Is Azalee and Joel’s connection a blessing or a curse? Azalee’s life has never been close to resembling anything normal. As a child, she was an outcast. After she was blistered, she was thrown into an underground prison by her own parents. When Joel comes to rescue her, Azalee is understandably skeptical. After all, she’s never even known basic kindness. Azalee’s desire to be free is stronger than her doubts so she reluctantly leaves with Joel. However, it isn’t long before they are joined by Niribelle. I didn’t trust Niribelle from the first moment she appeared. Her whiny and superior attitude grated on my nerves. I couldn’t help but wonder what her true motivations were and how much damage she would do to Joel and Azalee’s quest. Azalee is a likable character, but she can be very abrasive. She and Niribelle fought constantly while Joel made futile attempts to stay neutral and keep the peace. I must say that I’m rather surprised that Joel didn’t see through Niribelle’s attitude sooner. While it is clear he tries to see the best in people, he is also very smart. Niribelle shows her true colors on multiple occasions yet he persisted in making excuses for her. I found this hard to swallow. Azalee and Joel’s budding friendship and romance perfectly balances the animosity between Azalee and Niribelle. Azalee is very guarded, convinced no one could truly care about her. However, Joel is so genuine, honest, kind, and patient that she gradually begins to trust him. I loved watching them get to know each other, particularly when Joel takes the time to teach Azalee how to read. The little things Joel did for her every day thawed Azalee’s heart bit by bit. I enjoyed watching their feelings grow so naturally that before they realized it, they had fallen in love. However, no one, not even the gods, is likely to look on their relationship with favor. I do wish there had been more details provided about a couple of issues. I’d like to know more about the Chertz and Spinel. How did these two groups come to be, and why do they hate each other so much? I’d also like more explanation on why some children weren’t given Greek names. Clearly it is meant to shame them, but why? Because the child was conceived unexpectedly? This doesn’t make much sense to me. I also have an issue with the fact that there are no good parental figures. Most of the adults are absolutely horrible and completely devoid of love and compassion. Familial bonds are nonexistent. I realize I’m not getting a picture of the entire culture, but the families I’ve met so far are beyond dysfunctional. Despite these issues, I really enjoyed reading Blistered. The pacing is excellent, the plot is compelling, and Azalee and Joel are wonderful characters who are easy to cheer for. I must warn readers that this installment ends on a “to be continued” note. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that Azalee and Joel are relatively okay, but their situation is far from ideal. I will be picking up the second book immediately because I absolutely have to know what happens next!

I give Blistered (book 1 in the A Modern Greek Myth series) by Deirdre Huesmann four stars. Azalee is a prisoner. Unwanted by her people because she is Cursed. She has been kept in a prison underground for many years without any chance of being released. Then along comes Joel. He is also unwanted, not good enough to have a Greek name but not Cursed like her. But he believes he is fated to help this poor girl out. So years ago, he started digging tunnels to get down to her. Unlike her, his people get energy from the sun so they would never think to guard against tunneling. He finally gets to her and is completely surprised at what he encounters. This isn’t the damsel in distress who lovingly and willingly goes with him that he was expecting. In fact at first she says no. She assumes it’s a trick. But this boy seems so genuine and innocent that she trusts him, at least a bit. Besides, she’d rather die than rot in that cell for the rest of her life. She comes to learn that not only is he about fifteen, she is not over 20 like she assumed. The people who she if not loved, but came to trust, have been deceiving her. She hasn’t even came of age yet. Joel promises her that he has done much research and there is an island of people like her and he feels it is his duty to take her there. As soon as they get near the end of the tunnel, she knows it was all a ruse and this is the end. She will die if she goes into sunlight and Joel keeps pulling her that way. When they come to understand each other, he realizes they have to travel at night. Now the journey will take twice as long. She comes to see that while he believes in this, he sees it thru the eyes of a teenager – it will be all fun and adventure. And then another shows up saying she was fated to help them both. But Azalee remembers her from childhood and doesn’t trust her at all. Joel on the other hand, trusts her and seems smitten.

I loved that the main character Azalee was no withering flower. She approached everything with a hint of skepticism, as would be expected by someone who had been imprisoned like her. She was broken out of her prison by Joel, a boy who believed that it was part of his destiny to help her. Joel was by far my favorite character in the story. His optimism and his desire to do the right thing (while potentially facing serious consequences) were admirable. There is a point in this story where the fantasy world mixes with a modern world, and I thought it was done very well. Seeing Azalee and Joel process some of the things we take for granted in today's age was super amusing, and definitely had me laughing a time or two. I think fans of Greek mythology would enjoy this story very much. I would rate this 4.25 stars. The main reason why I didn't rate this higher was only because it took me a little time to get my bearings since I'm not terribly familiar with Greek mythology. Once I got deeper into the story and learned more about the characters, it mattered far less, and I was completely engrossed in the journey. I'm looking forward to Book #2 in this series. I will be putting it on my TBR list for sure!

I have said this once, I may as well say it again. Normally I am not a huge Young Adult genre fan, but Deidre Huesmann totally drunk me in with Blistered, which is why it is getting a solid five stars from me! Blistered is a mix of Young Adult and Greek Mythology. I have always been a fan of Greek Mythology so I think that is what really did me in with this awesome book! I was hooked from the get go. The plot, conflicts, and the well-developed characters just tied together so well that it was hard not to love this book! First there is Joel – our hero, who is slightly naïve and makes slightly poor decisions at times. He believes it is his destiny to save Azalee. Azalee is our heroine. Normally, I would say that I absolutely loved her, but I am still on the fence with her. She is strong and you cannot help but feel a bit sorry for her due to being treated wrongly essentially her whole life. She has a lot of sass which I absolutely love but sometimes her attitude annoyed me. She is flawed which I really like because these days you see so many heroines who are portrayed to be perfect. I love how Huesmann made her characters imperfect. The knowledge of Greek Mythology shows me Huesmann definitely did her research which I seriously respect! I felt like I was transported into the story, the imagery alone was absolutely perfect. Blistered hands down is one of my new favorites and I plan on rereading very soon!