Book Review: From Bad to Cursed - Katie Alender

Title: From Bad to Cursed
Author: Katie Alender
Pub Date: June 14th, 2011
Publisher: Hyperion
Page Count: 442

Alexis is the last girl you'd expect to sell her soul. She already has everything she needs--an adorable boyfriend, the perfect best friend, and a little sister who's finally recovering after being possessed by an evil spirit, then institutionalized.
Alexis is thrilled when her sister joins a club; new friends are just what Kasey needs. It's strange, though, to see how fast the girls in The Sunshine Club go from dorky and antisocial to gorgeous and popular. Soon Alexis learns that the girls have pledged an oath to a seemingly benevolent spirit named Aralt. Worried that Kasey's in over her head again, Alexis and her best friend Megan decide to investigate by joining the club themselves. At first, their connection with Aralt seems harmless. Alexis trades in her pink hair and punky clothes for a mainstream look, and quickly finds herself reveling in her newfound elegance and success.
Instead of fighting off the supernatural, Alexis can hardly remember why she joined in the first place. Surely it wasn't to destroy Aralt...why would she hurt someone who has given her so much, and asked for so little in return?

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My Thoughts

I loved From Bad to Cursed as much as I loved Bad Girls Don't Die. Even though it's said as a "companion novel" I really like having to read it in order. It brought back past feelings of mushy gushy love from the sisterly bonding that's dominant in this series. 

In Bad Girls Don't Die, it was MC Alexa who had to save her sister, Kacey from an evil spirit. In From Bad to Cursed, it's the opposite; Alexa got sucked into another plot, while trying to protect Kacey. What actually happened was Alexa got in too deep so it was up to Kacey to drag her out. I actually like the switch up because it shows that both Alexa and Kacey are strong, awesome, heroines.

I didn't actually find this book scary. It was more of a thriller, than a horror. The story kept me on my toes and was as fast paced (but easily follow-able) as Bad Girls Don't Die. It's something that Katie Alender never fails to lose; the reader's attention. We go from Alexa trying to "save" Kacey, to Alexa getting sucked into the plot of evil herself and then a bunch of crazy stuff happens. It really spins your head and leaves you going "whoa". And after all is said and done, the ending causes you to crave the third book. It really is a series that I've gotten attached to.

I, personally liked hearing from Alexa while she was under evil influence. It's a perspective we don't get in book one. In book one, it isn't Alexa under the influence of evil and the story's in Kacey's point of view. I felt connected to Alexa better because I could understand what it was like having a voice in your head, telling you what to do when I could read it. With Kacey, I felt detached, because I didn't understand what she was actually going through. 

Alender's writing is so addictive. It's flowing and interesting, bringing everything to life. She's crafted her characters to be likeable or sympathetic. I actually liked Alexa better than I did in the first book, where I thought she was whiny. I saw a new, developed side of her that was more prepared with evil and paranormal happenings.

What I think was a bit weird were some of the extra characters. They had their place in one scene and poof... they were gone. Couldn't an important character have filled their one scene? I didn't even remember some of the characters. They were that minuscule and kind of blank.

All in all, it's a great story that'll suck you in. It's one of those stories where you really feel sisterly love that we may not see in real life. I loved all the feels I got from this book and I hope that if you read it, you have the same feels!

Author Info

Katie's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

Katie Alender (rhymes with “calendar”!) grew up in South Florida, which probably explains the recurring alligator dreams (one of which is documented in Bad Girls Don’t Die). She is the third of four children (three girls and a boy) and the child of three very loving and encouraging parents.

She attended high school at the Palm Beach County School of the Arts, studying Communication Arts. From there, she went on to the Florida State University Film School, which led her to her current hometown, a tiny hamlet on the West Coast known as “Los Angeles.”

She enjoys writing, reading, sewing (especially quilts), trying to grow plants, birdwatching in the backyard, photography, visiting friends’ blogs, and hanging out with her husband (known on the blog as “the husb”), her daughter, and her little brown dog, Scooter.

Her first brush with publication was the article “So You Want to Live On Mars?” published in Sassy magazine in December 1991.