View source for The Blessed by Tonya Hurley

{{infobox1
|title=The Blessed
|sort=Blessed
|author=Tonya Hurley
|reviewer=Catherine Bakes
|genre=Teens
|rating=3.5
|buy=No
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1444904758
|pages=432
|publisher=Hodder Children's Books
|date=August 2012
|website=http://tonyahurley.com/
|summary=Three girls find themselves in hospital at the lowest moments of their lives. In walks Sebastian, and with him what each girl is missing. A re-telling of some of Christianity's Saints and Martyrs. 
|cover=1444904752
|aznuk=1444904752
|aznus=B008HIO648
}}
Three girls all find themselves in the emergency room at Perpetual Help Hospital on Halloween. Agnes - the hopeless romantic -- has just tried to take her own life. Cecilia -- the runaway rocker -- found drowned, face down in a puddle. Finally, Lucy -- spoilt rich party girl -- overdose. These three girls have never met each other before, and have nothing in common, until they all meet the mysterious Sebastian. He brings the girls together, and gives each of them what they have been searching for. But in the fight for his heart, will they lose something more important?

The idea for this book grabbed me – a re-telling of four of the Christian Saints: Saint Agnes, Saint Cecilia, Saint Lucy and Saint Sebastian. However, I felt it fell a bit flat. It didn't grab me, I felt like the plot plodded rather than flowed and had to force myself to concentrate on what was happening. The dialogue between the characters felt very forced, and was unrealistic. However, the description of the church and the weather was superb: it played with the senses and really made me feel like I was there in the storm. 

The real shame was the characters. I felt like they were all very stereotypical; the mean rich girl who likes the party, the rock chick who just wants to play her music and the good catholic school girl rebelling against her mother. I felt like I should have been swooning over Sebastian, so I could relate to what the girls were feeling, but instead I thought he was a bit of a psycho. 

Overall, I felt disappointed by this book, but feel it might do well with young teens. 

For more supernatural romance try [[Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon]] or [[Need by Carrie Jones]]

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