Review: The Blessed by Tonya Hurley

                                            Book: The Blessed by Tonya Hurley
                                            Pages: 416
                                            Genre: Young Adult, Occult
                                            Source: Library

Short Synopsis: Three girls, Agnes, CeCelia, and Lucy, come together after spending one night in a hospital, searching for the man they met that very night, hoping to get the answers they need. 

My Thoughts: I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. A bit confusing, distracting, and not enough information was given. 

From the author of the New York Times bestselling ghostgirl series, the start to a captivating and haunting teen trilogy about three girls who become entangled with an enigmatic boy—a boy who believes he is a saint.
What if martyrs and saints lived among us? And what if you were told you were one of them?
Meet Agnes, Cecilia, and Lucy. Three lost girls, each searching for something. But what they find is Beyond Belief.
--From Goodreads

First off, the writing style bugged me a lot. First with the footnotes. If I'm reading a novel for enjoyment, I don't want to have to look at footnotes, which make it look like I'm reading for homework. Then Hurley also mixes with a different language, and with explanations in English. What's the point of a foreign language, if you have to explain it again in English? 

Writing styles aside, after reading the whole book, I still wasn't quite sure what the majority of the story was about. The main story I got was that there's a boy named Sebastian, who believes he's a saint. He contacts three girls and tries to convince them that they are saints as well, and that they are all part of something bigger, and that there is a war coming about, whether they want it to happen or not. That's about all I got from it. 

I also wasn't a fan of the girls, that they seemed so trusting of Sebastian at first, but then, someone else tells them something different, and they loose all faith in him, and go back to their old lives. It isn't until they finally believe him, that it's too late. The girls are easily swayed, and usually don't think for themselves, when they hear one opinion. 

I was originally drawn to this story because of the paranormal/occult side of the story, but the writing style, and the lack of information didn't really help matters much. I might check out the next one in the series, but if it's anything like the first, I'll most likely not continue with this series.

Would I recommend this book: Not really.

Rating: I give this book a 2/5.