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nessa_booknook's review against another edition
2.5
First 100 pages were great but then the story itself didn't know what it wanted to be and felt all over the place. I caught myself skimming the middle to ending once I lost interest. The humor in this from Toni and Peter kept me going till the end.
singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This book perfectly illustrates why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The blurb and the cover art gave me the wrong idea of the plot and tone!
The tone of this book is all over the place: on one hand, it’s a lighthearted, funny supernatural romance, but on the other hand, there are gore and sexual assault “jokes”. It almost feels like the author wasn’t sure if she wanted to write a fun little supernatural romance or a dark romance. Usually, readers pick up a book expecting a certain kind of story, and flip-flopping between the two disappoints both types of readers.
In the first chapter, our main character, Toni Windsor (a necromancer), raises a zombie from the grave. The zombie side character is way more interesting than the main character, and unfortunately, that trend continues throughout the book. The love interest is less interesting than the head honcho of the vampires. The main plot (American vampires causing havoc) is less interesting than the side plot (the case of the murdered Jane Doe).
This book cut so many corners it's downright unbelievable. It has insta-love, insta-friendship, insta-everything. Why can't the author say the characters have known each other for a while now and leave the rest to the imagination? And the overly friendly behaviour of most of the characters is again at odds with the book's tone.
This book also has the thing I hate: the German character always says ja or nein instead of yes or no. It feels so stereotypical.
The prose is okay and certainly has its moments. However, there were quite a few repetitive bits, which sometimes left me wondering whether I had already read that chapter. The book got a bit better towards the end, which made me reconsider my decision to stop reading this series. This book has some redeeming qualities, after all: the necromancy and its mechanics are an interesting touch. I would have hoped that the story would have focused more on that and the Jane Doe case and less on clashing with the American vampires and trying to create a romance where there shouldn’t have been one.
One thing I quite liked was the little illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. They were funny and cute. The cover art is amazing, and I hold the artist personally responsible for duping me into buying this book.
Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3/5). The spice rating is surprisingly low, considering how much the MC THINKS about it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Rape, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
christierenee's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
This was an entertaining read over the summer. One part that I really liked was the added are at the beginning of each chapter. I thought it was cute and added a special something to the text.
Having a necromancer that cares about her craft and has conversations with zombies was so much fun to read about! I even prefer the main zombie to the love interest in this book. I felt that he was more 'fleshed out' than the vampire love interest.
Having a necromancer that cares about her craft and has conversations with zombies was so much fun to read about! I even prefer the main zombie to the love interest in this book. I felt that he was more 'fleshed out' than the vampire love interest.
cdotson's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It's lightheaded and fun. Fits into the cozy mystery genre. A few sizzling scenes that probably aren't age appropriate for young teenage girls. A lot of laugh out loud moments. I'm eager to read all the books in the series.
llk's review
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
theshaggyshepherd's review against another edition
4.0
Grave Secrets // by Alice James
I won a giveaway for a signed copy of this book right after buying it. And then it sat on my shelf for who knows how long. Reader, don't make the same mistake I did and sleep on this book. I'm so glad I finally picked it up to read. I won't go into a ton of detail but if you're looking for something light-hearted and funny to break up the monotony of serious, epic fantasy (a genre I obviously love but still), then this is what you need to read. I laughed out loud multiple times and despite not everything always making 100% sense, I honestly didn't really mind that here. I'm generally not a fan of (pretty much) insta-love but this book has an interesting take on the usual relationship we expect. There are some other instances that were probably handled more easily than expected. But overall, this is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously and that's what made it so fun and what made it easy to overlook some of those faults that would usually bother me a lot more. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one when it comes out!
I won a giveaway for a signed copy of this book right after buying it. And then it sat on my shelf for who knows how long. Reader, don't make the same mistake I did and sleep on this book. I'm so glad I finally picked it up to read. I won't go into a ton of detail but if you're looking for something light-hearted and funny to break up the monotony of serious, epic fantasy (a genre I obviously love but still), then this is what you need to read. I laughed out loud multiple times and despite not everything always making 100% sense, I honestly didn't really mind that here. I'm generally not a fan of (pretty much) insta-love but this book has an interesting take on the usual relationship we expect. There are some other instances that were probably handled more easily than expected. But overall, this is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously and that's what made it so fun and what made it easy to overlook some of those faults that would usually bother me a lot more. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one when it comes out!
emintobooks's review against another edition
I was expecting this to be a mystery as it's #1 in the Lavington Windsor *mystery* series. 70 pages in and It's actually a comedic supernatural romance, which was a disappointment. Where and what is the mystery? But even as a romance novel it flops because the things I love about romance aren't there. No tension, no development. I figured this one wouldn't be for me when the 1700s history referenced in the first couple of pages was shody at best and Ill informed at worst. But then we see our main character, a necromancer, think about how flat a 17 year old corpse's chest is and I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. The author also constantly reminds us the characters are English but in weirdly hamfisted ways, like having the main character talk about the rounding of another English person's accent (who notices that about the accents of people from where you are from?), or restating the fact that they are English ("still we were both English"). Also her mentions of Lavington taking a brush to her curly hair to tame it, and even her boss bringing it up had me cringing as a curly haired person, but thats a nitpick. There were lots of little things that just felt off about the characters and how they spoke and took me out of the story. On page 6 and again on page 7 two different things are described as mouldering. Honestly it felt like the author was trying to recreate the vibe of something I haven't read or seen. Maybe the Charlain Harris books the blurb compares it to? Also, I could tell this was trying to be humorous in a kooky way, and I like kooky humor as much as the next, but this didn't hit the mark for me.
(I want to note as well the main character brushes off sexual assault way too easily. The writing glosses over it and tries to make it funny but it isn't.)
(I want to note as well the main character brushes off sexual assault way too easily. The writing glosses over it and tries to make it funny but it isn't.)