Monday, November 26, 2012

Review: Undeadly

UNDEADLY (The Reaper Diaries #1)
Michele Vail
Paranormal Young Adult
272 pages
Harlequin Teen
Available Now
Received via NetGalley for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
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 THOUGHTS
Undeadly captivates instantly with a world in which zombies are a normal part of society – families paying to have their loved ones reanimated even though they are shells of their former selves – and continues to hold our interest as the zombies are fascinatingly linked to Egyptian mythology and reapers. There’s a great deal of promise in this story, an intriguing array of elements singing a siren’s song that draws us forward from one page to the next, wanting to experience what’s being beautifully offered, however, all the disparate elements never truly mix to create one cohesive storyline, instead all the pieces move around separately to leave us a touch disoriented.

Molly is a young woman who, like the story of which she’s an intrinsic part, has a great deal of potential to be the type of underdog we as readers can’t help but want to see succeed given the seemingly insurmountable odds she faces. Though she’s sixteen, her character reads as a very young sixteen, her dialogue and inner monologue full of a lot of “whatevs” and “hellos” with sarcastic emphasis on the last syllable to continuously remind older readers (like me) just how far apart in age we truly are. Aside from her perhaps overly youthful language and mannerisms, we never really get to know the person she is, our desire to peel back all the layers of her we sense are there often thwarted as we skip from one event to the next before we get a glimpse of the depth we’re looking for.

The synopsis for this tale is slightly misleading (at least it was for me), the emphasis on Rath and the promise of an antagonistic relationship between them unfortunately playing an exceedingly minor role as Rath is absent for majority of the book. When he does come into play, the implied dislike between them isn’t as prominent as the pleasant tingles Molly gets in his presence, and his attitude toward her, aside from a few callous remarks while training her, is more often than not warm, complete with a charming nickname he coins for her early on. While the less-than tense nature of their relationship isn’t necessarily a bad thing once expectations are properly adjusted, we again don’t get the opportunity to delve deeper into their relationship, staying firmly on the surface as we're jostled by several different plotlines all vying for our undivided attention.

Overall, Undeadly is a well-written story – if a little all over the map in terms of action – that presents us with a reaper/necromancer mythology that has us wanting to devour the pages to see what we’ll learn next. This first installment ends with a flurry of activity and a mighty cliffhanger, leaving us wishing for a bit more from the story itself and hoping the next book might give us some growth on Molly’s part as well as some additional page time so we might explore the intricacies we know are there just beneath the hard surface we couldn’t quite crack this time out.

Rating: 3/5

41 comments:

  1. Well, at least this is a twist on the zombie theme. Although I must say that necromancy sounds creepy. Still - interesting.

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    1. I really liked the whole mythology aspect, Molly just came across really immature for me and I had some trouble with her as a result:)

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  2. Getting a deja vu feeling, well yes I have seen this book everywhere ;) People seem to like it, or, well be more like you, not over the moon still it's good

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    1. It was a quick read, and I'd like to continue and see if the second book is a bit less chaotic than this one:)

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  3. I love zombie book so this is definitely going on my tbr, and look at that cover! Gorgeous. Great review as always, Jenny!

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  4. Huh, the interaction between the two seems more like playground flirting than actual dislike. The reaper/necromancer mythology sounds really intriguing--might be a library read for me.

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    1. I don't know if maybe I just misinterpreted the synopsis or read it how I wanted it to be since I adore antagonistic relationships, but theirs really wasn't one at all. And Rath was hardly in the book. I'm hoping their relationship will be a bigger part of the second one:)

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  5. I absolutely adore the cover of this book. I've never heard of it but the whole zombie/necromancer storyline sounds good. Compared to the typical supernatural stuff I haven't found too many books with this theme so I'll give this one a go. Great review, too!

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    1. It was definitely a different take on zombies/reapers and I did really enjoy that about it!

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  6. I have heard that in the next book Molly grows leaps and bounds! So I am going to wait and read them back to back. Great review as always Jenny! :)

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    1. Oh good, I'm glad to hear that! Makes me think I should continue for sure:)

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  7. It sounds like this book does an excellent job for setting the pace for a first book in the series, Molly sounds like a hoot! I hope that the next book delves a lot deeper with the characters, it sounds like this book just scratches the surface. Another lovely review Jenny! :)

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    1. I hope it delves deeper as well, I'd thoroughly enjoy it then!

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  8. Hmm. The language you described being used would probably be enough to make me want to strangle someone. Whatevs. *pokes that word* *attempts to kill it*

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    1. I just felt so ancient whenever she said it. I was all "that's not how we talk now is it dearie?" I was literally 100 years old reading this ;-)

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  9. Wonderful review, Molly made me loony but I loved the mythology aspect of this.

