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geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
The Weight of Souls brings a bunch of different elements together, and they somehow worked for me. You have an Asian protagonist with an ancient Egyptian curse on her. She is bullied, and manages to alienate her best friend along the way. There's the obligatory missing parent, and the perceived indifferent one that is left behind. And to top it off, she not only sees ghosts, but has to help them out against her will. That's a lot, and in other hands it might have been too much, but it worked really well here.
Taylor Oh is a sympathetic heroine who is pretty roughed up by life. Her mother's side of the family messed with an Egyptian tomb and got stuck with a curse. Taylor can see ghosts. They touch her and pass along a mark. She has to find the murderer of the ghostly one and pass off the mark before The Darkness takes her instead. And then there are all the social issues at school. The popular kids bully her at every opportunity and make her life miserable.
When one of the popular kids ends up a ghost and enlists Taylor to find out who the killer is, she is reluctantly pulled into a strange club they have and forced to do some pretty scary and brave things. She might even find a friend along the way.
It's a stand alone, but does end with some story fragments left dangling at the end. Taylor Oh is a likeable character, and so are some of the other characters in the book. I enjoyed it and would definitely read more by this author.
I received this as an ARC from Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry.
Taylor Oh is a sympathetic heroine who is pretty roughed up by life. Her mother's side of the family messed with an Egyptian tomb and got stuck with a curse. Taylor can see ghosts. They touch her and pass along a mark. She has to find the murderer of the ghostly one and pass off the mark before The Darkness takes her instead. And then there are all the social issues at school. The popular kids bully her at every opportunity and make her life miserable.
When one of the popular kids ends up a ghost and enlists Taylor to find out who the killer is, she is reluctantly pulled into a strange club they have and forced to do some pretty scary and brave things. She might even find a friend along the way.
It's a stand alone, but does end with some story fragments left dangling at the end. Taylor Oh is a likeable character, and so are some of the other characters in the book. I enjoyed it and would definitely read more by this author.
I received this as an ARC from Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry.
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
5.0
Taylor is just trying to get through high school like any other girl her age. But Bethany inherited a curse from her now deceased mother. The dead will hunt her out and mark her. If she can’t pass the mark on, she will be sucked into…well she doesn’t know what but it’s nowhere she wants to go.
First off, The Weight of Souls is a book I enjoyed a lot; in fact it’s one of my favourite offerings from Strange Chemistry so far. However I have been struggling putting together my thoughts into a review. The central relationship is, shall I say, unorthodox. I feel going into details will be a bit spoilery but it’s something a bit different that tiptoes along a thin line of things that might not be OK. But it is all done in such a way that you accept it. Can I be any vaguer?
Central to the story is the topic of peer pressure. Even without Taylor’s supernatural abilities, there’s a strong plot revolving around the stupid, and often dangerous, things teens will do to fit in. The school setting is so believable, right down to the level of meanness from the kids. There’s nothing dramatic, but the actions and words build up into what amounts to bullying in the long term. It shows how easily they can fall from grace, from being normal and accepted, to being at the bottom of the social pecking order.
Taylor’s curse has been passed down over generations from a tomb raiding ancestor. The modern day story is interspersed with passages from a journal that used to belong to her mother. Those of you familiar with the history of Egyptian archaeology will know of the tales of the cursed, and I liked the idea that they are still around, trying to live normal lives.
First off, The Weight of Souls is a book I enjoyed a lot; in fact it’s one of my favourite offerings from Strange Chemistry so far. However I have been struggling putting together my thoughts into a review. The central relationship is, shall I say, unorthodox. I feel going into details will be a bit spoilery but it’s something a bit different that tiptoes along a thin line of things that might not be OK. But it is all done in such a way that you accept it. Can I be any vaguer?
Central to the story is the topic of peer pressure. Even without Taylor’s supernatural abilities, there’s a strong plot revolving around the stupid, and often dangerous, things teens will do to fit in. The school setting is so believable, right down to the level of meanness from the kids. There’s nothing dramatic, but the actions and words build up into what amounts to bullying in the long term. It shows how easily they can fall from grace, from being normal and accepted, to being at the bottom of the social pecking order.
