The Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's website:

Nobody can know your secret.

Nobody can know your power.

But if nobody knows who you are to begin with...what's stopping you?

I whisper, "What's so special about me all of a sudden?"

Nick says, "The Turning."

Mary feels different, but can't explain why. The fainting, the strange cravings...and worse, the things she's noticed about her body.

Mary doesn't know where to turn. If she tells her parents or her sister, she'll risk losing everything. She has no other family, no way of knowing if what she's going through is normal. Everyone she's ever known and loved could reject her...

Review:

Lately it seems that when it comes to books published by Sourcebooks and me it's either a hit or a miss, and sadly enough What Curiosity Kills was the later of those two.

When What Curiosity Kills first landed in my hands I'll admit that I squealed a bit...well maybe more than a bit. The cover was stunning, the premise seemed intriguing, and Ellis's wrote a highly acclaimed novel prior to this, leaving this book to have endless possibilities of amazing coming my way, so I dived right in, eager to see if this book leaved up to my exceptions.

And at first it did. The characters, while never fully developed, still had my full attention, as did the plot. Though as What Curiosity Kills continued it also started to loose my attention bit by bit with every passing chapter, leaving this to ultimately be a book I had trouble finishing.

Don't get me wrong, I did like the characters. Mary, a girl who has never truly felt at home in her own skin, especially with her new ability, was someone who I rooted for in many different situations. Since from her getting the boy of her dreams to overcoming her abilities there truly wasn't a time when I didn't want her to get the best of both worlds. Also I truly felt sadness to what Mary, as well as Octavia, had gone through previously as foster children, but happiness for the happy, loving family they now had. The secondary characters were interesting too.

Though there was just something missing with the characters, in my opinion, and that was development. Sure I knew who they were on the surface but as the reader I never truly felt that I really knew them personally; I was more like a passer-by, even with Mary.

The premise was no doubt exciting and something new and thrilling. I mean turning into a cat? That's something you never see too much of. Though sometimes the whole turning business got to be a too much for me personally. I'm sure others will not have this problem but it was a big one for me when it came down to my overall enjoyment of What Curiosity Kills. Adding to this, I never was a big fan of Ellis' writing since it often felt that there was never a great balance between dialogue and descriptions. 

While What Curiosity Kills had it's faults and was a book that I didn't mesh well with, I still have a feeling that it will find a fan-base within some people out there, so hopefully if you're going to give this one a chance, you're one of them.

And the biggest question of them all: Will I be reading more Ellis? Well, that's one thing I'm as yet undecided on, so maybe, just maybe. Since, as anything like this goes, I could truly end up loving her next book...or not.

Grade: D

What Curiosity Kills is now out!

Source: Publicist at Sourcebooks