Series: The Reaper Diaries #1
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
First published: November 20th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 272
Goodreads Summary:
The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...
Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath.
Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another...except, there's something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly's got an undeadly knack for finding trouble....
My Rating: 3.5 / 5
First thoughts:
With wonderful mythology elements, paranormal gifts that I'm dying to find out more about and lots of action, Undeadly turned out to be a very interesting read. There are some aspects of the story that did annoy me slightly, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it to everyone who is looking for a different kind of paranormal read.
My thoughts about...
...the mythology:
At first I need to tell you about the amazing use of ancient Egyptian mythology. I've always been a huge fan of it and can never watch to many documentaries about ancient Egypt and their beliefs, so of course I absolutely loved that it is featured in Undeadly. The Underworld, the gods and the gifts certain humans got from them create a wonderful basis for the rest of the story.
...the plot and the narration:
Undeadly doesn't take much time to show us what it's about and where this story might go. You get to know Molly's world very fast - and it's a very different world from ours. I love fictional settings in which paranormal elements are officially known by its society and the main character does not have to hide her gifts (at least to a certain extent). The rest of the story is similarly fast paced and interesting things that make you want to continue reading seem to happen within every chapter. Especially the ending though will ensure your need to read the sequel.
Like I said above, we get to know Undeadly's world very fast thanks to Molly's explanations about almost everything. Sadly this led to some confusion for me in the beginning because I felt like I got too much information in too little time. Nonetheless there were certain other aspects toward the end that I would have liked to know more about, which sadly confused me as well.
...the characters:
As a main character, Molly is, while still likeable, a very naive and sometimes annoying person. Her attitudes toward certain things and persons seem to constantly change which makes it hard to really identify with her. I also would have liked her to be more skeptical during certain situations (you'll know which ones I mean when you read it) and maybe think more about the things she's done.
There are many secondary characters which sadly means that we don't get to know any of them very well. With only 272 pages Undeadly is a fairly short novel and with all the action it doesn't leave much room to find out more about Molly's friends and enemies. There is a love story, too, but it's definitely not the main focus and I really hope we'll get to see more of it in the sequel.
...everything:
All in all, Undeadly is a fast and enjoyable read and is definitely able to take off your mind from everyday matters and allows you to delve into a different world. While I'm not too happy with certain things, I'm still very curious about the next book Unchosen and will definitely read it once it's released next year.
Challenge(s):
YA Mythology Challenge 2012
Debut Author Challenge 2012
Do you like Egyptian mythology? Have you already read Undeadly or do you plan to do so? What do you think about its premise?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Carina
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