Imagine a youthful life in which your touch was actually deadly. What if one of your memories included the horrific death of a little boy whom you killed when your intent was simply to help him stand after a fall in a grocery store. That death, and a host of similar problems, caused your parents to turn against you, and you ultimately are incarcerated in an assylum for the criminally insane. You are allowed no human contact and for nearly a year, your only entertainment is a notebook you are keeping for your benefit. So dreadful is your isolation, you fear that perhaps you actually are dead.

Then into your life and cell comes a young man who treats you kindly, and miraculously enough, does not wither when you touch him. Such is the case for young Juliette, a 17-year-old who must learn to harness the seemingly horrific power she has and use that power to liberate a despotic world.

I mostly enjoyed this series. It gets three stars because I was never able to make the transition Juliette had to make when her love interest changes in the series. So believable is ∫ young man Adam as a kind loving man that a change in the final portion of the series seemed difficult to make for me.

I enjoyed the author's unique and compelling writing style, however, and I'd definitely read other books she creates.