<i>A Touch Mortal</i> (review)
2011; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 64; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2011.0154
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoReviewed by: A Touch Mortal Kate Quealy-Gainer Clifford, Leah . A Touch Mortal. Greenwillow, 2011. [432p]. ISBN 978-0-06-200499-4 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys M Gr. 9-12. Just as she is seriously contemplating ending it all, Eden is approached by Az, a beautiful boy with a killer pickup line and a dinner offer; weeks later, Eden and Az are joined at the hip, spending much of their time accompanied by Az's best friend, Gabriel. Howeer, as a half-fallen angel, Az is hunted by the Fallen, and his love interests are usually tortured and murdered in attempts to persuade Az to complete his descent. Gabe, still a Bound angel working for the Upstairs, has seen his friend hurt too many times and will do anything to help Az, even if it means convincing Eden to take her own life and become a Sider so that she can remain undetected by the Fallen. Unfortunately, their plan goes a bit awry when, after waking up dead and furious, Eden storms off, swearing off all things angelic, and joins up with other Siders. She then discovers that even in the afterlife she is a bit of a freak; on top of her romantic troubles, her unique ability to kill off the immortal Siders now has both the Bound and the Fallen hot on her trail. The divine (and not so divine) beings in this dark romance suffer from a confusing backstory and an overabundance of angst. Eden is little more than a goth stereotype, while her romance with Az is so instantaneous and then so totally over that readers will most likely not understand why she spends the remaining 300 pages pining after him. Plot convenience seems to drive the architecture of the supernatural world, resulting in inauthentic character motivation and ensuing actions. The action does pick up when Lucifer shows up and all hell breaks loose, but readers may be [End Page 323] unwilling to slog through so much of the book's girth for a rather standard good v. bad battle. Goths interested in other worlds are still best served by Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely (BCCB 7/07), while readers with more angelic interests will find Lauren Kate's Fallen (BCCB 2/10) more to their liking. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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