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freevortex's review against another edition
4.0
Great start to this series, with interesting ideas (different from the usual UF).
winemakerssister's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
A competent start to a urban fantasy series. Alex is a Grave Witch, one who communes with the dead. With the help of several friends, a new hot detective in town, and Death (also hot), she battles a fae who uses black magic to take over bodies of unknowing humans.
Hogwarts sorting: I think she's a Gryffindor with some Slytherin tendencies.
Themes: witches, fae, family, politics, police, death magic
A competent start to a urban fantasy series. Alex is a Grave Witch, one who communes with the dead. With the help of several friends, a new hot detective in town, and Death (also hot), she battles a fae who uses black magic to take over bodies of unknowing humans.
Hogwarts sorting: I think she's a Gryffindor with some Slytherin tendencies.
Themes: witches, fae, family, politics, police, death magic
emhof96's review against another edition
4.0
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy Mystery
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Writing: 8/10
Heroine: 9/10
Love Interests: 8/10
Humour: 7/10
Steaminess: 2/10
Feels: 7/10
HEA: N/A - series
Genre: Urban Fantasy Mystery
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Writing: 8/10
Heroine: 9/10
Love Interests: 8/10
Humour: 7/10
Steaminess: 2/10
Feels: 7/10
HEA: N/A - series
ceena's review against another edition
4.0
Re-read it, this time as an audiobook and still really liked it. Very interesting.
I think the types of magic are really cool and diverse. And the mystery was intriguing. I want to see where this goes and learn more about Death. Who is he~~~~??
Haha definitely will read more.
I think the types of magic are really cool and diverse. And the mystery was intriguing. I want to see where this goes and learn more about Death. Who is he~~~~??
Haha definitely will read more.
bookishwiles's review against another edition
4.0
Grave Witch is a very interesting book! You get a bit of Fae, Witch craft, Death, ghosts, shades, and a supernatural serial killer. Alex Craft is a likeable character, strong willed, smart, and powerful. I appreciated that there is also a downside to using her powers which puts her in a vulnerable state. I enjoyed most of the supporting characters though I think they could have been developed a bit more, I hope that happens as the series continues.
There is a 10 page sex scene which I found a bit silly, since the details of course don't add anything to the story but some people enjoy that kind of thing. Also there is a bit of a love triangle which is only starting out in this book so it did not bother me but I do hope it is treated well in the books to come since I find love triangles to usually be quite annoying.
All in all, it was a really fun book to read. Very fast paced which I loved. I don't think the plot slowed to stalled at all from beginning to end. There is even a little twist after the climax which I wasn't expecting. I look forward to reading the next book and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading adult paranormal.
There is a 10 page sex scene which I found a bit silly, since the details of course don't add anything to the story but some people enjoy that kind of thing. Also there is a bit of a love triangle which is only starting out in this book so it did not bother me but I do hope it is treated well in the books to come since I find love triangles to usually be quite annoying.
All in all, it was a really fun book to read. Very fast paced which I loved. I don't think the plot slowed to stalled at all from beginning to end. There is even a little twist after the climax which I wasn't expecting. I look forward to reading the next book and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading adult paranormal.
lynseyisreading's review against another edition
5.0
Ah, now this is why I love reading. Discovering awesome books like this. I'm not even sure I can explain exactly why I loved it so much, or what makes it stand out for me above other Urban Fantasy books with similar themes. But I just absolutely loved it.
The plot was based around a murder mystery that was written with perfect balance; neither too complicated nor too easy to work out. There were many twists and turns right from the offset to get you engaged and furiously turning pages so that you almost didn't notice the initial world-building and setting up of characters that always exists in a first-in-series book. The writing style felt very conversational and it was just an effortless read.
To give you a head start on the world-building, it's an alternate history Urban Fantasy. Anyone familiar with Rachel Morgan's world in the Hollows series will find this world easy to acclimate to. In this case, it's been around 70 years since both the Fae and Witches came out of the mushroom ring, and they now live side by side with the norms. There are different types of Fae; ones who appear as humans, and other more traditional creatures such as goblins, trolls, brownies, etc. There are also different types of witches. Our leading lady is a Grave Witch. She can connect to the World of The Dead and can see ghosts and raise Shades. Shades, unlike ghosts, are only the memories of a life lived, they are unable to lie and can only answer questions about their life. You cannot interact with them beyond that. So they are useful for the purposes of identifying their own killers in murder cases, which is generally what Alex Craft, our lead protagonist, is drafted in for.
The initial hook comes when Alex is asked to raise the Shade from a body, that for all Alex can tell, is not a body at all. She also meets the lead detective on the case, Falin Andrews, who is a mystery in and of himself.
There was a romantic subplot to this book that was fascinating, gripping and rather sexy. And also completely infuriating, complicated and unresolved! I loved it and I can't wait to see where this part of the story goes, particularly with what is revealed towards the end of the book.
This book is going straight to my Favourites shelf. If you like The October Daye series, The Hollows (Rachel Morgan) series and/or The Walker Papers series, you will love this too!
The plot was based around a murder mystery that was written with perfect balance; neither too complicated nor too easy to work out. There were many twists and turns right from the offset to get you engaged and furiously turning pages so that you almost didn't notice the initial world-building and setting up of characters that always exists in a first-in-series book. The writing style felt very conversational and it was just an effortless read.
To give you a head start on the world-building, it's an alternate history Urban Fantasy. Anyone familiar with Rachel Morgan's world in the Hollows series will find this world easy to acclimate to. In this case, it's been around 70 years since both the Fae and Witches came out of the mushroom ring, and they now live side by side with the norms. There are different types of Fae; ones who appear as humans, and other more traditional creatures such as goblins, trolls, brownies, etc. There are also different types of witches. Our leading lady is a Grave Witch. She can connect to the World of The Dead and can see ghosts and raise Shades. Shades, unlike ghosts, are only the memories of a life lived, they are unable to lie and can only answer questions about their life. You cannot interact with them beyond that. So they are useful for the purposes of identifying their own killers in murder cases, which is generally what Alex Craft, our lead protagonist, is drafted in for.
The initial hook comes when Alex is asked to raise the Shade from a body, that for all Alex can tell, is not a body at all. She also meets the lead detective on the case, Falin Andrews, who is a mystery in and of himself.
There was a romantic subplot to this book that was fascinating, gripping and rather sexy. And also completely infuriating, complicated and unresolved! I loved it and I can't wait to see where this part of the story goes, particularly with what is revealed towards the end of the book.
This book is going straight to my Favourites shelf. If you like The October Daye series, The Hollows (Rachel Morgan) series and/or The Walker Papers series, you will love this too!
emleemay's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty good on the whole, especially when you compare it to some of the other urban fantasy books that I've had the misfortune of reading recently. The genre's taken me all over the place in the last few months: I've been addicted, annoyed, disappointed, I've laughed, I've cried, I've ranted and I've recommended. At the very least, Kalayna Price gave me a real urban fantasy story instead of the typical Twilight-style "I'm-so-obsessed-with-you-if-you-leave-me-I'll-die" kind of paranormal romance with a not very exciting mystery story mixed in to try and make the reader think the author actually cares about characters and plot rather than just filling the blanks between the sweet-nothings and sex.
Grave Witch was a decent story with a decent heroine and a whole lot of decently-written supernatural happenings. But... it just wasn't particularly exciting at all. I found it an okay way to pass a lazy evening but it didn't get my pulse racing once, didn't make me feel the need to go out and buy Grave Dance, just generally failed to move me in any kind of way. The first book of a series should sell the rest of the series to you - but it didn't.
So, what did I like? I liked Alex Craft (the heroine) for the most part and, I never thought I'd say this in a review, Death is sexy. No, that's not me finally going over the edge and taking up necrophilia, that's me talking about the jeans-clad, dangerous and amusing Grim Reaper that is always looking over Alex's shoulder. I thought he would have made a much more interesting love interest (yes, I know how weird that sounds) than Falin Andrews. Andrews seemed alright, a bit of the old serious and broody kind of attractive... until we find out he's got really long, platinum-blond hair. How many times? It is only okay for men to have long blond hair if their name is Eric and they're from Bon Temps. Only Ms Harris could sell a look that is better suited to Barbie dolls.
I'll tell you what I'm also tired of that happens in nearly every novel with a witch: long, pointless descriptions of spells, rituals, summonings, etc, etc. Unless I discover my inner witch any time soon, I doubt I have the need to know the exact lengthy process that they must go through when casting a spell. Whatever happened to bibbity-bobbity-boo? Now, those were the days.
I think it's fair to say I need to leave this genre alone for a while, it's giving me a headache.
Grave Witch was a decent story with a decent heroine and a whole lot of decently-written supernatural happenings. But... it just wasn't particularly exciting at all. I found it an okay way to pass a lazy evening but it didn't get my pulse racing once, didn't make me feel the need to go out and buy Grave Dance, just generally failed to move me in any kind of way. The first book of a series should sell the rest of the series to you - but it didn't.
So, what did I like? I liked Alex Craft (the heroine) for the most part and, I never thought I'd say this in a review, Death is sexy. No, that's not me finally going over the edge and taking up necrophilia, that's me talking about the jeans-clad, dangerous and amusing Grim Reaper that is always looking over Alex's shoulder. I thought he would have made a much more interesting love interest (yes, I know how weird that sounds) than Falin Andrews. Andrews seemed alright, a bit of the old serious and broody kind of attractive... until we find out he's got really long, platinum-blond hair. How many times? It is only okay for men to have long blond hair if their name is Eric and they're from Bon Temps. Only Ms Harris could sell a look that is better suited to Barbie dolls.
I'll tell you what I'm also tired of that happens in nearly every novel with a witch: long, pointless descriptions of spells, rituals, summonings, etc, etc. Unless I discover my inner witch any time soon, I doubt I have the need to know the exact lengthy process that they must go through when casting a spell. Whatever happened to bibbity-bobbity-boo? Now, those were the days.
I think it's fair to say I need to leave this genre alone for a while, it's giving me a headache.
amberw1989's review against another edition
4.0
After rereading this I have upped it to a 4. It's a nice and easy read with good characters and a decent plot.
stephlunatic's review against another edition
4.0
I undertook reading this book as a part of a catch-up for the Vaginal Fantasy that Felicia Day et al started up. I tend to be really picky about reading these sorts of books because a lot tend to have the Twilight/True Blood curse where we have the same sorts of things happening between vampires and werewolves. This one was quite a bit different and reminded me more of a mix of Rachel Morgan, Harry Dresden and Anita Blake novels. And it was quite enjoyable - enough so that I just bought the second on and I'm about to dive into that!
maraya21's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 Stars
This was bad. Review to come right after I finish my drink โคด
๐ Read for the Clean that TBR Already! 2018 Edition Challenge over at the MacHalos ๐
This was bad. Review to come right after I finish my drink โคด
๐ Read for the Clean that TBR Already! 2018 Edition Challenge over at the MacHalos ๐