward a higher purpose.
The Blessed was a quick read with a goth feeling to it, bolstered through lots of Catholic imagery and overall creepy vibes. There were a bunch of different points while reading where I was like “Aaaaaaaaaaah what just happened?!?!” While I enjoyed the atmosphere, I felt like the characters were not inherently likeable and instead felt like stereotypes of high school cliques–which I guess is kind of the point, that saints were normal people, and maybe if I were younger I’d connect more with the characters and feel as if they were a part of my own world. Even the villain felt flat, as if he was evil because he was evil rather than someone who was had complex motivations. That being said, I breezed through it in two sittings, and my feelings aren’t so much “this is a good book” or “this is a bad book” so much as “This book is freaking weird.”
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2016/08/29/mini-review-the-blessed-by-tonya-hurley/
I picked up an ARC of The Blessed by Tonya Hurley at Book Expo a bunch of years back, and finally got around to reading it. It is by far one of the strangest books I’ve read in 2016.
The basic premise of The Blessed is that there are three girls, each of whom ends up in the hospital on the same night. Agnes ends up there because she’s suicidal, Lucy after a drunk night out, and Cecilia after she is found on the street face-down in a puddle. Each of the girls is named after a saint and a martyr. While they’re in the hospital, each is mysteriously given a chaplet.
The chaplets are linked to a young man named Sebastian who has recently escaped from the psych ward. He claims that the girls are holy and that each has been chosen to do battle against the forces of evil, which threaten to take over the world.
For most of the book, readers are left wondering whether Sebastian is authentic or whether he’s dangerous (or both). But through their interactions with him, each of the girls begins to realize her own strengths and feel a calling toward a higher purpose.
The Blessed was a quick read with a goth feeling to it, bolstered through lots of Catholic imagery and overall creepy vibes. There were a bunch of different points while reading where I was like “Aaaaaaaaaaah what just happened?!?!” While I enjoyed the atmosphere, I felt like the characters were not inherently likeable and instead felt like stereotypes of high school cliques–which I guess is kind of the point, that saints were normal people, and maybe if I were younger I’d connect more with the characters and feel as if they were a part of my own world. Even the villain felt flat, as if he was evil because he was evil rather than someone who was had complex motivations. That being said, I breezed through it in two sittings, and my feelings aren’t so much “this is a good book” or “this is a bad book” so much as “This book is freaking weird.”
bookishnicole's review against another edition
4.0
Admittedly, this book was a little strange. I really liked the story idea, that they were three Saints was a really original and interesting idea, but a little strange. I think one of the most jarring things about this book is that you don't really know what to believe until the end because thats when it starts to make sense.
I think this was a book that did a great job from the third person because with the three girls it would have been too hard to follow otherwise. It also helped because each chapter could be broken up about each girl without having to make a separate chapter from Lucy's POV to Cecilia's POV to Agnes' POV.
I felt that to book was well written and although you jump back and forth from what you should believe. One thing that did bother me was that the beginning was so heavy handed with the religious undertones. There was constantly "sermons" or "prayers" I felt that it was a bit much, but still good. There were a few twists within this book which had my literally shouting about them. A lot of the characters you don't really know, I mean you know them, but can you trust them?
Can you trust the mysterious Sebastian who shows up in the hospital where the girls are. Can you trust the girls? Can you trust the lies that everyone in the book seem to be spreading? That was the most jarring of the book, but once you figure out what is going on, it went a lot smoother.
Even though you don't get to the core of what is happening until the end of the book, it seems to be enough to set the stage for the next book in the trilogy. While we don't have any information slated yet for it, I am really excited for this book. It was a really good read, and definitely something new.
Fun Fact: My confirmation name was almost Agnes, but I went with Joan of Arc instead.
I think this was a book that did a great job from the third person because with the three girls it would have been too hard to follow otherwise. It also helped because each chapter could be broken up about each girl without having to make a separate chapter from Lucy's POV to Cecilia's POV to Agnes' POV.
I felt that to book was well written and although you jump back and forth from what you should believe. One thing that did bother me was that the beginning was so heavy handed with the religious undertones. There was constantly "sermons" or "prayers" I felt that it was a bit much, but still good. There were a few twists within this book which had my literally shouting about them. A lot of the characters you don't really know, I mean you know them, but can you trust them?
Can you trust the mysterious Sebastian who shows up in the hospital where the girls are. Can you trust the girls? Can you trust the lies that everyone in the book seem to be spreading? That was the most jarring of the book, but once you figure out what is going on, it went a lot smoother.
