Review of A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

Title/Author: A Touch Mortal (A Touch Trilogy #1) by Leah Clifford
Publisher/Date published: Greenwillow Books, February 22nd 2011
How I got this book: bought it

Goodreads summary: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'm not really sure what I'd been expecting, but it wasn't anything so dark as A Touch Mortal turned out to be! Not that that is a bad thing, it was just slightly unexpected.

Angel YA used to be a hit or miss for me, with more misses than hits to be honest. It just gets preachy easily, you know? But A Touch Mortal falls squarly in the middle with things I very much liked and things I had issues with.

I had a hard time connecting to Eden. Her emotions were all over the place, she went from suicidal to blissfully happy and back, there wasn't really anything in between. I did admire her strength in the later part of the novel though, I hadn't thought her capable of it when I first met her. She's a leader, and though she doesn't always make the right choices and is a little careless with her safety, I do like her spirit.

I think part of the problem was that I had a hard time getting into the lovestory and since it's pretty much the catalyst for what happens in the book, which made it a little bit more difficult to fully get into the story. I actually liked Gabriel more than both of the love interests: Az and Adam, too bad Eden could go guy-spotting with him.

I really liked the angel-lore with wings only being given when an angel is 'on probation' so to speak, with them having a different meaning than just being beautiful and actually being a punishment. I would have liked to find out more about what exactly makes a person a Sider and why they have Touch they need to spread and everything. There has to be a reason right? I hope things will get somewhat clearer in the next two books.

Far darker than most YA, A Touch Mortal is an interesting take on angel-lore and while I had to work a little harder to get into the story, I'm also excited to see what will happen next for Eden and her friends and see if I will fall for Luke as well!

My rating: 3 stars