YA Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

A good friend will bury your body, a best friend will dig you back up.

Given that I love Shaun David Hutchinson’s work, I was super excited when I heard that he was releasing a new novel. I was doubly excited when I heard that it was about the dead who won’t stay buried. I recall reading a blurb where this book as described as “Six Feet Under meets Pushing Daisies” and I was immediately hooked given that I loved both of these shows (Six Feet Under follows a family who owns a funeral home; Pushing Up Daisies follows a pie maker who can bring people from the dead with just a touch — and return them back to the dead permanently with a second touch).

Introducing Dino

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried takes place over the course of two days and follows a young man named Dino whose parents own a funeral home business so being around the dead is nothing new for him. What is new, is the dead coming back to life. As it turns out, Dino’s ex-best friend July dies suddenly, and Dino is trying to work through his grief at her passing. He always believed that eventually, they would find each other again and renew their friendship. But now, it was too late for that, and we begin to see Dino’s regret at all those words that now, will never be said.

Where The Dead Don’t Stay Dead

Dino is alone in the basement with July’s body, working on her makeup in preparation for the funeral — his way of saying his final goodbye — when suddenly she comes back to life. Well, not to life exactly. She’s conscious, sentient but her body is still dead: no heartbeat, no breather and given that she had just recently undergone an autopsy, it’s unlikely that any of her organs are working either.

What follows is Dino and July’s attempt to figure out what’s happening to her, all while rehashing their former friendship, each blaming the other for its end.

Dino and July

It was fun seeing Dino and July rushing around town trying to solve the mystery of July’s reawakening, positive that she could return to her dead state at any moment. They also revisited their friendship — over and over — and in so doing, discovered that they were both to blame and that there were a lot of things in their past they both left unsaid when they should have spoken up.

I thought this illustrated nicely the ups and downs of friendship and just how complicated those relationships can be. I thought it was also a gentle reminder that the time to mend a damaged relationship is now because we may not be as fortunate as Dine and July were in receiving a second chance.

Race Against The Clock

As Dino and July soon discover, they do not have the luxury of time to slowly figure out what’s happening with July. Though July’s death may have ended, her decomposition has not which means she’s not smelling as fresh as she once was. When people around them begin to comment on the stench, they both realize that their time is limited. Moreover, it turns out that July’s resurrection has had a ripple effect throughout the world and has affected the natural course of life and death.

On Friendship

The beating heart at the center of this book is the friendship between July and Dino, and I thought that the author handled it exceptionally well. It was fun seeing them as they bickered with each other over petty annoyances, dug up old hurts and released old anger and resentments. But additionally, they also joked around and ended us rediscovering the joy of their friendship.

I also liked the fact that it wasn’t only one of them who was at fault but rather, they both were responsible for the break in the friendship. So in this way, we got to take a look at the idea of unfinished business but from both sides as they both begin to realize that it’s those you love who end up hurting you the most — and vice-versa.

It was also refreshing to see a male and female friendship that didn’t end in love or where one of the two was agonizingly pining for the other.

July and Dino’s Characters

I thought that July and Dino with wonderfully complex, vivid and empathetic characters and felt their characterization was especially powerful. The author did an excellent job of bringing these two to life in all of their complexities, faults, flaws, and imperfections, making them someone the reader could easily relate to (or at least I could).

I thought July is a terrific character. She’s multi-layered, flawed, impulsive, and once we move past her harsh exterior, we see that she is also insecure and deeply hurt by the loss of Dino’s friendship. Though she comes across of self-centered and bitter, we see another side of her unfold as the novel progresses and we begin to understand the reason behind some of her actions. I couldn’t help but fall in love with her character by the end of the story.

I found Dino to be well-crafted, awkward but an endearing character and I loved how loyal he was to July — and how willing he was to help her even though their friendship had ended badly. He ended up being quite a complicated character who, though he thought he was self-confident and knew what he wanted, really was just as insecure as the rest of us. This was especially evident in his relationship with his trans boyfriend Rafi as he navigated the ups, downs, and uncertainties of their relationship in addition to confronting some hidden truths about himself in that process.

I liked how the story was told from alternating points of view, allowing us to get an in-depth peek at what was going on inside of their head. This really helped me to more deeply understand their feelings and motivations, making them all the more relatable and all the more real.

Final Verdict

I thought this was a lovely heartfelt novel about two teens who were given a little extra time to resolve the unfinished business that was left between them. I loved that fact that it was up to the reader to determine just whose unfinished business caused July’s return.

I loved how this dark and somewhat grim situation is lightened by realistic dialogue and genuineness of feeling between our two main characters, and the witty banter and shenanigans made this a joy to read. The quirky and crazy plot in this story was kept steady by the realism and the truth of the situation; this is, of the grief of losing a friend with so much unsaid still left between you.