Taylor’s curse has been passed down over generations from a tomb raiding ancestor. The modern day story is interspersed with passages from a journal that used to belong to her mother. Those of you familiar with the history of Egyptian archaeology will know of the tales of the cursed, and I liked the idea that they are still around, trying to live normal lives.
booksabrewin's review against another edition
4.0
I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first ARC from a publisher since I been blogging for the last three months. I was extremely excited to read it and had to keep my hands from crawling to it each time I finished a book and was selecting another to read. I wanted to wait until it was closer to the release date so the book would be fresh in my mind for my review. When I read the synopsis, I was flabbergasted that nothing like this has been written (that I can find) yet. It is such a unique perspective on a girl who can see ghosts. Avenging murder victims due to an Egyptian curse placed on your family ages ago? Uh, yes, please!
This book opens on an Asian girl named Taylor who is the butt of every joke, the focus of every torment, and the dirt beneath every shoe. She is not popular, to say the least. She used to be normal and happy, until her 10th birthday changed all that. She started seeing ghosts and being hounded by them to be avenged. The stalk her and toy with her until her life is a twisted mass of paranoia that alienates her from the meager amount of friends she has.
The king of the tormentors is one, Justin Hargreaves. He hates her for some unknown reason and has made it his mission in life to make her miserable. He succeeds perfectly, even right up until he marks her and causes her to go on a journey to find who murdered him and feed them to the Darkness before the Darkness eats her first. Along the way Taylor and Justin start to see each other in a new light. Dare I say, they could actually be... friends?!
This book was beautifully written. The authors that work with Strange Chemistry Publishing all seem to be very elequante in their writing. They don't use a lot of slang, they don't use too much or too little imagery, and they have a way of transporting their readers directly into the main character's position so we feel what the character feels. I was aching for Taylor. I couldn't understand why everyone wished to tear her down and make her feel less than nothing. Sure, she was weird. But, who could blame her? If I was threatened with death on a constant basis AND saw dead people? I would probably be a bit odd too.
The Weight of Souls is an alternative fantasy read that actually has a non-Caucasian main character as many other books seem to be feature. It features the strength of it's female protagonist in the face of insurmountable obstacles and her determination to do what she has to do to stay alive even when most in her situation would have given up. The Weight of Souls spotlights as a must read for fantasy buffs who enjoy female characters who are a bit crazy, a little sassy, and extremely lovable.
Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com
erinicorn's review against another edition
Stopped at ARC page 190 of 318. I stopped at p190 a few days ago to do life stuff, but when I went to get back to reading it that night, I just wasn't interested anymore. I don't know why. I started another book, thinking that maybe if I read something else, then came back to The Weight of Souls, I'd be fine with it again. That didn't happen.
The Weight of Souls was great. The storyline was interesting, and while there were a little hiccups with the characters, I thought they were well-thought out and formed. The place I stopped at wasn't a boring spot, so I don't think this was the book's fault at all. My stopping was because of me and my life completely.
Full DNF review to come. (Or possibly just a full review, if I do finish the book at some point.)
The Weight of Souls was great. The storyline was interesting, and while there were a little hiccups with the characters, I thought they were well-thought out and formed. The place I stopped at wasn't a boring spot, so I don't think this was the book's fault at all. My stopping was because of me and my life completely.
Full DNF review to come. (Or possibly just a full review, if I do finish the book at some point.)
leah_reads's review against another edition
4.0
*Received in exchange for an honest review*
This book was definitely something different for me. I have never read a book like this before and was pleasantly surprised by it! The only ghosts stories that I have ever successfully managed aren't even ghost stories - they are the ghosts which reside in Hogwarts. I was a little sceptical about whether I would enjoy this book, especially with the romance element brought it, but it really was a fantastic read.
The novel follows the path of Taylor Oh and her battle with an inherited curse. Taylor can see ghosts, and if touched by one, she must avenge their deaths by passing on the mark which calls to the Darkness. If she fails, the Darkness will come for Taylor, leading her to an unknown fate. Needless to say, this does not make life easy for a sixteen year old girl. Constantly picked on in school, Taylor has only one remaining friend, Hannah. Taylor's constant scouting and avoiding of ghosts puts a strain on their friendship, something which isn't helped by the bullying antics of Justin, James, Tamsin and their gang.
The Weight of Souls takes a massive twist as we discover that Justin is dead. The novel follows the path of Taylor and Justin as they attempt to discover the mysterious causes of his death. The events which unfold make for an action packed novel; a novel which explores coming of age, trust, cults, death, friendship, bravery and loyalty. I could not put the book down. Almost every chapter ended on a cliff hanger, making you want to read more and more. Despite having an idea of who was responsible for the death of Justin, it was incredibly tense discovering the exact method and the corruption of an established cult within the school; something which continues ones the children leave.
