Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Fresh New Voice of YA- Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Note: Today's the last day to enter my GLBT Week contest, so go enter by 11:59 PM EST tonight!!


Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
"Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.

Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?"- summary from Amazon

I want to just leave the review at "GET THIS BOOK NOW! YOU WILL LOVE IT." but that's not what you guys come here for. You come here for at least some details as to why I love a certain book. So here we go.

First off, this book is absolutely hilarious. But it's also pretty freakin' scary at times. McBride is able to balance the two really well and it makes for a fun, refreshing paranormal read.

Secondly, the story is fairly original. The only other necromancer story I've read is Kelley Armstrong's YA series, but what sets this apart is a)the male main character (hard to find those in YA, isn't it?) and b)the humorous aspect of the book, which seems to permeate every page.

Thirdly, I really enjoyed how the story unraveled and I got to learn more about the paranormal underbelly of Seattle and all the secrets of the past in regards to our main character Sam that he's just now finding out about. It kept me turning pages and eager to read more.

My favorite characters would probably have to be the women though- Brid, Brooke, and Ashley (especially her introduction into the book). They were all so quick-witted and sarcastic and I loved whenever they were in the scene. But the characters aren't just funny and there to tell a joke- there's more to them and while I got to see some of it, I hope these get more explored in the sequel, which I want right now.

The story is mainly told through the first person perspective of Sam, but occasionally, there's a third person omniscient that flits between Douglas, Brid, and a few other characters. It was a bit offputting at first, but I got used to the style as I got more engrossed in the book. I think that sort of stylistic choice was used really well here.

Overall, I am a fan of Lish McBride for life (the book also makes tons of geeky references, which I absolutely love) and will read anything she comes out with. This is definitely a book to get, even if you may seem tired by the abundance of paranormal lit. If you liked Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, you'd probably like this book too.

FTC: Received ARC at BEA. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

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