Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 339
From Goodreads: "I died on a Thursday—killed by a monster intent on stealing my soul. The good news? He didn't get it.The bad news? Turns out not even death will get you out of high school…
Covering up her own murder was one thing, but faking life is much harder than Kaylee Cavanaugh expected. After weeks spent "recovering," she's back in school, fighting to stay visible to the human world, struggling to fit in with her friends and planning time alone with her new reaper boyfriend.
But to earn her keep in the human world, Kaylee must reclaim stolen souls, and when her first assignment brings her face-to-face with an old foe, she knows the game has changed. Her immortal status won't keep her safe. And this time Kaylee isn't just gambling with her own life…."
In all honesty I was quite hesitant to read this book- "If I Die", the fifth book in this series, was one of my most favourite books of 2011 and I personally felt that the series was wonderfully wrapped up with that book and as such, no further books would be necessary. Admittedly this book didn't blow me away quite as much as "If I Die" and while I am a bit on the fence about whether or not this book was needed I did enjoy it as a whole.
Admittedly I had a bit of trouble getting into this book initially- I had two major complaints, one being that I found the writing to be quite flat, I couldn't connect to much of what was going on in the book because I wasn't feeling anything (ie. characters deaths, etc.)- the only times I didn't have a trouble connecting to the book were the cute moments between Kaylee and Tod (not unlike how those are the only moments that Kaylee truly FEELS anything). The other complaint I had of the beginning of the book was the kissing- I felt that there was far too much of it going on (which was the first time I have ever experienced that while reading a YA book- usually I am vying for more kissing in YA books, rather than less)- for the first couple of chapters all Kaylee and Tod did when they were together was make-out (on almost every page there was at least one reference to kissing). Why this bothered me was that I felt like they felt the need to make-out every five seconds to reiterate the fact that they were dating (ie. if we make-out lots we will convince everyone around us that we are in LURV). However, that complaint soon diminished as I realized that there was a reason behind it.
Complaints aside, one of my most favourite parts of this book was without a doubt the characters, their complexity, and development. As I am sure many have come to know through my (near constant) complaints of him (and referring to him as a douchenozzle on a number of occasion) I am not a Nash fan. In the slightest. Not even in the first book of the series before all of the shizz went down. That being said, I did start to like him a *bit* in this book (more so the end of the book when he started to get over his looking at Kaylee with puppy dog eyes). I think that where I disliked him as a boyfriend for Kaylee I can like him as a really close friend. Also, I really liked Sabine in this book, more so than I have in any other book- in showing her vulnerabilities in this book I found her to be much more real, genuine, and relateable. As for Tod? Well, my thinking of him being utterly swoon-worthy was only solidified in this book.
Another of my favourite parts of this book was the snark- I am ashamed to say that I had forgotten just how snarky and funny of an author Rachel Vincent is. Countless times while reading this book I found myself bursting out loud from what came out of the characters mouths- whether it be Tod, Sabine, Nash, or even Kaylee (yes, I am happy to say that Kaylee amped up on the snark in this book, as one of the characters said, death looks good on her).
All in all, while I don't know if this was a necessary addition to the series I did still find it quite entertaining. And despite my reservations I am looking forward to seeing what the seventh and final book in the series, "With All My Soul", has in store for us!
Rating: 8/10
Yay. Another Tod fan. I was always on the fence with Nash. But Tod, was awesome. :) Can't wait to see what happens next.
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever