Monday, November 19, 2012

Review - Undeadly by Michelle Vail


“Within the girl dwells the warrior the world needs. She will service the gods faithfully, and through her, Anubis will defeat evil.”

16 year old Molly Bartolucci is known as a Ka Heka necromancer. She is able to reanimate dead bodies using part of the soul called Ka. She works for her father’s business called Big Al's Zomporium creating zombies for wealthy individuals who just can’t seem to let go of their deceased. Yet, the one thing that drives her is the fact that she wants to be a normal teenager, and have a normal everyday relationship with the cute quarterback Rick who she has a crush on.

On the night before her 16th birthday, Molly is visited by Anubis who asks her a question. Molly agrees to become his champion in return for some surprising new abilities. The new abilities include being able to bring new boy toy Rick back from the dead by putting his soul back into his body. The next day, Molly is spirited away from her home after meeting the grandparents she never knew existed, and sent to the Neykia Academy of Necromancers where her mother and aunt were once students.

Note to author: Not all adoptees treat their parents like Molly did to her father. Her father did everything in his power to keep her happy and what does he get in return?

"Sometimes, you choose your destiny, sometimes it chooses you, and sometimes ... it’s a little of both."

There’s a truth to the old adage that you should never judge a book by its cover. Undeadly’s cover and synopsis immediately brought my finger to request this story from NetGalley. I was thrilled when I found out I was auto approved for this title. I mean reapers hurray! Who doesn’t love Reapers? Then there was the withdrawal of knowing that I probably was not the intended audience for this book and that others would definitely enjoy this book a lot more than I did.

I honestly thought the premise of the story was interesting enough that I could get through the painful vocabulary brought to course by an immature, irresponsible, ditzy Molly. I am not sure how many times I had to sit through Whatevs, Hoo-Kay, and OMG. It became a constant irritant for me, and probably took away from the overall experience as well. Molly isn’t an awful character by any stretch of the means. She’s just a bit young for one who ends up so powerful thanks to Anubis. She ends up getting her whole world transformed by attempting to save her new boy toy. She’s toyed with by members of Anubis rival Set and ends up with her life on the line when she uses her new abilities in order to save herself.

Yes, there is a huge cliffhanger that leaves readers wondering what will happen next.

Overall, I liked the Egyptian mythology as well as the secret that Anubis reveals at the end of the book. I liked the fact that there seems to be 5 different aspects to being a necromancer, and the description that was laid out by Vail was much appreciated. I liked Rath, and would have appreciated learning more about him, and why he seems to want to protect and teach Molly. I even liked the fact that Molly ends up with a Butler who shows up just by saying his name. Sign me up please!!!!

Thank you Harlequin Teen for granting me access to this title!

Next installment: Unchosen (2013) Harlequin Teen

*ARC* recvd 09/10/2012 via NetGalley Expected publication: November 20th 2012 by Harlequin Teen


2 comments:

  1. Thanks for quenching my curiosity for this one. I took a pass on this title.

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  2. Been seeing this title around a lot, sounds like the reviews are mixed. Great review!

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