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Release Date: November 27th, 2012
Publisher: KTeen
Pages: 343 Goodreads
Remy O’Malley heals people with touch—but every injury she cures becomes her own. Living in a household with an abusive stepfather, she has healed untold numbers of broken bones, burns, and bruises. And then one night her stepfather goes too far. Being sent to live with her estranged father offers a clean start and she is eager to take it. Enter Asher Blackwell. Once a Protector of Healers, Asher sacrificed his senses to become immortal. Only by killing a Healer can a Protector recover their human senses. Falling in love is against the rules between these two enemies. Because Remy has the power to make Protectors human again, and when they find out, they’ll becoming for her—if Asher doesn’t kill her first.
Touched had me going through all the emotions. Sadness. I teared up quite a few times during very emotional scenes between Remy and her dad, something which hasn’t occurred since Dobby’s death in Deathly Hallows (RIP I’m still recovering FYI). Hope. When Remy’s finally able to get away from her broken mother and abusive stepfather, I was exhilarated with the new life and other possibilities presented to her. Love. Not only did I slowly fall in love with Asher Blackwell with his sweet charm and protective ways, I quickly fell in love with Remy’s father, stepsister and stepmother. They were warm, caring and strong, the perfect tight-knit family. Suspense! There was always a sense of dread for the horrific obstacles to come. Basically I was very tuned into this story. It was easy to jump in and feel a close connection to Remy and the situations she goes through. Jackson’s writing style is great. She has a way of building the emotions and getting you deeply invested in the story.
I loved Remy the most because she was so real, reputable and strong. Having this unique ability to heal wounds, Remy, although secretly wanting to break free, has always stuck around to make sure that she’s there to heal her mother from whatever Dean, her stepfather, inflicts. Of course, like the premise says, this ability comes with a downside. Everything she heals in turn happens to her; burns, broken ribs, concussions and so much more become her own. Remy is able to eventually heal herself but still, it’s the commitment and sacrifice to protect the ones she loves that truly gets to me. She’d do just about anything to protect her family and friends.
I really enjoyed Touched’s healers vs. protectors story line. I found it to be very original and interesting. Basically there’s a select few with the ability to heal referred to as “healers” and others with other (don’t want to ruin the surprise) abilities making them the “protectors”. We know right off the bat that Remy is a healer and Asher is a protector. It’s pretty much a case of star-crossed lovers between the two because over the decades there has been a lot of warring between healers and protectors.
Here’s where I talk about why I only rated Touched 4 bolts. I hate to be one of those people who make the “Twilight” reference, because honestly most of the time I don’t see said reference(s). However, the correlations were undeniable. Thankfully Remy was no Bella, a character who always bugged me, but there was a lot of Edward-Asher similarities. They both: ran hot and cold, one minute wanting to be friends with the leading lady and the next expressing that they and their equally powerful and ability-ridden family were too dangerous to be around. It was almost the same courtship although Remy didn’t ditch her “normal” friends and Asher didn’t stalk her while she was sleeping (LOL).
The pacing also threw me off a bit. I was definitely invested in the story, enough to want to see it through to the end, however it took me a couple days to finish this one. It was easy to read a chunk here and there and then put it down.
Overall I loved Touched. Even with a minor quip here and there, it was still perfect. Jackson presented a new story with great possibilities. I’m eager to see where it goes in books 2 and 3. I felt like the promised protectors vs. healers story line never got the chance to play out in Touched, but I can totally see it being the focus of the books to come. As long as the emotions keep running, the plot stays interesting and the pacing becomes a little more steady, I can totally see myself giving future books 4+ bolts. Remy is one of those characters that you can easily become invested in and I can’t wait to see the obstacles she’s gonna face in the future. After the showdown in Touched, I know she can face anything that comes her way. I look forward to seeing her beat those odds!!
Checkout more of my reviews over at The Book Slayer.