It was tense and the romance did not dominate the book. This was something I found incredibly relieving. The prose was given over to the battle of Taylor and Justin, the romance was a side note and something which came with an interesting twist. The character of Taylor was incredibly well built; we learn about her family history, the origins of the curse and the struggles that she encounters daily. I loved the world building and it all felt incredibly familiar. It is an easy world to lose yourself in and is easily imaginable. I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it!
This book was definitely something different for me. I have never read a book like this before and was pleasantly surprised by it! The only ghosts stories that I have ever successfully managed aren't even ghost stories - they are the ghosts which reside in Hogwarts. I was a little sceptical about whether I would enjoy this book, especially with the romance element brought it, but it really was a fantastic read.
The novel follows the path of Taylor Oh and her battle with an inherited curse. Taylor can see ghosts, and if touched by one, she must avenge their deaths by passing on the mark which calls to the Darkness. If she fails, the Darkness will come for Taylor, leading her to an unknown fate. Needless to say, this does not make life easy for a sixteen year old girl. Constantly picked on in school, Taylor has only one remaining friend, Hannah. Taylor's constant scouting and avoiding of ghosts puts a strain on their friendship, something which isn't helped by the bullying antics of Justin, James, Tamsin and their gang.
The Weight of Souls takes a massive twist as we discover that Justin is dead. The novel follows the path of Taylor and Justin as they attempt to discover the mysterious causes of his death. The events which unfold make for an action packed novel; a novel which explores coming of age, trust, cults, death, friendship, bravery and loyalty. I could not put the book down. Almost every chapter ended on a cliff hanger, making you want to read more and more. Despite having an idea of who was responsible for the death of Justin, it was incredibly tense discovering the exact method and the corruption of an established cult within the school; something which continues ones the children leave.
It was tense and the romance did not dominate the book. This was something I found incredibly relieving. The prose was given over to the battle of Taylor and Justin, the romance was a side note and something which came with an interesting twist. The character of Taylor was incredibly well built; we learn about her family history, the origins of the curse and the struggles that she encounters daily. I loved the world building and it all felt incredibly familiar. It is an easy world to lose yourself in and is easily imaginable. I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it!
leontiy's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted at Jet Black Ink
Yet another Strange Chemistry title that proves the team of little robots (Angry Robot YA…!) are good at what they do, The Weight of Souls, by Bryony Pearce is a meaningful book that explores a handful of difficult themes without any extra baggage or heaviness that would—given the subject matter—make for a gloomy book. I don’t like gloom, so I was a teeny bit concerned that the book would be all death, death, death.
It’s not.
Taylor Oh is struggling at school. It’s not because of the half-hearted racist bullying (the nature of the bullying seems to be that her race is actually irrelevant, but is useful ammunition nevertheless; Taylor is the target, not her race) or the fact that the In Crowd make her life hell. It’s not even the fact that she misses her mother, who died in an accident that put her father in a wheelchair.
It’s all the damn dead people.
Getting anywhere for Taylor is like running a gauntlet; she must not allow ghosts to touch her, else they will transfer a Mark. Then, once Marked, Taylor must discover who murdered the ghost in question. Usually, the ghost will shout and point and then Taylor must then brave the murderer and touch them in return, thus ridding herself of the Mark and giving it to the killer.
Then the Darkness comes.
Taylor doesn’t like to watch when the ancient, horrible Darkness—the power of Anubis, the Egyptian god of death—comes to claim its ‘victims’. If she does, it reminds her of the dangerous fact that, should she fail to Mark the murderer, she will be the one running from the Darkness.
It almost got her once and she still hasn’t forgotten the feeling of watching the shadows slowly begin to encroach, moving through the light and reaching towards her…
Instead, Taylor focusses entirely on her ghostly encounters and does what she can to avoid the Darkness, sending murderers who would otherwise walk free to their deaths. If that’s what happens—Taylor doesn’t really know.
So with crappy grades and a single friend in the world still by her side, Taylor doesn’t try to pretend she’ll manage to walk away from school with anything more than a life sentence at McDonalds. All she does is try to survive: the bullying; the paranoia that a ghost will blindside her—especially if she’s already Marked; two Marks would be more than she can handle—whilst she’s trying to focus on class; the dread of returning home to a father who, despite having seen the Marks and knowing that her mother carried the same curse, tries to convince her that the ghosts are hallucinations and she is simply suffering from a medical condition.
