Review: A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford
Released: Bebruary 2011
Publisher: Greenwillow books
Source: Won
Reason for reading: Have seen good reviews/have vowed to get my TBR down
Rating: 3.5/5

Goodreads description:

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

My thoughts:

A Touch Mortal really was a book of 2 halves for me. I was a little hesitant about the angel aspect, NOT my cup of tea, but I went in with an open mind and actually really wanted to enjoy this one and to a certain extent I did.

One thing I found a total pain was the lack of exposition. Now I moan when we get chapters and chapters of explanation, but I also hate the opposite and I did feel a little lost and overwhelmed in parts of this book. Like, what exactly was Touch, really? And do all people who commit suicide turn into Siders or just the young pretty ones? What really aggravated me beyond the lack of exposition though was the fact that Kristen was actually supposed to explain stuff to Eden but she never really explained much. And it was just like "OMG STOP STEALING DRESSES FROM DEAD PEOPLE, AND JUST TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON PLEASE". I felt a little bit overloaded by how fast Eden and Az got together and how quickly everything after that happened. It was kinda like being spun around then being spun again in the opposite direction before you've had time to get your bearings. I'm not sure whether the author intended to keep everyone in the dark or whether she just wasn't very good at explaining her own idea or whether I was just being a bit dense.  

Having said that, once Eden moved out of Kristen's the story really settled down for me and became much more readable. I kinda liked how everything worked with her and the Siders she lived with and interacted with. I did have my suspicions about one or two which unfortunately kinda proved correct. I did find the plot interesting and I liked how even though I found it really predictable I wasn't 100% sure about anything until it actually happened, so I never found myself feeling too bored. It was an interesting take on the angel mythology, I liked how there weren't too many actual angels involved and the feel of the 'Upstairs' being really distant from what happened on Earth, and I can kinda see how aspects of the  overarching plot might work out which is pretty cool.

Character-wise I can take or leave pretty much all of them. The boys I felt were fairly nothingy, typical tropes really which was a bit of a shame. Kristen was my favourite character by far; she was interesting and layered and sorta tragic in a way. Eden I found a bit sappy and annoying in places and I didn't like how the author constantly emphasised how 'alternative' she was. Everyone kept talking about how she was in charge but most of what I saw was her blundering about making terrible choices and generally keeping her foot in her mouth, being shouted at by the men in her life or sulking in her bedroom. 

This feels like a really negative review but I liked it more than it seems....sometimes you know how you have those books that you liked well enough, but the only things you can think to comment on are the aspects you didn't like? That's pretty much this book for me.

TL;DR: A Touch Mortal was a bit all over the place and predictable for me to be a true fan of it, but it was an enjoyable read, slightly above a 3 but not quite a 4.  I wanted to like this book more than I actually did.