Even though you don't get to the core of what is happening until the end of the book, it seems to be enough to set the stage for the next book in the trilogy. While we don't have any information slated yet for it, I am really excited for this book. It was a really good read, and definitely something new.
Fun Fact: My confirmation name was almost Agnes, but I went with Joan of Arc instead.
radiansreads's review against another edition
A DNF for me. I'm kinda torn between liking this and, well, not liking this. I like the synopsis enough ─ it piques my interest. Unfortunately ─ and I mean unfortunately ─ the whole thing just fell short of my expectations. It just wasn't it.
The story started off rather abruptly; in which we have the three girls somehow ended up being admitted to the ER almost simultaneously.Then something I find confusing happened in which we meet the enigmatic boy named Sebastian. To my knowledge he only met and gave Cecilia the bracelet at that time. But come morning, all three girls had a bracelet with them.Then the author lost me. It was also fast-paced, which made it a teeny bit difficult to absorb.
To be honest, I don't read much into the book, so I can't really judge the whole thing. Like I said, it was unfortunate that it ended up not what I expected ─ and I expect too much. In fact, despite the religious contents ─ and I'm someone who run away from all kinds religious books, excluding ones on my belief of course ─ I'm still interested in the series. So, my verdict: I'm putting this on my "Open for Future Re-read" shelf, which I made just now. Precious Blood still scored a solid 3 stars.
Update: I just found out that the plot is apparently based on the legends of three Catholic saints named Saint Lucy, Saint Agnes, and ─ wait for it ─ Saint Cecilia. Naturally. I mean it's sort of stated there in the synopsis (look up ↑). These are very interesting legends, which brings me back to my point ─ the story could have been better.
Spoiler
Firstly, I think it's a great idea to use multiple point-of-views in the case where there are many characters to focus on. It's also a nice way for readers to know exactly who the characters really are. The thing about multiple point-of-views, though, is that it's not easy. The author has to really capture their characters' personality and just make it real. In the case of Precious blood here, I'm inclined to think that the author's attempt fell flat of the intended goal. The switch between the three girls' point-of-views are confusing, to say the least. One girl just seem a little too attention-crazed, the other a suicidal teen, and the last almost-to-the-point-of-giving-up-on-life musician. I also think the author is trying too hard here by squeezing in all three characters in one book. I would prefer if the author divide the book into three parts and focus on one character at a time. But then again, that's just me.The story started off rather abruptly; in which we have the three girls somehow ended up being admitted to the ER almost simultaneously.
To be honest, I don't read much into the book, so I can't really judge the whole thing. Like I said, it was unfortunate that it ended up not what I expected ─ and I expect too much. In fact, despite the religious contents ─ and I'm someone who run away from all kinds religious books, excluding ones on my belief of course ─ I'm still interested in the series. So, my verdict: I'm putting this on my "Open for Future Re-read" shelf, which I made just now. Precious Blood still scored a solid 3 stars.
Update: I just found out that the plot is apparently based on the legends of three Catholic saints named Saint Lucy, Saint Agnes, and ─ wait for it ─ Saint Cecilia. Naturally. I mean it's sort of stated there in the synopsis (look up ↑). These are very interesting legends, which brings me back to my point ─ the story could have been better.
fictionofthefix's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
probablyytori's review against another edition
1.0
Check out YA Book Queens!
I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway! Thank you, Goodreads, for hosting it.
Precious Blood actually has a really interesting premise. It's just the characters that really got to me. I firmly believe that most of the events I hated in this book were because of the characters, not the plot.
This book centers around three girls--Lucy, Cecilia, and Agnes--who all have issues one way or another. Either they're an unloved celebrity, a broke rock star, and a suicidal hopeless romantic. I'm pretty sure this book has it all. And that's almost not a good thing in this book's case. These three girls all end up in a hospital one night because somehow their issues got the best of them. It's there that they all find matching bracelets that eventually lead them to a church where they meet a hot stranger that they really shouldn't have fallen in love with because he's a two-timing (whoa, three-timing) jerk that only wants them because they're "special." Let's not emit the fact that he doesn't tell them why they're special until they're practically killed in a basement underneath a church.
This is going to be a bad review, so I'm going to start by pointing out the good things that I liked about this book before I dive into the parts that weren't particularly for me. I think there's honestly only one thing that I liked: the plot. The idea of reincarnated saints was something that I found interesting. The pace of the book, although a bit slow at first, wasn't horrendous either. Rough around the edges, yes, but it could've been much, much worse.
