Review: The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth

The Killing Jar
by Jennifer Bosworth
Hardcover, 352 pages
Expected publication: January 12th 2016
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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“I try not to think about it, what I did to that boy.”

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret.

She’s haunted by a violent tragedy she can’t explain. Kenna’s past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, she’s plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance.

On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she’s capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her… 

When I started reading The Killing Jar I immediately thought this is my kind of book! The prologue was awesome. It grabbed my attention right away. I couldn’t wait to read the entire book.

As I continued reading I found myself enjoying it, but I had so many questions. I was also very confused by so many things. I am not a fan of the whole back and forth when it comes to secrets. Kenna’s mother obviously had a lot of secrets. She kept Kenna in the dark when it came to what she really is, and who her family is. I was a little annoyed with everyone dropping hints, but not really revealing anything. Even when she is with her mother, she still doesn’t really ask her anything. I mean, if it were me I would have hundreds of questions. Nothing is really revealed till the very end (which I expected after going through so many ALMOST reveals).

Obviously I was curious enough to finish reading till the end, but I was also very annoyed. And even finishing the book, I still don’t quite understand what Eclipse is, and how their gifts work.

I did like Kenna as a character. She was lost. She had every right to be. Nothing was really explained to her. She kills a boy, and instead of her mother telling her the truth, and explaining things she just continued to keep her distance from everyone and limited her interactions with people. Kenna has a friend named Blake, which eventually forms into a sweet romance, but even him she keeps at a distant. There is a slight love triangle that quickly dies. Actually, not sure if I would even consider it a love triangle. I honestly didn’t feel any chemistry between any of the guys and Kenna.

This is one of those books that needed a hundred pages or more to really explain things, and trap readers into Kenna’s world. Though it’s interesting enough to read till the end, it’s just an okay read.

You can probably read it in one sitting.

I wish I could say more, but I honestly don’t know what else to say. 

3 Stars!