But then someone at school dies—Justin; the guy who made her life hell by barely lifting a finger, preferring instead to let his minions do the work. The problem is, Justin doesn’t know who killed him. In fact, he insists it wasn’t murder. But, Taylor’s curse is never wrong, and so she must try to untangle the mystery surrounding Justin’s death, all the while desperately trying to avoid another Mark.
As she investigates, Taylor begins to realise that there is more to Justin’s death. Something sinister lurks beneath the façade or normalcy at school, and whatever it is, Taylor must discover it and immerse herself within its dark heart in order to pass on her Mark. Little does she know that justice wants to be served, regardless of the ramifications: there is no escape from the Darkness. Taylor will find that in the end, she must make a choice and that Justin might not be the boy she thought he was.
The Weight of Souls is a good book that explores bullying subtly and therefore gets to the heart of the issue succinctly. Taylor’s race is refreshing in YA fantasy—especially urban fantasy (never mind the fact that there is a Chinese model on the cover and the protagonist is half-Chinese, instead of the wrong ethnicity or a total lack of model whatsoever, electing instead for graphics). I’ve read so few books with protagonists of a different ethnicity and it’s a pity! In relation to Taylor’s race, I feel that Pearce demonstrates that with bullying, it’s not always about race or weight or anything else that could mark a person as “different” (though of course, sometimes it is precisely that, but with the characters of the bullies and the surrounding story, this doesn’t feel as though it’s the case), but rather the fact that these things become ammunition for the bullying.
Sometimes people are bullied simply because the bully chose them. Taylor is bullied because she is Taylor.
In The Weight of Souls, this is precisely the kind of bullying that’s explored (in my opinion: I wouldn’t like to assume). The topic of bullying is difficult to explore properly, especially as in a great many YA novels, whether it is the central topic or not, there is some bullying directed towards the protagonist (usually someone with low self-esteem, or something similar—in this vein, I’d love to see a guy with low self-esteem in YA urban fantasy, as in really love) yet this is simply a passing subplot; like a shower in the middle of the day that passes with the clouds. So to see realistic and directed bullying was different and informative.
On an exciting note, in the coming weeks, Bryony Pearce will be contributing a guest blog at Jet Black Ink as part of the Identity in SFF series, where she talks about bullying and identity. So look out for that.
In the meantime: pre-order The Weight of Souls. It is an excellent book that presents likeable characters thrown in with people with utterly hideous personalities, which very skilfully presents an interpretation of how high school is and how people are. People are unkind; fact.
Essentially, The Weight of Souls is in fact a much happier book than I was expecting—the ending was satisfying and teasing at the same time, and given that it is left open, I would love to see another of Taylor’s adventures, especially if she isn’t alone.
A thrilling and pacy read that tackles so much with so little effort. Seamless and slick and completely enjoyable to read.
Yet another Strange Chemistry title that proves the team of little robots (Angry Robot YA…!) are good at what they do, The Weight of Souls, by Bryony Pearce is a meaningful book that explores a handful of difficult themes without any extra baggage or heaviness that would—given the subject matter—make for a gloomy book. I don’t like gloom, so I was a teeny bit concerned that the book would be all death, death, death.
It’s not.
Taylor Oh is struggling at school. It’s not because of the half-hearted racist bullying (the nature of the bullying seems to be that her race is actually irrelevant, but is useful ammunition nevertheless; Taylor is the target, not her race) or the fact that the In Crowd make her life hell. It’s not even the fact that she misses her mother, who died in an accident that put her father in a wheelchair.
It’s all the damn dead people.
Getting anywhere for Taylor is like running a gauntlet; she must not allow ghosts to touch her, else they will transfer a Mark. Then, once Marked, Taylor must discover who murdered the ghost in question. Usually, the ghost will shout and point and then Taylor must then brave the murderer and touch them in return, thus ridding herself of the Mark and giving it to the killer.
Then the Darkness comes.
Taylor doesn’t like to watch when the ancient, horrible Darkness—the power of Anubis, the Egyptian god of death—comes to claim its ‘victims’. If she does, it reminds her of the dangerous fact that, should she fail to Mark the murderer, she will be the one running from the Darkness.
It almost got her once and she still hasn’t forgotten the feeling of watching the shadows slowly begin to encroach, moving through the light and reaching towards her…
Instead, Taylor focusses entirely on her ghostly encounters and does what she can to avoid the Darkness, sending murderers who would otherwise walk free to their deaths. If that’s what happens—Taylor doesn’t really know.