Sadly, that's the extent of my like. The only reason I didn't give this book one star was because it wasn't horrible. It was just ridiculous. (Be prepared for a lot of quotes. I took notes on this book. Then again, I took notes for all the books I read over Christmas break.) "You will catch your death out here." Cecilia says this. Let me just point out that Cecilia is the broke rock star that spends her time on the streets hanging out with a stoner that writes some of her songs. She's also a high school drop out. Not only would Cecilia not talk like that, but nobody would talk like that. "You will catch your death out here? No. I just...no.
...Agnes piped up. "But what about what he said? About [the bracelets] leading us here?..." You know, that's real funny, because I don't even remember Agnes being in the scene where Sebastian told Cecilia and Lucy that the bracelets led them to the church where he was staying during the storm. It was little things like this that just irked me. I'm very particular. I notice when little mishappenings occur. I think Agnes as a whole just annoying me though. She always looked at Cecilia sympathetically. If you've read this book, you would know that Cecilia is not a victim whatsoever. She's tough. I think she can handle Lucy saying a few mean words to her.
Oh, and Lucy and Cecilia, man. They were always at each other, usually because of Sebastian. I mean, you two just met the guy. There is not claming or dibs on this one. He is a strange man in a church that is pretty much creepy as hell, and you're still pining and fighting over him? This leads me into another thing that I hated: the instalove between Sebastian and the three girls. They were in the same vicinity for three days and all of a sudden the three girls were in love with Sebastian. I don't know if this had to do with their saint bond or whatever, but it was annoying. I hate instalove.
Oh, I found another mishappening. "No," Agnes said again, this time with no conviction. Agnes never said 'no' the first time. By using 'again,' it's implied that this is the second time Agnes has done such-and-such, except she really didn't. Agnes said 'no' one time and that's all. Like I said, little things like these, I notice them and they get to me.
(And out comes my grammar side.) First, 'off of' is not a grammatically correct phrase. It never was and it never will be. Stop trying to make it happen. And why is the word 'dumpster' capitalized? Unless it's a company that creates dumpsters, then dumpster should not be capitalized. It is an improper noun. It is not a proper nown. It should be lowercase.
I hate how all the girls are so conceited! Like, you three are not God's gift to this Earth so stop acting like it!
There was one line that is just a no-no. The psychiatric floor Perpetual Help also happened to be the highest floor. "The Penthouse," as the ward staffers liked to euphemize it. At that moment, all Agnes could think was that it was a pretty good place to jump from, which might have been what the administrators had in mind when they moved the unit up there. The simplest cost-cutting measure of all. I'm sorry, but that is just wrong. You do not joke about jumpers especially after you just slit your wrists. Just...no. I take it back; I'm not sorry. That's just so wrong to joke about.
There was one scene where Cecilia took a gold charm on her bracelet and used it as a pick for her electric guitar. I'm going out on a limb here so if I'm wrong don't kill me, but I don't think that gold charms work for guitar strings, especially electric guitars. I have both, electric and acoustic, and I've tried to use a multitude of items to strum, but the only item that works is a guitar pick and my fingers. All the other items either (a) break or (b) make a horrible noise. I just don't see how using a gold charm would work.
I don't know. There were just so many things in this book that got to me. I'm really starting to lean toward one star, but I didn't not (again with the double negatives. I use these a lot in my reviews) enjoy it at all. I have to admit that there were parts that caught my interest. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anybody. I know that's horrible to say, but I just really wouldn't. I wouldn't say it was a waste of my time, but it's simply not a book that I will be reading again or reading the sequel to. I don't want to read it if I don't think I will enjoy it, because although I'm good at nitpicking books, I don't enjoy giving bad reviews. It makes me feel like a bad person.
If you want to read this book, get it at the library. Then if you like it (quite a few people do!) then you can buy it. Precious Blood just wasn't for me.
I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway! Thank you, Goodreads, for hosting it.
Precious Blood actually has a really interesting premise. It's just the characters that really got to me. I firmly believe that most of the events I hated in this book were because of the characters, not the plot.
This book centers around three girls--Lucy, Cecilia, and Agnes--who all have issues one way or another. Either they're an unloved celebrity, a broke rock star, and a suicidal hopeless romantic. I'm pretty sure this book has it all. And that's almost not a good thing in this book's case. These three girls all end up in a hospital one night because somehow their issues got the best of them. It's there that they all find matching bracelets that eventually lead them to a church where they meet a hot stranger that they really shouldn't have fallen in love with because he's a two-timing (whoa, three-timing) jerk that only wants them because they're "special." Let's not emit the fact that he doesn't tell them why they're special until they're practically killed in a basement underneath a church.
