Brooklyn teens Lucy, Cecilia and Agnes find themselves in the emergency room at Perpetual Help Hospital at the lowest point in their lives. Lucy, the superficial party girl; Cecilia, a drop out rock chick; and Agnes, a hopeless romantic. All rebels running from their lives and themselves, plagued by broken hearts and broken dreams.
Enter Sebastian: mysterious, compelling, seductive.
He brings the girls together and seems to provide each of them with what they long for ... and they begin to heal.
But Sebastian is on the run - and soon the girls are hunted too ...
A dark, contemporary rock 'n' roll retelling of three famous female martyrs - Agnes, Cecilia and Lucy - and their transformation from street deliquents to soul models.
Including gorgeously seductive colour artwork.
Stay tuned for the breathtaking sequel, The Passionaries, out Summer 2013.
'Our new favourite dark, sexy rock-n-roll thriller.' Sugarscape
'Intense, visceral, powerful. * * * *' Books for Keeps
The Blessed
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Review
Intense, visceral, powerful. * * * * (Books For Keeps 20120701)
This story will grip readers from the dramatic opening to the climactic finish. (booktrust 20120801)
A powerful piece of modern Gothic, depicting a nightmarish city where those in power are evil and corrupt. (Books For Keeps 20120901)
This story will grip readers from the dramatic opening to the climactic finish. (booktrust 20120801)
'Our new favorite dark, sexy rock-n-roll thriller.'
(Sugarscape.com 20120801)'Brooklyn is the perfect setting for this dark, gritty thriller ... Readers can rest assured that while these young women may be saints, they are definitely not angels.'
(Kirkus 20120801)'Intriguing premise, fiery dialogue, and digs about celebrity-obsessed culture that moves at the speed of Twitter...'
(Publishers Weekly 20120801)'Hurley brings her deadpan wit and blackest humor to the first tale in this trilogy about spirituality, sacrifice and supernatural romance.'
(MTV Hollywood Crush 20120801)A powerful piece of modern Gothic, depicting a nightmarish city where those in power are evil and corrupt. (Books For Keeps 20120901)
About the Author
Tonya Hurley is the author of the New York Times best selling series Ghostgirl. She has worked in nearly every aspect of teen entertainment: creating, writing and producing two hit TV series; writing and directing several acclaimed independent films; and developing a groundbreaking collection of video games. Tonya lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and daughter. The Blessed is the first in a trilogy. Look out for Book 2 in August 2013.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well. This book was... memorable.
You've probably already guessed by reading the blurb that The Blessed is quite a dark book. To be honest, I was really reluctant to start this one. I don't think it was because of all the goth vibes it gives out - it was more due to the fact that I'd buy some other, more known, book and read it. Plus, most of the reviews I read for this one were quite negative.
I'm really glad the UK has a different cover for The Blessed. The original creeps me out. A lot. I'm not even going to show you it, but if you really want to see it, be my guest.
With all that in mine, I wasn't sure I'd like the book once I started it. It wasn't bad in the beginning. In fact I was pretty determined to get more than 80 pages read, because I remember seeing a review where the person only got as far as 80 pages. Perhaps that's what drove me to finish it - I just wanted to prove to myself that I could.It takes place in Brooklyn, and I don't think I've ever read a book set there.
It was for that reason I found myself wanting to actually enjoy the book. One thing that I did manage to love about The Blessed was Tonya Hurley's style of writing. At times it did lag a bit, but her writing techniques are really clever. I don't think we see enough of descriptive techniques in YA novels sometimes. I still love them, though.
The characters Hurley created seem too much like adults. They're all meant to be about 16-18, but with the things they go through and they way they handle situations, I just couldn't imagine them as their age. I'm pretty sure that no teenager I know goes through things like that.
So, I was reading this at night, before bed. And then it started to get scary. And I started to get scared. There was like, demonic possession stuff going on. To call it creepy would be an understatement. However, I actually found the plot OK. It was enjoyable at times. Rare, rare times.
I don't think I'll forget how scared I got. I get scared really easily.
I think that the book was paced too slowly for my taste. If the author had only sped things up, the book wouldn't have been as lengthy and it wouldn't have dragged. If dark, gothic novels are your type, then by all means, read this. It's actually quite clever. Nevertheless, the book wasn't for me.
You've probably already guessed by reading the blurb that The Blessed is quite a dark book. To be honest, I was really reluctant to start this one. I don't think it was because of all the goth vibes it gives out - it was more due to the fact that I'd buy some other, more known, book and read it. Plus, most of the reviews I read for this one were quite negative.
I'm really glad the UK has a different cover for The Blessed. The original creeps me out. A lot. I'm not even going to show you it, but if you really want to see it, be my guest.
With all that in mine, I wasn't sure I'd like the book once I started it. It wasn't bad in the beginning. In fact I was pretty determined to get more than 80 pages read, because I remember seeing a review where the person only got as far as 80 pages. Perhaps that's what drove me to finish it - I just wanted to prove to myself that I could.It takes place in Brooklyn, and I don't think I've ever read a book set there.
It was for that reason I found myself wanting to actually enjoy the book. One thing that I did manage to love about The Blessed was Tonya Hurley's style of writing. At times it did lag a bit, but her writing techniques are really clever. I don't think we see enough of descriptive techniques in YA novels sometimes. I still love them, though.
