Review: Blurred by Tara A. Fuller (Kissed by Death #2)

Blurred (Kissed by Death #2)
Tara A. Fuller
Published: July 2, 2013 (Entangled Teen)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: Provided by the publisher for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amanda

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

Cash has had a hard life so far, and after the fire that destroyed his best friend’s house, it gets even worse. He doesn’t like Finn, Emma’s new boyfriend, so he avoids her. He’s cold all the time and feels like crap. He has a hard time sleeping. Then the shadows start creeping in, finding him when he’s at his lowest, and he learns he was supposed to die in that fire, but someone had other plans for him.

Anaya’s a reaper, assigned to protect Cash from the shadows following him around. There’s something about him that’s familiar to her, although that could just be hormones talking. He is pretty hot. But she’s got a job to do, and succumbing to Cash’s kisses isn’t it.

Cash is my kind of bad boy. He’s a troubled bad boy, one who indulges in too many vices and loves fiercely. He makes you want to cuddle him and tell him everything will be okay, even though you know if you show any hint of sympathy he’ll push you away. He doesn’t think he can trust anyone anymore, not even Emma, so he keeps his doubts and fears to himself for far too long. His deteriorating health is painful to witness, and I had to wonder sometimes why he hadn’t just keeled over. He just can’t seem to catch a break, yet he doesn’t let him keep him down. He gets back up and takes another swing.

It takes a while for Anaya to find her spine and question the orders she’s been given, and that irked me. On the one hand, it was true to her character; she followed orders and never thought about the consequences. She initially does the same with Cash, but after Easton, a reaper from Hell, shows her what it’s like on the other side, she finally starts thinking maybe what’s in store for Cash isn’t what’s best for him. But it takes her too long to decide to do something about it.

Anaya’s indecision, I felt, dragged the story out for longer than it needed to be. You could have cut a decent sized chunk and had a tighter, tauter story. I’d hoped once Cash found out what he was (a shadow walker) things might pick up a little, but he still had to go through the discovery of all the things Anaya had been hiding from him, and they’re revealed, one by one, instead of all at once. It was frustrating, given that we’re privy to her growing feelings for Cash, and at one point I wanted to slap her and tell her to just go for it already.

But despite this fault, Blurred is an engaging story, and even though I hadn’t read the first one, there was enough backstory woven in to catch me up on the important things I needed to know. Blurred doesn’t jump back to Em and Finn and their relationship, but focuses squarely on Cash and Anaya. It was a fun read that didn’t overdose on the teenaged angst, and I’ll be picking up the third one. I hope it’s about Easton. He’s definitely a bad boy.

Sexual content: Kissing