This is going to be a bad review, so I'm going to start by pointing out the good things that I liked about this book before I dive into the parts that weren't particularly for me. I think there's honestly only one thing that I liked: the plot. The idea of reincarnated saints was something that I found interesting. The pace of the book, although a bit slow at first, wasn't horrendous either. Rough around the edges, yes, but it could've been much, much worse.
Sadly, that's the extent of my like. The only reason I didn't give this book one star was because it wasn't horrible. It was just ridiculous. (Be prepared for a lot of quotes. I took notes on this book. Then again, I took notes for all the books I read over Christmas break.) "You will catch your death out here." Cecilia says this. Let me just point out that Cecilia is the broke rock star that spends her time on the streets hanging out with a stoner that writes some of her songs. She's also a high school drop out. Not only would Cecilia not talk like that, but nobody would talk like that. "You will catch your death out here? No. I just...no.
...Agnes piped up. "But what about what he said? About [the bracelets] leading us here?..." You know, that's real funny, because I don't even remember Agnes being in the scene where Sebastian told Cecilia and Lucy that the bracelets led them to the church where he was staying during the storm. It was little things like this that just irked me. I'm very particular. I notice when little mishappenings occur. I think Agnes as a whole just annoying me though. She always looked at Cecilia sympathetically. If you've read this book, you would know that Cecilia is not a victim whatsoever. She's tough. I think she can handle Lucy saying a few mean words to her.
Oh, and Lucy and Cecilia, man. They were always at each other, usually because of Sebastian. I mean, you two just met the guy. There is not claming or dibs on this one. He is a strange man in a church that is pretty much creepy as hell, and you're still pining and fighting over him? This leads me into another thing that I hated: the instalove between Sebastian and the three girls. They were in the same vicinity for three days and all of a sudden the three girls were in love with Sebastian. I don't know if this had to do with their saint bond or whatever, but it was annoying. I hate instalove.
Oh, I found another mishappening. "No," Agnes said again, this time with no conviction. Agnes never said 'no' the first time. By using 'again,' it's implied that this is the second time Agnes has done such-and-such, except she really didn't. Agnes said 'no' one time and that's all. Like I said, little things like these, I notice them and they get to me.
(And out comes my grammar side.) First, 'off of' is not a grammatically correct phrase. It never was and it never will be. Stop trying to make it happen. And why is the word 'dumpster' capitalized? Unless it's a company that creates dumpsters, then dumpster should not be capitalized. It is an improper noun. It is not a proper nown. It should be lowercase.
I hate how all the girls are so conceited! Like, you three are not God's gift to this Earth so stop acting like it!
There was one line that is just a no-no. The psychiatric floor Perpetual Help also happened to be the highest floor. "The Penthouse," as the ward staffers liked to euphemize it. At that moment, all Agnes could think was that it was a pretty good place to jump from, which might have been what the administrators had in mind when they moved the unit up there. The simplest cost-cutting measure of all. I'm sorry, but that is just wrong. You do not joke about jumpers especially after you just slit your wrists. Just...no. I take it back; I'm not sorry. That's just so wrong to joke about.
There was one scene where Cecilia took a gold charm on her bracelet and used it as a pick for her electric guitar. I'm going out on a limb here so if I'm wrong don't kill me, but I don't think that gold charms work for guitar strings, especially electric guitars. I have both, electric and acoustic, and I've tried to use a multitude of items to strum, but the only item that works is a guitar pick and my fingers. All the other items either (a) break or (b) make a horrible noise. I just don't see how using a gold charm would work.
I don't know. There were just so many things in this book that got to me. I'm really starting to lean toward one star, but I didn't not (again with the double negatives. I use these a lot in my reviews) enjoy it at all. I have to admit that there were parts that caught my interest. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anybody. I know that's horrible to say, but I just really wouldn't. I wouldn't say it was a waste of my time, but it's simply not a book that I will be reading again or reading the sequel to. I don't want to read it if I don't think I will enjoy it, because although I'm good at nitpicking books, I don't enjoy giving bad reviews. It makes me feel like a bad person.
If you want to read this book, get it at the library. Then if you like it (quite a few people do!) then you can buy it. Precious Blood just wasn't for me.
immortalgirl92's review against another edition
3.0
This book was just plain weird. First it was boring and a little confusing, then it got a little scary but more interesting. All in all it was weirdly unique story and I kind of liked it.
***+
***+