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topdragon's review against another edition
3.0
Charlaine Harris is a prolific writer and seems to be coming out with a new novel every 3-4 months. She is most famous for her "Southern Vampire" series featuring Sookie Stackhouse. Unlike most readers of Grave Sight, I had never read a Sookie book so didn't have any preconceived notions of the author's style. Apparently many readers compare Harper Connelly, the heroine of the "Grave" books to Sookie. From my understanding, they are quite different characters and such comparisons should be avoided.
This is the first book of the series and as such serves primarily to introduce the reader to Harper as well as her step brother, Tolliver. Harper has a special ability that she acquired as a girl when she was struck by lightning: she can find dead people, sort of by honing in on them as if using a geiger counter. Not only can she find them but she can "see" how they died. Sounds like a cool way for a writer to develop a series of books, just as Ms Harris has done. In the main story, Harper and Tolliver travel to a small town in Arkansas to find a missing teenage girl. She does so but that only leads to further complications from the local townsfolk. The plot becomes a more traditional murder mystery as Harper and Tolliver delve into just what happened in that town.
The author seems to have a real knack for writing characters with troublesome backgrounds. In Harper's case, the lightning incident caused emotional trauma; she has an understandable phobia of thunderstorms and when added to her parents' irresponsibility (alcohol and drug abuse and sexual deviancy) she must now cope with a number of emotional challenges as she lives her day-to-day life. She disguises her emotional instability with a tough/self-confidant outer shell but when that breaks down she relies heavily on her step brother for support. When taken as a whole, this is an interesting pair of characters and I suspect the popularity of these books will continue to grow. Having said that, I found the overall novel to be enjoyable but not really awesome. The actual mystery seemed uninspired and the ultimate solution predictable. I do have the second book in this series as well so I will read that one before I determine if I will continue the series.
This is the first book of the series and as such serves primarily to introduce the reader to Harper as well as her step brother, Tolliver. Harper has a special ability that she acquired as a girl when she was struck by lightning: she can find dead people, sort of by honing in on them as if using a geiger counter. Not only can she find them but she can "see" how they died. Sounds like a cool way for a writer to develop a series of books, just as Ms Harris has done. In the main story, Harper and Tolliver travel to a small town in Arkansas to find a missing teenage girl. She does so but that only leads to further complications from the local townsfolk. The plot becomes a more traditional murder mystery as Harper and Tolliver delve into just what happened in that town.
The author seems to have a real knack for writing characters with troublesome backgrounds. In Harper's case, the lightning incident caused emotional trauma; she has an understandable phobia of thunderstorms and when added to her parents' irresponsibility (alcohol and drug abuse and sexual deviancy) she must now cope with a number of emotional challenges as she lives her day-to-day life. She disguises her emotional instability with a tough/self-confidant outer shell but when that breaks down she relies heavily on her step brother for support. When taken as a whole, this is an interesting pair of characters and I suspect the popularity of these books will continue to grow. Having said that, I found the overall novel to be enjoyable but not really awesome. The actual mystery seemed uninspired and the ultimate solution predictable. I do have the second book in this series as well so I will read that one before I determine if I will continue the series.
mystery_jem's review against another edition
5.0
One might raise an eyebrow or two at Harper Connelly's job: she looks for the dead. Harper feels that by having the rare capacity to sense where someone breathed their last and to share their last moments, she is providing closure to both the deceased and the bereaved. She's used to being laughed at by most people, though, who think she's parasitic. Harper has perfected the art of quick in-and-out operations, with her stepbrother Tolliver serving as her manager and occasional protector. After all, even though the dead have endless time, for the living, time is of the essential.
I loved this book. I love how Charlaine can spin a tale. It grabs you right from the beginning and never lets go.
I loved this book. I love how Charlaine can spin a tale. It grabs you right from the beginning and never lets go.
mstapel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
chaiteaandbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This was a mystery that I didn’t want to put down. I love when genres add a bit of flair to their normal plot lines and this definitely was that. The main character can sense dead bodies, and see their last moment before death. Nothing in detail but the person themselves, but still helpful. There was always something going on and it didn’t feel like it lulled at all. I did catch on to a couple of plot points right away, but over all a good mystery.
Harper Connelly was struck by lightning when she was younger and now has a special ability along with some disabilities. Her body can sense the dead, and people hire her to help search for victims. The victims always want to be found. But the ones who were murdered tend to have people that want them to stay missing. Harper found the body of Teenie quickly and felt her get murdered. And her murderer doesn’t want her figuring out who they are, and sets nefarious plans in motion.
Harper Connelly was struck by lightning when she was younger and now has a special ability along with some disabilities. Her body can sense the dead, and people hire her to help search for victims. The victims always want to be found. But the ones who were murdered tend to have people that want them to stay missing. Harper found the body of Teenie quickly and felt her get murdered. And her murderer doesn’t want her figuring out who they are, and sets nefarious plans in motion.
sjdunlop's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
cheryldptr's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of predictable but still a fun story. Interested in continuing the series
jadedreader13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
mmajer's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this! I read it in about two sittings, a very fun and easy read. I look forward to the rest of the series.