“UNDEADLY”
(The Reaper
Diaries, Book 1)
by Michele Vail
PUBLISHER: Harlequin TEEN
PUBLICATION DATE: November 27, 2012
REVIEWED BY: Books4Tomorrow
OVERVIEW
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....
REVIEW
Who
knew reading about Egyptian mythology, reapers, necromancy, ghosts, and zombies
could be so much fun! Well, heck, if you haven’t read debut author Michele
Vail’s butt-kicking new series, The
Reaper Diaries, yet, you wouldn’t know, now would you? Not to be confused
with The Vampire Diaries. No, no, no,
this is a new kind of awesomeness all on its own. But let me assure you, this
is the first book in a splendid new series you don’t want to miss out on. It’s
way better than its blurb promises it to be. Imagine having a ghoul as a butler,
who obeys your every command (and he can braid your hair like a pro). Got you
curious? You haven’t seen anything yet.
I know
I’ve said this a million times before, but for those new to my reviews, one of
my pet peeves in books are weak, whiny female characters. Luckily, this is not
the case and Molly’s character is really great. She’s strong, smart, fun, has a
snarky sense of humor, and tackles her fears head-on. It was easy to step into
her shoes, as well as those of all the supporting characters – most of them
likeable, and a few not so much, and immerse myself in Molly’s utterly
fascinating world, which – I might add – changes drastically after the events
at her sixteenth birthday party. For those of you who, like me, are attracted
to books with bad-boy characters, “Undeadly” has a seriously yummy one who goes
by the name of Rath. The chemistry between him and Molly is tangible, and their
contemptuous bantering elicited a good chuckle from me every so often.
Two
more things I really loved about this book is that, one, there’s no
love-triangle (thank goodness!), and two, there are so many twists, secrets and
revelations it will make your head spin - but in a good way. It certainly kept
me turning the pages in a frenzy to find out what happens next. After the
second chapter I simply gave in and lost myself in this wonderful book, and
before I knew it, I finished it in the space of a couple of hours. Just so you know, this one has a cliff-hanger ending, but fortunately
book two is on its way,
“The
Reaper Diaries” is definitely a series with attitude that is sure to generate a
huge following. It will not surprise me
if this is made into a hit tv series. It has so much promise and potential, and
the author’s writing style is fresh and unique. I highly recommend this book as
a must-read - as in place this right at the top of your to-be-read list,
without delay. “Undeadly” deserves far
more than a mere five stars. Yep, it is that
good, and makes my list of most unforgettable books read in 2012!
I
received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange
for an honest review.
READ more REVIEWS
“Undeadly”
by Michele Vail has 201 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.
EXCERPT
She
paused and looked at me. “Is something wrong?”
Not
wrong per se. There was a line of ghosts behind Autumn. Six or seven, maybe
more, because a few were flickering and it was difficult to actually count. I’d
seen ghosts before, because SEERs were popular and lots of places had them—restaurants,
clothing stores, ice cream shops. But it kinda creeped me out to see ghosts all
loose and floating around, mostly because I shouldn’t be able to see earthbound
spirits that weren’t attached to SEERs. This was a totally different heka
power, one I’d never had.
“You
have…er, company,” I said.
“Oh,
them.” She sighed. “I’m ren heka. The thing is, most of the spirits I meet want
to stick around. It’s not like I’m a reaper and can escort their poor souls to
the afterlife. And they won’t listen to me about moving on.” She smiled. “It’s
like having cats, really. So, you’re a ren heka, too?”
“No. Ka
heka,” I said.
“And
you see the spirits? Ahmazing.” She
did look amazed, but not suspicious. I mean, not in a
why-she-must-be-a-superreaper-weirdo kind of way. She waved to the spirits
behind her. “I’d introduce you, but it’d take too long. Also, I can’t keep ‘em
all straight.”
“Are
there any SEERs at the Academy?” I asked.
Autumn
made a face. “No. Zombies and ghouls are one thing, but trapping a poor spirit
to do your laundry? It’s against Nekyia’s policy to have any SEERs on campus.”
She offered me a wide smile. “How about I show you where Ms. Chiles’s office
is?”
“That’d
be awesome. Thanks!”
She
turned and walked across the bridge, her cadre of ghost buddies trailing after
her. I didn’t fail to notice that most of them were of the teen boy variety. I
think Autumn had a bunch of admirers who were not pets at all.
PURCHASE LINKS
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Michele Vail writes young adult paranormal
fiction about zombies and reapers.
She likes reading, dogs, cats, board games,
ghost-hunting shows, and Halloween. She believes in magic, in the impossible,
and in the restorative powers of chocolate.
Michele lives happily-ever-after with her Viking
and their family.
AUTHOR LINKS
