Book Blurb:
The Touched (The Descendants #1)
The first sixteen years of Arabella Penthallow’s life have been a lie…
In a world where deception is the key to survival, Ara has kept up the charade of being a perfect Legion Leader’s daughter. But a darkness stirs, and she discovers she is Touched, a mortal gifted by the Gods. The Touched are as rare as they are feared, and Ara is forced to leave Union City for neighboring Midnight City to protect herself and those she loves, leaving Tove Thorn, the boy who has always known her heart, behind.
Carter Decker has vowed to burn Union City to the ground…
Midnight City’s cocky, infamous bad boy always gets what he wants, and he wants Union City to pay for burning his mother alive because she was Touched. When Carter meets Ara, she is everything he’s been taught to hate. Then he learns she is Touched—just like him—he isn’t sure who he hates more…the Touched girl whose father killed his mother, or himself for being tempted by someone he’s sworn to kill.
They are told they’re fated to be soul mates…and they each wish the other never existed.
When Midnight City is attacked by Union City, Carter and Arabella will do the unthinkable…even if it means falling for the enemy. The truth lies in Arabella’s home nation, and Tove is waiting. Soul mates or not, he has an advantage Carter doesn’t, fated souls be damned.
War is coming…and Ara is the prize.
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Want a sneak peak? Here is a snippet from the book told from Cater's view:
---I can’t help the way my eyes take inventory of her. I can’t stop staring at her, almost as if I need to memorize every inch of her, as if looking away from her soft, raven-black curls, emerald-green eyes, and dark, blood-red stained lips will physically kill me. My tongue flicks over my own dry lips and I find myself wondering if hers taste like cherries. Or apples. That’s what that red of hers reminds me of.
The sky-blue corset she wears over an ivory lace shirt fits tightly around her slender curves. My hands itch to touch her. To reach out and run my hands through her hair. She’s too beautiful to be
real, yet here she is. In front of me. She holds no smile toward me. No outreached hand to shake my own as Father introduces her. Her eyes narrow as she continues to stare intently at me.
Her arms cross tightly across her chest, clearly unimpressed by what she sees.
You hate her. Balling my fists at my side, I try to rein in the way she has begun to unnerve me. The way I want to run my hands down her, to watch her close her eyes and whisper my name. Chills race down my spine. My body is responding to her in ways I’ve never responded to any chick before.
Father stands with pride as he nods toward me, waiting for me to welcome Rob’s new recruit. But I don’t. I stare just as hard at her as she does at me, finally feeling the narrow of my eyes. Why the hell do I want her? Why the hell am I feeling anything for her?
Father frowns when I don’t offer my hand to her. “Arabella will be staying with us for the next few months,” Father says. But what he leaves out is, “She’ll be staying indefinitely when you realize that she’s your fated, Carter.”
But she won’t. I’ll see to that. I may like her appearance, and her body might cause me to think
and feel things, but it doesn’t change the fact that I vowed to make and keep her and Union City as my enemy. I will end her. Make no mistake about that. She will burn for the crimes her father committed against my mother.---
4 Out Of 5 Stars
Genre: Another-World, Supernatural, Royal-Court, Witches--
Arabella knows that she has to leave her city after the death of her mother and the suspicion the people feel towards her father, their leader. She quietly disappears, leaving only her friend Tove questioning where she has gone. Carter is the heir to his city Midnight, but has no interest in filling that role while he continues to be the playboy slacker he excels at. He has a hatred for Ara's city, and her and her father especially, due to the public burning of his mother as a child due to her being Touched. These two are thrown together to build something greater for the world, but forced are going to make sure that won't happen.
I was not sure what the book was about when I started reading, except for a vague synopsis of a boy wanting revenge and supernatural powers. Well, sure the book is kind of about that, but it is so much more also. I found myself sucked into this incredibly well crafted world where people live in hiding due to the idea that the Touched, or those with magical abilities, are evil and executed. I could not put the book down once I got through the first few chapter that were a little slow but needed to set the story up. The book is unlike anything else I have read and I can't wait for more.
Ara is the heroine of the book and at first I thought she was a delicate little flower that did as she was told. But really, she is a pawn to so many people yet she tries to do what is right for the people. I did have a question about all the boys in her life having romantic feelings towards her- is that due to the beauty she does not feel she has, her personality, or the abilities as a Touched? I was a little put off at first about her due to her predominantly male fan club. But she did grow on me as a character and I rooted for her to succeed, no matter the darkness she felt was in her soul.
Carter on the other hand was kind of a complete tool. Yes, yes, I understand that he has pain from his past that is unresolved, blah blah, but the way he treats woman and his life made me mad. And then his attitude toward Ara, the sins of her father that he wants to punish her for is just ridiculous. I didn't like him for the first half of the book, but he did grow on me but he has some serious growing up to do.
There is also a large cast of side characters that have random chapters told through their eyes to help create a complete story. I personally am a big fan of large amounts of points of view to keep the storyline going. The author did a great job of making each character has a distinctive voice and personality so the reader could easily identify who the narrator was.
And the ending! Oh my geez, the ending of the book was so soul shattering and I can't believe that was how it ended. I still feel turmoil over what I read and I am itching for another book to get some answers. It was full of betrayal and revelations and I can't stop thinking about it and wanting more.
The author did a great job sucking me in to this fantastical story with a well crafted world full of magical potential and secrets. I really enjoyed this book and will certainly read more from this author in the future.
I received this title from the author and Fantastic Flying Book Club in return for my honest review.
Author Bio:
Jennifer Weiser is a young adult author who has always been a book nerd and a bit chocolate obsessed. Writing has always been a favorite escape, but quickly became a passion not long after the birth of her daughter. When she isn't combing the shelves of her local book stores or blogging about newest book obsessions, you can find her nestled in her nook creating worlds she hopes that one day will inspire her daughter, who not only has given her the courage to follow her dreams--but offers the inspirations that help color their worlds together.
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