Title: A Touch Mortal
Series: A Touch Trilogy #1
Author: Leah Clifford
Read via: Library
Eden didn’t expect Az.
Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.
Yeah.
So long, happily-ever-after.
Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.
She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else’s game. Her heart is her own.
And that’s only the beginning of the end.
I have been wanting to read this for more than a year. It was actually on my list of debuts to read in 2011, but I was not able to actually get a copy of it until recently. After all of the rave reviews for both this and its soon-to-be-released sequel, A Touch Morbid, my expectations were very high. Perhaps that is why I was so letdown with this book. I wanted so badly to like it, but we never really “clicked”.
I was sympathetic for Eden at the beginning of the story. Then she meets Az and before you know it they are in love. Unfortunately this is where things began to sour for me. There was very little development of the relationship in action. The reader is told that this happens and that happens, time passes, but it was not ever shown. I could not connect with Az, simply because it seemed like there was not a chance to get to know him. Thus, I could not enjoy the relationship between Az and Eden because I simply did not care. Gabriel was more interesting a character, and I actually got a chance to get to know him, so I kept rooting for a relationship between him and Eden.
The overall storyline is a little bit confusing. It takes some time to understand and get a hang of the idea of Touch. I do want to comment, however, to say that I love that the author took angel/demons and spun the mythology to make it her own. I respect that quite a lot. This book, though, seemed to try to do and be too much. Perhaps if the pacing/timing was reworked I would like this more, but the way it stands I do not. I was unable to come to a point where I truly cared about the characters.
Overall, this was an incredibly disappointing read for me. There were elements that intrigued me, such as the Touch factor, but for the most part I am not a fan of the series. Others have absolutely loved this book, however, so if you want to read it definitely go for it. It is just not for me. Fans of Fallen by Lauren Kate or Unearthly by Cynthia Hand may enjoy this. It also has a zombielike element, so fans of zombie fiction may enjoy this as well.
Cover: 3.5
Plot: 3
Writing: 2.5
Personally: 3
Overall: 3 out of 5