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Monday 4 November 2013

UNDEADLY by Michele Vail

Book One in the Reaper Diaries series
Publication date: November 20th, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Number of Pages: 272
Date read: November , 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mythology, Romance
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
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(Description source: Goodreads)

The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...


Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. 

Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another...except, there's something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly's got an undeadly knack for finding trouble...


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The synopsis of Undeadly is intriguing and original, which is what drew me to this novel.

Molly has just turned sixteen, and at her birthday party, her boyfriend-to-be Rick dies - but then she brings him back to life... And everything changes!




In a society where necromancy abilities are common, Molly likes to keep hers as quiet as possible, but fate has other plans. On her sixteenth birthday, the Egyptian god Anubis chooses Molly to become a reaper - without any idea of what that really entails. After interfering with another reaper's work, she is sent off to Nekyia, an academy for necromancers, where one her instructors is Rath, the reaper whose work she undid.


Nekyia is beyond Molly's expectations and Molly is quite happy when Rick follows her there, even if it is a little strange. However, students begin to die and soon Rath disappears, leaving Molly with more questions, and less answers, than ever...

The world building in Undeadly is definitely a strength of the novel, societal norms and the mythological and fantastical aspects of the novel are well-integrated into Molly's narration by Michele Vail, skillfully keeping readers from becoming confused.

Undeadly is told from Molly Bartolucci's point of view. Molly starts off seeming really quite shallow (which she acknowledges) and bratty, only focusing on things that effect her and how they do, not really thinking about others or consequences. She is, however, persistent and determined to see things through, developing throughout the novel (though mostly in the second half) into a better character.
Rath is kind of bad-ass and completely mysterious, definitely a character I want to learn more about in the sequel.

The events in the novel seemed fragmented and not very intertwined as I read them, there was constant happenings that kept the story moving along well, and eventually some of the fragmented scenes or aspects of the story come together and make much more sense, though not all of them. The ending has resolutions to parts of the story-line and does give the reader some answers, whilst working to intrigue the readers with new questions that lead into book two.

An overall enjoyable read with mystery, fantasy and mythology, as well as teen dramas, I will be reading book two to see how the overall story-line, and the characters, continue to develop.


I rate Undeadly Three and a Half out of Five!!

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