So with crappy grades and a single friend in the world still by her side, Taylor doesn’t try to pretend she’ll manage to walk away from school with anything more than a life sentence at McDonalds. All she does is try to survive: the bullying; the paranoia that a ghost will blindside her—especially if she’s already Marked; two Marks would be more than she can handle—whilst she’s trying to focus on class; the dread of returning home to a father who, despite having seen the Marks and knowing that her mother carried the same curse, tries to convince her that the ghosts are hallucinations and she is simply suffering from a medical condition.
But then someone at school dies—Justin; the guy who made her life hell by barely lifting a finger, preferring instead to let his minions do the work. The problem is, Justin doesn’t know who killed him. In fact, he insists it wasn’t murder. But, Taylor’s curse is never wrong, and so she must try to untangle the mystery surrounding Justin’s death, all the while desperately trying to avoid another Mark.
As she investigates, Taylor begins to realise that there is more to Justin’s death. Something sinister lurks beneath the façade or normalcy at school, and whatever it is, Taylor must discover it and immerse herself within its dark heart in order to pass on her Mark. Little does she know that justice wants to be served, regardless of the ramifications: there is no escape from the Darkness. Taylor will find that in the end, she must make a choice and that Justin might not be the boy she thought he was.
The Weight of Souls is a good book that explores bullying subtly and therefore gets to the heart of the issue succinctly. Taylor’s race is refreshing in YA fantasy—especially urban fantasy (never mind the fact that there is a Chinese model on the cover and the protagonist is half-Chinese, instead of the wrong ethnicity or a total lack of model whatsoever, electing instead for graphics). I’ve read so few books with protagonists of a different ethnicity and it’s a pity! In relation to Taylor’s race, I feel that Pearce demonstrates that with bullying, it’s not always about race or weight or anything else that could mark a person as “different” (though of course, sometimes it is precisely that, but with the characters of the bullies and the surrounding story, this doesn’t feel as though it’s the case), but rather the fact that these things become ammunition for the bullying.
Sometimes people are bullied simply because the bully chose them. Taylor is bullied because she is Taylor.
In The Weight of Souls, this is precisely the kind of bullying that’s explored (in my opinion: I wouldn’t like to assume). The topic of bullying is difficult to explore properly, especially as in a great many YA novels, whether it is the central topic or not, there is some bullying directed towards the protagonist (usually someone with low self-esteem, or something similar—in this vein, I’d love to see a guy with low self-esteem in YA urban fantasy, as in really love) yet this is simply a passing subplot; like a shower in the middle of the day that passes with the clouds. So to see realistic and directed bullying was different and informative.
On an exciting note, in the coming weeks, Bryony Pearce will be contributing a guest blog at Jet Black Ink as part of the Identity in SFF series, where she talks about bullying and identity. So look out for that.
In the meantime: pre-order The Weight of Souls. It is an excellent book that presents likeable characters thrown in with people with utterly hideous personalities, which very skilfully presents an interpretation of how high school is and how people are. People are unkind; fact.
Essentially, The Weight of Souls is in fact a much happier book than I was expecting—the ending was satisfying and teasing at the same time, and given that it is left open, I would love to see another of Taylor’s adventures, especially if she isn’t alone.
A thrilling and pacy read that tackles so much with so little effort. Seamless and slick and completely enjoyable to read.
dollythornton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.75
llim's review
3.0
Not bad.
The romance at the end wasn't too irritating, kind of out of nowhere but it worked, I guess.
The whole "army of the dead" at the end was cool, I didn't think the book would be that bold and go into the supernatural/mythology stuff as much as it did. I didn't much like the random journal entries littered throughout the story (they felt irrelevant, and interrupted the main story), and I don't think they were really necessary (they certainly didn't help me understand the whole underworld thing...honestly, it wasn't super clear what was going on in the journal entries anyway. Something with robbing a tomb? And some evil professeur?).
Not sure the "bad kids" really deserved the fate they got...sure, they sabotaged the Justin guy so he'd end up falling off the scaffolding, but come on, he's the one who went up there in the first place. I'm not sure it would even be considered murder in court...they probably wouldn't get much time for it. They really didn't deserve to be turned into zombie statue things for the rest of eternity >_>
Liked the british accents~
Feels like there should be a sequel...but it doesn't look like there is one. Weird.
Oh, ha, also, the whole prospect of a secret 'truth or dare' club is ridiculous, I can't believe the author just ran with that.
