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 Slight spoilers to follow in this review! 
 The Blessed is an extremely problematic book that I struggled to read. Thank you Simon & Schuster for repackaging this book with a different cover. My ARC's cover is absolutely dreadful and reminds of a possessed Amanda Seyfried. It's kind of ironic that I decided to read this book based on it's horrific cover. Honestly I decided to read this book because of the horrific reviews and the putrid cover, I really wanted to give The Blessed the benefit of the doubt. People say "What's on the inside is what counts" but The Blessed isn't any better on the inside with it's ridiculous plot and unlikeable, shallow characters. 
 The Blessed is the story of how Cecilia, Agnes, and Lucy became saints in this modern retelling of the classic biblical stories. All 3 girls' paths cross with the mysterious Sebastian who claims he is trying to help them. During a storm, all 3 girls feel an urge to go to the church and they find Sebastian there waiting for them. Cecilia, Agnes, and Lucy may have powers within that they never knew about. 
 Honestly all of the characters in The Blessed are extremely shallow, unlikeable and just plain ridiculous. Throughout the entire book, I hated reading about these petulant characters and it made reading this book a chore. They weren't likeable at all, despite the fact that the author tried to make the reader empathize with them. I couldn't even distinguish any of the 3 female protagonists, their character arcs were developed poorly. At one point in the novel, one of the girls suggested that they hold a fashion show in the Church and have the altar act as a catwalk. They wanted to model the Priest's robes because they were bored. Please tell me, why would anyone suggest doing that? That's pretty offensive and just a form of desecration. The girls all think it's a great idea until Sebastian gives them a disapproving look. 
 Hurley tried to make it seem like they grew so much throughout the novel, but truthfully they didn't. One second they were all bickering and calling each other derogatory terms, excuse my french, but would saints call each other bitches and whores? Right after this they were acting like they were best friends and as if they didn't all curse each other out! Did I miss something? You just cursed her out and now you're hugging like you're nothing just happened! This is extremely unrealistic and just poor plot and character development on Hurley's part. 
 If a guy trapped you in a church during a storm, would you honestly fall in love with him? The girls immediately fall for Sebastian despite the fact that he's obviously off his knockers. He claims that all 3 girls are Saints that have special powers. He has some sort of mental problem and he just escaped from a psychiatric ward, so why do you believe him? The author never really makes it clear what his mental handicap is or if it's a greater power. In some segments of the book, the author makes it seems as if he is truly divine and sometimes he just seems psychotic! I'm not sure if Hurley tries to make it open for interpretation or if she didn't bother to make it more clear. Either way, the lack of explanation regarding Sebastian was truly annoying! 
 Some readers will definitely find The Blessed to be offensive. I was extremely offended by a joke that Hurley made during a scene in the beginning of the book. She joked that putting the psych ward on the top floor helped the ward save money because many of the patients jump from the top floor. How is this funny at all? That's extremely offensive and just isn't acceptable to include in a book. Another thing that may bother readers is the way Hurley handles the New Testament, it kind of seemed throughout the novel that she was poking fun at organized religion. The girls didn't feel like they were saintly at all and it felt as if Hurley was saying that saints don't exist. I know I'm just making inferences but I couldn't figure what the point of this book was. 
 The plot in The Blessed is nonsensical and just a mush of events that didn't really fit well together. The author unsuccessfully tried to blend two storylines into one but it didn't flow very well. By the end, I was a bit confused with everything that happened and I was pretty unsatisfied with the lackluster ending. I wouldn't dare to pick up the sequel, which is called The Passionaries. After reading The Blessed, I can't imagine picking up any of Hurley's other books. 
 The Blessed is truly one disaster of a book that never truly redeems itself. There really was no clear plot or character development in The Blessed. I feel as if I wasted so much time reading this book, the only perk is that the author creates a creepy environment and that I didn't waste my $ on it. I would recommend avoiding this book because it is extremely disappointing!