Book Review- Touch of Death

I just finished reading Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.  And I read it all in one sitting.  It's been awhile since I've done that.  But I do have some issues with things.

But first:  I really liked Jodi.  I liked how she kept her morals about her.  I loved how she cared about the "servants" and knew how wrong it was.  And she was strong yet still vulnerable.  A great combo.  I also liked the premise of the story.  I had never heard of this 13th sign of the zodiac (and I'm not sure if this is something the author made up or is widely written about--I'll have to do my research).  And I liked how the story all related back to Medusa.  It kept me interested.

That being said, I did have some problems with things in the story.  First of all, it was completely obvious about what Jodi was after reading about her class and the lecture on Medusa.  I would think she would have figured things out sooner.  And I think Jodi got over the whole Matt situation way too quickly.  She had such a heart about everything else but her reaction to the incident didn't really fit. 

I liked the ending and thought it wrapped up well and could easily be a standalone.  But I see that this is the first book of a series and I'll definitely be picking up the next one.

I gave this a rating of 3.5/5.

Touch of Death will be released on January 15, 2013.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 82
2012 ARC Reading Challenge: 68
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 71

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.