The romance at the end wasn't too irritating, kind of out of nowhere but it worked, I guess.
The whole "army of the dead" at the end was cool, I didn't think the book would be that bold and go into the supernatural/mythology stuff as much as it did. I didn't much like the random journal entries littered throughout the story (they felt irrelevant, and interrupted the main story), and I don't think they were really necessary (they certainly didn't help me understand the whole underworld thing...honestly, it wasn't super clear what was going on in the journal entries anyway. Something with robbing a tomb? And some evil professeur?).
Not sure the "bad kids" really deserved the fate they got...sure, they sabotaged the Justin guy so he'd end up falling off the scaffolding, but come on, he's the one who went up there in the first place. I'm not sure it would even be considered murder in court...they probably wouldn't get much time for it. They really didn't deserve to be turned into zombie statue things for the rest of eternity >_>
Liked the british accents~
Feels like there should be a sequel...but it doesn't look like there is one. Weird.
Oh, ha, also, the whole prospect of a secret 'truth or dare' club is ridiculous, I can't believe the author just ran with that.
take_me_awayyy's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted at my blog (Take Me Away...) so the format has been lost.
I haven't read a book surrounding ghosts in a very long time. (I think the last one I read was Shine from the Shade series)The reason behind that... I wasn't just that interested in ghosts. *shrugs* But this one got me. And it was all because of the mythology aspect.
This book features Egyptian mythology. I haven't read anything else with Egyptian mythology so I was super excited to read this. I knew it would be different from anything I've ever read before. And I was right. The story surrounds the myth of Anubis, the Greek name for mummification and afterlife in Egyptian religion.Because of this cool connection, the plot was very interesting. Although it did start to drag in some places, once the action picked back up I was hooked.
The coolest part about this book was actually the most dangerous part. The V-Club. They did some totally off the wall things, but it was such a cool concept to have it span over generations. Had things not gotten as out of hand as they did, I probably would have enjoyed hearing more about what they did.
As far as the characters, I loved the main characters but the secondary ones were a bit much for me. Like they were extremely clingy. Doing everything to try and get closer with Taylor. It all just seemed extra for me. As for Taylor, I liked her because throughout the whole story she created a reaction out of me. There were so many things I wanted to beat her for, but in the end when they worked I liked her again lol No doubt I thought she was crazy, but I still liked her.
I also loved the romance. It wasn't the biggest thing in the book, but it was still evident and it even ended up being such a big part in the end. This helped me like it even more. I liked that it wasn't there to begin with at all, but as they grew, so did what they had between them. It was nice to not have that inst-love.
This book surprised me in so many ways. I wasn't expecting the mythology part to be included, but I counted it as just an added bonus. I knew once I saw the cover and read the synopsis that this was something I would love, and Pearce did not disappoint.
I haven't read a book surrounding ghosts in a very long time. (I think the last one I read was Shine from the Shade series)The reason behind that... I wasn't just that interested in ghosts. *shrugs* But this one got me. And it was all because of the mythology aspect.
This book features Egyptian mythology. I haven't read anything else with Egyptian mythology so I was super excited to read this. I knew it would be different from anything I've ever read before. And I was right. The story surrounds the myth of Anubis, the Greek name for mummification and afterlife in Egyptian religion.Because of this cool connection, the plot was very interesting. Although it did start to drag in some places, once the action picked back up I was hooked.
The coolest part about this book was actually the most dangerous part. The V-Club. They did some totally off the wall things, but it was such a cool concept to have it span over generations. Had things not gotten as out of hand as they did, I probably would have enjoyed hearing more about what they did.
As far as the characters, I loved the main characters but the secondary ones were a bit much for me. Like they were extremely clingy. Doing everything to try and get closer with Taylor. It all just seemed extra for me. As for Taylor, I liked her because throughout the whole story she created a reaction out of me. There were so many things I wanted to beat her for, but in the end when they worked I liked her again lol No doubt I thought she was crazy, but I still liked her.
I also loved the romance. It wasn't the biggest thing in the book, but it was still evident and it even ended up being such a big part in the end. This helped me like it even more. I liked that it wasn't there to begin with at all, but as they grew, so did what they had between them. It was nice to not have that inst-love.
This book surprised me in so many ways. I wasn't expecting the mythology part to be included, but I counted it as just an added bonus. I knew once I saw the cover and read the synopsis that this was something I would love, and Pearce did not disappoint.