Review: The Blessed by Tonya Hurley

The Blessed
by Tonya Hurley
Publication Date:  September 25, 2012
Publisher:  Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source:  ARC

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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.


My Thoughts:  The Blessed centers around three girls, Lucy, Agnes, and Cecelia, who all wind up in the emergency room at the same time for different reasons.  While there, they meet a mysterious stranger, Sebastian, who gives them each beautiful bracelets with charms on them.  They later find out who Sebastian is, or believes he is.  Circumstances throw all of them together as they seek refuge during a storm, where Sebastian tells them more about the Saints, who they also learn were all martyrs, killed for their beliefs. 

The story gets more complicated and darker as it progresses.  It is deeply rooted in religious undertones, and is unique in both topic and plot.  Much of the story centers on getting to know the three girls, with different twist and turns, emphasis on saints and martyrs, combined with conspiracy and mystery. 

I found this book interesting and different, though somewhat difficult to grasp at times.  All the characters are well-developed and well-written, but I didn’t really connect with any of them.  This book is thought provoking, with some dark connotations   This is one of those books that you have to really focus and pay attention to as you read.  Though this wasn’t something that fits my personal taste, it may be something you would like, especially if you are looking for something unique with a different perspective.    

Biography

Tonya Hurley is the New York Times best-selling author of the highly acclaimed“ghostgirl“ book series; creator, writer and producer of animated and live action hit television series; writer and director of independent films; writer and director of commercials for Playstation, Gameboy and Warner Home Video; and creator of groundbreaking videogames. Her new young adult trilogy, THE BLESSED, will be released by Simon and Schuster in Fall 2012.

Hurley has written and directed several acclaimed independent films, which have been selected for film festivals around the world including the LA Independent, TriBeca and Edinburgh and have also been broadcast on ABC, PBS and IFC.
Hurley was nominated for the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Award in Film and made the semi-finals of the Sundance Institute’s Writer’s Lab with her feature film script. She studied writing, music and filmmaking at The University of Pittsburgh, screenwriting at New York University, and stop motion animation at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Currently her film “Baptism of Solitude: A Tribute to Paul Bowles” is being distributed through the United Nations.
Her first book “ghostgirl” was released in 2008 and instantly hit the New York Times bestseller list.  The sequel “ghostgirl: Homecoming” was released in 2009. Both have become international bestsellers available in over 22 languages around the world. The audiobooks for both are narrated by Parker Posey with original music by Vince Clarke and are available for digital download ataudible.com. The third book in the “ghostgirl” trilogy — “ghostgirl Lovesick” was in July 2010. The book trailer premiered on Entertainment Weekly’s website. http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/06/29/ghostgirl-lovesick-trailer-tonya-hurley/
It features a song written by Hurley for the book. It is performed by Polly Scattergood and Vince Clarke and is available on iTunes.
Hurley began her career in New York City as a personal publicist for such artists as John “Rotten” Lydon, Prince, George Michael, Morrissey, The Cure, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Larry McMurtry, RL Stine, The Three Tenors, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Paul Westerberg, Bush, and John Cale.

Visit her “ghostgirl” website at www.ghostgirl.com.