Once Dead, Twice Shy: A Novel by Kim Harrison

Title: Once Dead, Twice Shy: A novel (Madison Avery #1)
Author:  Kim Harrison
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperTeen (26th May 2009)
Source: Won on Kim Harrison’s Manic Monday
Blurb:

My name is Madison Avery, and I’m here to tell you that there’s more out there then you can see, hear, or touch. Because I’m there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.

Madison Avery’s prom was a killer – literally. For some reason she’s been targeted by a dark reaper – yeah, that kind of reaper – intent on getting her, body and soul. But before the reaper can finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.

Now she’s stuck on Earth – dead  but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn’t know why the reaper is after her, but she’s not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.

With a little ingenuity, some light-blending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison’s ready to take control of her destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.

Well, if she believed in that stuff.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

This is the first book in Kim Harrison’s YA trilogy. I’m a fan of Kim’s The Hollows series, so when I won this on her giveaway I thought I’d give it a go.

I really liked this book right from the start. I loved the snappy prologue, and then diving straight into the first chapter. The prologue gave me a real feel for Madison Avery. Once started I just could not put this book down.

I really like Madison as a character. She knows who she is and I like that. I like the fact that she’s happy being who she is, even if that means she’s not the most popular girl in school. I also loved the fact that Madison is good with a camera. The way Kim Harrison describes some of the photo’s she takes is brilliant. It made me wish I could take photos like that – capture moments like that.

I also really liked the supporting cast in this book. They are all stunning. Grace made me laugh and smile. Barnabas was just awesome and kinda mysterious. And Josh was . . . well, interesting and cute and totally brilliant.

I really liked the ideas behind this book, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they play out in the rest of the trilogy. This book almost got five stars from me, but it was a little short – I wanted to know more; I wanted the story to start a little earlier than it did, but I think there’s a short story which is set before this book so maybe it’s explained in there? I also would have liked to see it end a little later, but that’s just me being greedy 😉 I actually thought the ending was quite good (even if I would have liked there to be more to it).

This is definitely a book to give a try, I don’t think there’s anything quite like it.