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A review by nicolemhewitt
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things by Martina McAtee
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
This book was a fantastic introduction to a very dark magical world. I loved all of the paranormal elements to the story – there are shifters, banshees, reapers, witches, demons … this list could go on and on. But McAtee manages to meld it all together well and give us a supernatural world that’s both frightening and fascinating. When Ember is kidnapped by her cousins, she has no idea what’s in store for her – and when she finds out, it’s more than a little overwhelming. Figuring out who to trust when just about everyone would like to use her in some way – or kill her – is nearly impossible. Ember’s discovery of who she truly is and what she is capable of throws her life into chaos in a lot of ways – but it also helps her to make sense of a lot of pain in her life that she previously couldn’t understand.
There are lots of elements of family, friendship and loyalty that are explored, which I loved. There are also a few romances in bloom. I wasn’t completely on board with the relationship that developed between Mace and Ember because I felt like there wasn’t enough substance to it, but I was rooting for Tristin and Quinn. Kai and Rhys were definitely my favorite couple, though – probably because the romance between these two is most developed and takes center stage quite often. (I should note that it’s a M/M romance, but none of the storyline has to do with characters coming to terms with their sexuality or anything like that – which is kind of refreshing.)
Overall, a great book, though the complexity of the worldbuilding and the paranormal elements make for a little slower read. I give it 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received these books from the publisher via YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
This book was a fantastic introduction to a very dark magical world. I loved all of the paranormal elements to the story – there are shifters, banshees, reapers, witches, demons … this list could go on and on. But McAtee manages to meld it all together well and give us a supernatural world that’s both frightening and fascinating. When Ember is kidnapped by her cousins, she has no idea what’s in store for her – and when she finds out, it’s more than a little overwhelming. Figuring out who to trust when just about everyone would like to use her in some way – or kill her – is nearly impossible. Ember’s discovery of who she truly is and what she is capable of throws her life into chaos in a lot of ways – but it also helps her to make sense of a lot of pain in her life that she previously couldn’t understand.
There are lots of elements of family, friendship and loyalty that are explored, which I loved. There are also a few romances in bloom. I wasn’t completely on board with the relationship that developed between Mace and Ember because I felt like there wasn’t enough substance to it, but I was rooting for Tristin and Quinn. Kai and Rhys were definitely my favorite couple, though – probably because the romance between these two is most developed and takes center stage quite often. (I should note that it’s a M/M romance, but none of the storyline has to do with characters coming to terms with their sexuality or anything like that – which is kind of refreshing.)
Overall, a great book, though the complexity of the worldbuilding and the paranormal elements make for a little slower read. I give it 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received these books from the publisher via YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***