[ARC] Review: The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

Title: The Weight of Souls

Series: The Weight of Souls Book One

Author: Bryony Pearce

Publication Date: August 6, 2013

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him? 

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?

  

***

My Thoughts

A copy was provided through NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

I hadn't been expecting to enjoy this book quite as much as I did. I thought the romance would be trite because of the who she was falling for, but this book has so much actually going for it.

First let's talk about the curse. The blurb doesn't really say much except the bare facts. I thought the explanation about the curse would be something along the lines of every other paranormal out there. But then almost right away you find out that the curse is quite literally a curse, put on my freaking Anubis! Yes, this book deals with Egyptian mythology, and I was NOT expecting that at all (and now looking at the cover more closely, I really should have lol). I liked how the book was written, with excerpts of the story about how the curse came about in between the present day problems that Taylor was dealing with. I was also pleasantly surprised that the curse was even more complicated than you first think, and there are still quite a few unanswered questions about it once you reach the end.

This book deals with a lot of difficult subjects. We have bullying because Taylor is half Chinese. We have a secret society that is actually quite far reaching and very dangerous, and we have the usual teenage problems, friends, romance and family. At first I really didn't like her dad. I knew he was trying to help but the way he was doing it was incredibly counter productive. Taylor also had friend issues, as in she only had the one friend and because of her curse it was hard to keep that friendship, but this was mostly Taylor's fault through out the story.

Lastly we have the romance. As I mentioned before I hadn't been expecting much from it, but I found it to be really sweet. Taylor and Justin start confiding with each other and helping each other out and he finally realizes why Taylor is the way she is, but not only does he accept her, but actually starts protecting her as well. 

As for the plot itself, it was great. The pacing was just right. There was something always going on, whether it was her personal issues or her actual investigation about Justin's death. It was a great mix between a mysterious, deadly curse, a dangerous secret society and life's problems.

I didn't have high expectations for this one going in, but it managed to surprise me with it's depth on multiple accounts, and I'm glad I got the chance to review it. 

So...

Would I Recommend it?

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