As usual, Mr. Hutchinson did not disappoint, and I ended up loving this tender story which held me in rapt attention from start to finish. It was a story with The emotional depth and plenty of heart, and I became so emotionally invested by the end of the book that I felt as though I were saying goodbye to close friends.

This book is set to be released in February 19, 2019 but it  available now for pre-order.

A huge thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I finally did it – I finished the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare by completing City of Heavenly Fire this month, the last and final book in the series. I thoroughly enjoyed delving into this series though there was a little bit of drag in the middle of it. But boy, what an ending!

As usual, I can’t say too much about this particular book without spoiling it for those who haven’t read the series and wish to. I will say that the fascinating tale of the Shadowhunters vs the ultimate evil comes to a conclusion in this book in an explosive showdown of which there is somewhat of a bittersweet feeling. It is war after all and people die. Even beloved characters. But I shan’t say more about that.

This final story in the series was one hell of an action-packed roller coaster ride with a satisfying ending, tragic deaths notwithstanding. I also really loved the original premise of the Heavenly Fire and how it worked in this book. Truly impressive.

And this story had the best villain ever. All in all, The City of Heavenly fire was a book with plenty of adventure, action and yes, heartbreak and I’m so glad stuck it out with this series.

Given that I already have the books in the next series, the Infernal Devices, I definitely will be continuing on with the Shadowhunter world.

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The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a contemporary retelling of a Christmas Carol, but the author creates something entirely original and new in the process.

The story follows our main character Holly Chase, a wholly unlikeable and unpleasant teenage girl obsessed with status and wealth, who is visited by three spirits who show Holly her past, present, and future if she does not change her ways. But being the bitchy, entitled, blunt spoiled brat that she is, she shrugs the visits off, actually laughing at the ghosts toward the end of it. And then a few days later….she dies.

We then jump to 5 years later to Holly’s afterlife where she has been recruited as The Ghost of Christmas Past for an organization called “Project Scrooge” – a company that chooses a new “Scrooge” every year – that is to say, another self-centered, self-absorbed grouch — in the hopes of having them change their ways. If they don’t change their ways, then these “failed Scrooges” end up in the same situation as Holly: working for Project Scrooge.

But this year’s Scrooge throws Holly for a loop when he turns out to be a super hot teenage guy around her age named Ethan and with whom Holly discovers she has a lot in common. But when she makes a rash decision to go off-script, Holly’s whole life — or should I say afterlife — changes, especially given that she appeared to have put the entire project in jeopardy.

But I can’t really say too much more without giving anything away. Let me just say that this was a thought-provoking heart-warming novel and a delightful Christmas time read with an emotional, surprising and satisfying ending. I’ve read many different renditions of A Christmas Carol, but this clever and inventive retelling just might be my favorite as it brought a smile to my face and a tear or two to my eye. What especially set this version apart from the others I’ve read was how much fun it is! I loved the whole idea of Project Scrooge and found it outrageously creative, especially the spectacular plot twist at the end.

The Afterlife of Holly Chase was a fun, fast-paced read which, even though it does have a Christmas theme, could certainly be read and enjoyed any time of year. I absolutely adored this little gem of a novel and recommend it if you’re looking for a feel-good holiday book with compelling characters and plenty of heart.

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The City of Lost Souls is the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series. I told myself that I wanted to finish this series this year so I have only one more to go after this one. Again, it’s difficult to say too much about this book without spoiling the series for those of you who might not have read it.

I did like this one — I’ve enjoyed all of them, truth be told, though I do find the romancey scenes a bit much at times….there’s a lot of “Oh Jace…”, “Oh Clary” which gets a tad repetitious at times.

But that aside, there still is plenty of action and surprises to make this well worth the read.

In this book, Jace is in some pretty serious trouble, both from the Clave and from the one who’s holding him hostage against his will and who has a terrible plan which could result in the destruction of the earth.

So now it’s Clary and her Scooby gang to rescue Jace before the Clave does — and before the evil plan can be set into motion. They decide that there’s only one possible way to save Jace but doing so may very well take one of their lives.

Let’s see, what do we have in this story: There’s plenty of demons, interactions with Seelies, the appearance of an angel, a visit to the Iron Sisters, werewolves, revenge, lots of blood and definitely some major betrayal.

I have to hand it to the author; she does a great job of writing shiver-worthy villains. I’m really pleased with how multi-dimensional and well rounded the main bad guy is. It’s genuinely refreshing as so often, the villains are these one dimensional, cardboard-cutouts which is a pet peeve of mine.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to epic battle which no doubt will occur in the last book in this series, The City of Heavenly Fire.

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