Book Review: A Touch of Death

Hey guys! I’m back with another book review! Today I will be sharing my thoughts on “A Touch of Death” by Rebecca Crunden. Rebecca was kind enough to send me this book but all my thoughts in this review are my own. Okay, let’s get into it.

The story follows Catherine and Nate who live easy lives because their parents are favourites of the King. Catherine and Nate contract a mysterious illness while visiting the mountains and run away, afraid of arrest and execution. This is a new adult dystopian novel and the first in a five-book series.

I was confused at first because the synopsis on the back of the book is more of a backstory. You can read the synopsis here if you want. The synopsis mentions a two-year period when Nate is gone and I thought that’s where the novel would start. But it skips this section. So I was confused at first but once I realized the synopsis was the backstory was I able to move on. This might also be confusion on my part. I can be a scattered brain at times.

It took me about 100 pages to get into the novel, which I find is fairly common with sci-fi and fantasy novels. On top of trying to introduce the characters, these genres have to build a world. So it can be a lot to grasp at first. But after those 100 pages, I settled in and got really into the novel. I think it’s also interesting because there aren’t chapters in the book. The book is divided into six parts. But within the parts, they are paragraph breaks so there are places to pause my reading. I found the lack of chapters meant that the book flowed easily and I found myself just wanting to continue to read.

Something I found interesting is that one of the main characters dies pretty early on but is continually mentioned throughout the novel. It was interesting to learn about a character who’s dead through memories of the other characters. Usually, when a character dies that’s it, they’re done. But this character was continually mentioned. This makes me believe for some reason that this character isn’t dead. I’m curious to see if my guess is true.

This novel includes some unrequited love. I don’t want to give too many details as to not spoil the plot. But it’s you’re looking for something spicy, this isn’t it. There is plenty of discussion of sex and marriage and but the furthest this novel goes is kissing. I didn’t mind because I found the plot to be very interesting. Unlike other dystopian novels where the main character is from the poorer part of society (Hunger Games, The Selection) this focuses on those who are from the top of society. Catherine slowly learns what her society is truly like. It gives me similar vibes to the television adaption of Brave New World.

Throughout the novel, Catherine and Nate travel across the kingdom. I wish there was a map included in the novel. I did find one on Rebecca’s website, which I will have pulled up when I read the rest of the series. But I think it would have helped me to have it included in the novel.

Overall I give the book 4.5/5 stars. I think it’s a refreshing take on the dystopian genre and isn’t like anything I’ve read in that genre. I’m excited to read the rest of the books in the series. It loses half a point because I was pretty confused in the beginning because of the synopsis, but once I realized what was going on I was into it.

I have ordered the second book and if I like it then I’ll probably stick with it and finish the series. I like to consider series as a whole, so I’ll probably review the rest of the books together in one post. So stay tuned for that!

xoxo

Lea

UPDATE: Just wanted to mention that the cover I have is an old version, and that the cover has been updated since I received the book.