The characters Hurley created seem too much like adults. They're all meant to be about 16-18, but with the things they go through and they way they handle situations, I just couldn't imagine them as their age. I'm pretty sure that no teenager I know goes through things like that.
So, I was reading this at night, before bed. And then it started to get scary. And I started to get scared. There was like, demonic possession stuff going on. To call it creepy would be an understatement. However, I actually found the plot OK. It was enjoyable at times. Rare, rare times.
I don't think I'll forget how scared I got. I get scared really easily.
I think that the book was paced too slowly for my taste. If the author had only sped things up, the book wouldn't have been as lengthy and it wouldn't have dragged. If dark, gothic novels are your type, then by all means, read this. It's actually quite clever. Nevertheless, the book wasn't for me.
By T. Walker
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Three young girls, Lucy, Cecilia and Agnes, meet in the Emergency Room of a hospital one night. Lucy, a socialite celeb, has passed out in a club. Cecelia, Ce-ce, a struggling rock singer, passed out in the street and nearly drowned in a puddle. Agnes attempted suicide over a lost love, slitting her wrists. In one way and another each is given a bracelet by the mysterious Sebastian.
Now at this stage note all four names are those of saints. The book becomes a religious mystery and I won't say more than that.
It takes a while to get going and I nearly abandoned it after the first hundred pages, but I carried on and was glad I did. It's well written and the characters come to life very well. I am an atheist, but despite my total lack of faith I found myself drawn into the book.
Recommended!
Now at this stage note all four names are those of saints. The book becomes a religious mystery and I won't say more than that.
It takes a while to get going and I nearly abandoned it after the first hundred pages, but I carried on and was glad I did. It's well written and the characters come to life very well. I am an atheist, but despite my total lack of faith I found myself drawn into the book.
Recommended!
By Roger from Wrexham
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
One of the reasons I enjoy reading YA books is that you know the author is setting themselves the task of working within certain parameters, careful with the language and how they describe the issues. In The Blessed, Tonya Hurley does not set herself in for an easy. Agnes; attempted suicide over another failed romance and a constrictive homelife, Lucy alcohol and substance abuse in her role as a trendsetter and Cecilia an uncompromising rock musician literally down in the gutter, all in ER the same night, all encountering the enigmatic Sebastian. All destined later upon one storm ridden night to meet up with each other and Sebastian to start upon a life changing road. Facing tensions within the group, action, terror, doubt and sacrifice in a struggle against evil.
Woven into the tale are each girl's personal edges and weaknesses, at times you are annoyed at them, then very shortly you feel sorry for the jagged way their lives have been so far (or maybe that's the grandfather in me...sorry about that). Whichever way, the characters are three dimensional and probably all too familiar to the Youth and Parent audiences. As suggested before Hurley does not skirt around the issues of drugs, casual sex, the facile snarky and ultimately destructive side of social networking, child/parent conflict and the less glamorous side of a rock musician working the bars.
Nor she is shy at bringing out the spiritual elements of this story, an unapologetic use of the Christian themes and histories in this battle, if you are uneasy with the literal use, it also works at an allegorical level, the struggle of Youth for a way out of the all too pervasive nihilistic world previous generations have allowed to fester.
Taking this all into account this is for the upper reaches of the YA readership, though I would also recommend it to adults as well for a challenging and most sober while entertaining read. And as it says on the title Book One, I will be keeping a look out for Book Two....
Woven into the tale are each girl's personal edges and weaknesses, at times you are annoyed at them, then very shortly you feel sorry for the jagged way their lives have been so far (or maybe that's the grandfather in me...sorry about that). Whichever way, the characters are three dimensional and probably all too familiar to the Youth and Parent audiences. As suggested before Hurley does not skirt around the issues of drugs, casual sex, the facile snarky and ultimately destructive side of social networking, child/parent conflict and the less glamorous side of a rock musician working the bars.
Nor she is shy at bringing out the spiritual elements of this story, an unapologetic use of the Christian themes and histories in this battle, if you are uneasy with the literal use, it also works at an allegorical level, the struggle of Youth for a way out of the all too pervasive nihilistic world previous generations have allowed to fester.
Taking this all into account this is for the upper reaches of the YA readership, though I would also recommend it to adults as well for a challenging and most sober while entertaining read. And as it says on the title Book One, I will be keeping a look out for Book Two....
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too religious
Didnt realise what it was when i got it to be honest.
Thought it was more paranormal, as the cover definitely suggest that but nope. Read more
Thought it was more paranormal, as the cover definitely suggest that but nope. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R.J.K.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Catholic martyrs get a rock'n'gothic make-over
This is quite a difficult book to rate because there's a really interesting, almost poetic visionary imagination which sits at its heart - and yet some of the writing and plotting... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Roman Clodia
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very dull, and full of religious mumbo-jumbo
(Source: I borrowed a copy of this book.)
Three girls are all admitted to A&E the same Saturday night. Read more
Three girls are all admitted to A&E the same Saturday night. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Sarah
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not for me
This one took me forever to read. I guess I should have thought more about what the story could have entailed before starting out - The Blessed got quite into religion. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jen @ Reading Lark
4.0 out of 5 stars
good
i did not love this book but then again i did not hate it.it took me a little longer than normal than normal to finish it(about 8 days). Read more
Published 9 months ago by Ms. B. E. Harris
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