The book was overall clunky, filled with contrivances, girl-on-girl hate, poorly done “flashbacks but we’ll call it a journal even though it’s written like narration and not like anyone writes in a journal”, and forced character interactions. Nothing about it felt…inspired or exciting or tense or motivated. Taylor dragged herself through this book, and so I felt dragged while reading it.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to read and review this book before it was archived as I was ill. If I can get ahold of a copy, I will certainly post a review.

Taylor Oh lives in present day London and he world is falling apart. Her mother has passed away, she's having a hard time at school as she's not one of the popular girls, her father is convinced of a genetic disorder that Taylor must be suffering from, oh and she's also cursed. When a murdered person's dead ghost touches her skin, she received a mark and must avenge the ghost by passing the mark onto the responsible party that commited the crime.

This story is a mix of paranormal, ancient Egyptian magic, and a curse so intricate and different that it will suck the reader right in. When one of the biggest bullies tormenting Taylor dies and touches her, the story kicks into high gear, and she only has three weeks to find the killer or she will be consumed by the darkness fueling that magic.

Highly enjoyable and original, I'd love a little bit of the Egyptian mythology represented but overall I had a great time and really liked the intense creepy moments, I hope there's a sequel because I feel there's so much more of this story to tell.

Interesting premise and the characterisation is decent for YA (too often the characters feel 2D in YA). Dark and spooky but not too over the top.

Unfortunately I did not get on with this book and therefore cannot rate it very highly. I really struggled to connect with the characters and storyline.

Requested and downloaded this book back in 2013 with every intention of reading it but then it expired on my device before I had the chance. Have felt bad about that and as a result haven't wanted to leave a review but with more and more publishers relying on Feedback ratings I need to clear out some of these older titles in my queue.

I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did and make sure to tell anyone that is a book lover that this is one that they should pick up and read. I found this to be a great read, whether you classify it as YA or not. There are some different subjects written about and there is great writing. Well done.

I hadn't been expecting to enjoy this book quite as much as I did. I thought the romance would be trite because of the who she was falling for, but this book has so much actually going for it.

First let's talk about the curse. The blurb doesn't really say much except the bare facts. I thought the explanation about the curse would be something along the lines of every other paranormal out there. But then almost right away you find out that the curse is quite literally a curse, put on my freaking Anubis! Yes, this book deals with Egyptian mythology, and I was NOT expecting that at all (and now looking at the cover more closely, I really should have lol). I liked how the book was written, with excerpts of the story about how the curse came about in between the present day problems that Taylor was dealing with. I was also pleasantly surprised that the curse was even more complicated than you first think, and there are still quite a few unanswered questions about it once you reach the end.

This book deals with a lot of difficult subjects. We have bullying because Taylor is half Chinese. We have a secret society that is actually quite far reaching and very dangerous, and we have the usual teenage problems, friends, romance and family. At first I really didn't like her dad. I knew he was trying to help but the way he was doing it was incredibly counter productive. Taylor also had friend issues, as in she only had the one friend and because of her curse it was hard to keep that friendship, but this was mostly Taylor's fault through out the story.

Lastly we have the romance. As I mentioned before I hadn't been expecting much from it, but I found it to be really sweet. Taylor and Justin start confiding with each other and helping each other out and he finally realizes why Taylor is the way she is, but not only does he accept her, but actually starts protecting her as well.

As for the plot itself, it was great. The pacing was just right. There was something always going on, whether it was her personal issues or her actual investigation about Justin's death. It was a great mix between a mysterious, deadly curse, a dangerous secret society and life's problems.

I didn't have high expectations for this one going in, but it managed to surprise me with it's depth on multiple accounts, and I'm glad I got the chance to review it.

I had met Bryony before receiving this book to review. I found this book to be an exceptional piece of YA literature and wished more people knew about it. Pearce touches on subjects so often forgotten in this genre and the writing is superb, with memorable characters and a story that asks grand questions about life.

Since receiving this book, my interests have changed therefore I will not be reading or reviewing this title. Thank you.