Book Review: Jenny Pox

Jenny is a shy, small-town South Carolina girl whose touch spreads a deadly supernatural plague. She can't touch anyone for long without killing them. Her life is painfully lonely until she meets a boy named Seth with the opposite power, a healing touch. Jenny's love for Seth brings the wrath of Seth's beautiful, popular and devious girlfriend, Ashleigh, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all--the power to inspire love.

Jenny Pox ( The Paranormal #1 ) by J.L.Bryan
ebook, 260 pages
Published 2010


REVIEW:
When i saw how many good reviews Jenny Pox had, i thought it would be a good idea to try it as well. Unfortunately, it was not what i was expecting.


The writing style us simple but still alive, and every scene you read is close to you and you can feel the scenes and the atmosphere like you are other. The main story idea with the girl who couldn't touch anyone and the various secrets powers that exist while it's ordinary, it flows in different and really original way which make the story really different than others of the same style.

But I did find more things that i wasn't fan of, and at the end they were the ones that stayed.
>The characters. To start with Jenny, while at the first chapters i really liked her as a person and i could connect with her, later she became shallow. She lost everything she was before when she started touching people, and she became a person i did not like. Yes at some point, i could see why she acted the way she acted but she was now mean, harsh, one dimensional with nothing to keep you interested in her.
Then we have Seth, who i found a bit stupid. He was so like those dump guys they use in the movies for the popular guys and while he had his moments as a person, he was boring. He was also one the boys, who cheat and might take advantage of other girls so that did not help either.
And as for Ashleigh, i never hated a character more in my life. Well, she is the bad guy of the story but i did not even respect her. Her parts, created a discomfort to me. She was mean out of the limits and really selfish. I don't feel that the "evil" character of the book has to be so disgusting and mean to do his evil tricks. Her role was just so out of place...so wrong. It didn't make sense as a person.


>I really liked how the powers thing was something in the city, so when at the end became something different and more, entirely i was kinda disappointed. I just don't feel that all the books in the world have to be with big and "holy shit" events than stay more close to reality, when they don't have to be.


>After some point the story didn't feel real. I know that nothing of those fantasy worlds etc is fake (or not? :P) but when the writer can explain and describe the world and don't lose control, you are into it and it feels like you belong to it. Here, after half the books the events are just not believable. I understand that Ashleigh, can manipulate people. Okay. But the fact the an entire room of people in a party, who happened to have sex at the same time and at least half of those girls (and other girls) were pregnant then at the same time and of course exactly when Ashleigh wanted, just can't get into my mind. It's just too much. And that is an example of something that happened. 


>Another thing is how they boys were portrayed so stupid and how the girls controlled them with sex. It was like the key to everything. I don't say that can't happen, but hey! Not everyone is like that. And there are other things, like how Asleigh uses her Christianity to do what she wants, that many may find it offensive.


>And lastly, there are some sex scenes and almost sex scenes in. As you may know by now, i'm not fan of that kind of thing in books. Yet, i have admit in other books, that the scenes did not bother me. Here...i found it disgusting. I just stopped reading for the day after i read the scenes because it was like i was watching porn in a way. 


For me the book, just did not work out. I for once, don't find it YA. At Goodreads it's full of 4-5 star reviews but only review (1 star) actually mentions the same things with me. I really don't know what to say...when a friend asked me about it, i said to him not to read it and forget it. I can not say that to you, but just keep in mind some of the things above when you decide if you want to read or not.


The book was received for review by the author.