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    1. I really loved the mythology aspect as well, it was the highlight for me!

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  10. This book has got a gorgeous cover, but it's sad to see that the story is lacking in several parts. I think I might pass on this book, Jenny.

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    1. I was definitely disappointed in this one, but I'm holding out hope that book 2 will be an improvement:)

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  11. Hmmm, so like Rummanah I love that cover but Im not interested in this one......ugh Jenny I think Im over the YA thing....OHHH NOOO. (Unless of course its John Green, or Maggie S)

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    1. OH NO!!! I went in a "no more YA" phase for a while as well. I just needed a break, but then I couldn't give up the teenage angst and drama completely, I love it too much:)

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  12. What's funny about this book is that people tend to like it, but not love it. And they don't hate it either. They just like it. I think there's nothing wrong with liking and I will probably read it someday, but I'd like to read a book that people are loving or hating (more of the loving kind though, haha), because they tend to bring out the most emotions in me. Even the hate thing. But as I said, nothing wrong with liking and since it's a series, maybe people will love the sequel and I'll pick this one up rather sooner than later:)

    AND GREAT TO HAVE YOU BACK FROM YOUR MINI-THANKSGIVING-VACATION, JENNY!!!!!:)

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    1. GLAD TO BE BACK SIIRI! Your use of all caps just made me feel loved:)

      I've got my fingers crossed for the sequel!

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  13. *bawls head off* NO! "mighty cliffie"? *cries more*

    Still... I love the idea of Egyptian mythology! I don't mind the action being a bit all over the place.. it's just... *sniff* cliffie? *tear falls* Not that I don't like those things or anything...

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    1. I know. I got to the last page and was like ummmmm, my copy is messed up. Where's the rest?

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  14. I also hope the next book will bring more development for Molly's character... if not, I'm sure I will struggle. I thought this had a lot of promise too, and although I thought it was a solid read overall, was hoping for a little better. We had similar thoughts on this, Jenny. Great review! :)

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    1. I remember reading your review and thinking I could just link to yours when it came time to post my thoughts as we were definitely on the same page!

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  15. I have seen this book EVERYWHERE! But there's been a real mixed bag of reviews. I think the concept sounds terrific though. I think maybe I'll wait until the next book is out and see how satisfied people are feeling then. Sometimes first books just don't bring quite enough to the table and after a bit more development with the second book it may end up much better then how people are feeling now.

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    1. I agree, sometimes it takes a series a little while to really get going, so I'm going to give the second book a try:)

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  16. I'm technically supposed to read and review this one, but I don't think I will be. I've been reading so many negative reviews of this and I know the lack of character growth would kill me. I'm glad you were able to appreciate this novel though, Jenny, and hopefully the sequel is better! Wonderful review, dear! :)

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    1. It was just all over the place in terms of plot. There was the whole reaper issue, then the Rick situation, then the Rath situation, then an additional problem I don't want to mention due to spoilers and it all got to be a bit much for me toward the end.

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  17. Awww, I was hoping you like it a bit more. I really liked the mc. For me she is fun and sarcastic. Great review Jenny!

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    1. I liked her sarcasm, but I wasn't prepared for her to read quite so young. I think maybe now that I know how she is, it won't be as big of an issue moving forward:)

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  18. Hmm, not exactly a stellar recommendation, but sometimes first books are a bit jumpy before they settle down in the second book. Look at me, being all generous. I must be back! Gotta read some books over! I'm reading this now, but I just started this one. So, my jury is still out but I don't like the major cliffie. Never like those. As always, stellar review my friend!

    Heather

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  19. Hope you had a wonderful holiday! I think all of us more mature bloggers are on the same page with this one...Molly is annoying and the plot is all over. Still the Egyptian mythology is good but it needs to be better.

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  20. I bought a kindle copy of this one because of the reapers storyline but I haven't start reading it yet. I'm hoping to pick it up before the year ends. Egyptian mythology is quite interesting.

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  21. For some reason, when stories bring in characters from pantheons I kind of lose interest, I'm not sure why. The book sounds cute though.

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  22. This sounds fascinating, Jenny! I have such a soft spot for reapers, and although Molly sounds a bit too young and a bit too unclear as a character, I have a feeling this one might be right up my alley. The idea of people keeping their loved ones around even after death is deeply unsettling.
    Wonderful, well-rounded review!

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  23. I seem to be running into reviews with a 3 to 3.5 star rating on this story quite a lot. The description sounds intriguing and maybe the story will come into it's own the 2nd book. Great review Jenny. Glad to see you enjoyed this overall. :)

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  24. The zombies and the Egyptian mythology definitely grabbed my attention, but I'm not sure if I'm into reading that particular dialogue. I love YA but sometimes if the voice is too young I lose interest. Nice review!

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