ARC review of Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway

Goodreads Summary:

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 descendants 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.

My Review:
When I received this ARC I was worried it was going to be a lot like Curse by Jennifer Armentrout or Touch by Jus Accardo and I was soooo wrong! It was a lot different. So if you have that fear then don't worry about it. Touch of Death drew a lot from Greek mythology. We saw Hades and Medusa. The Ophi are descendants of Medusa who have kind of a curse and a gift running through their blood. Sadly Jodi learns about her gift in a very hard way. People around her start to die and Jodi quickly becomes suspicious. Especially with the mysterious stalker who seems to show up out of no where. After death and heartache Jodi is forced to make a decision  Does she stay at home and risk hurting/killing those she loves or does she go to a special school to learn about her powers.

Eventually she does decide to go after an especially hard death. Alex who is helping Jodi figure this out only gives her bits and pieces of information she needs. I feel like the Ophi kept a lot of information from her that could have really helped her. I feel like less death would have happened had they stepped up and did it differently. Jodi quickly learns that she is special and can do things that normal Ophi can't. This leads to a power struggle in the Ophi world because Jodi is so new and doesn't really know how to control everything. Hades is upset with the Ophi for taking soles back from him and he doesn't want to let it continue. Jodi's powers are put to the test. People around her are lying and things are not what they seem. She has to make big decisions in her short amount of time in the Ophi world. Not everyone will survive.

Alex appears to be the "love interest". I had trouble with him sometimes because he was so secretive. Had he been more upfront and tried harder to talk to Jodi things would have been so different. His life was so different from hers though. So I understand why he had trouble with it. I hated the dead servants  Ugh, I can imagine why Jodi had trouble with them. Necromancing dead servants...I just don't know. I didn't like it.

It will be really interesting to see what happens next because of Jodi's new role in the Ophi community. Her and Hades are going to have to figure out how to get along!