Urban Fantasy Review: How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards

How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards (Beginner's Guide to Necromancy #1)

bought

Synopsis from Goodreads
Grier Woolworth spends her nights weaving spooky tales of lost souls and tragedies for tourists on the streets of downtown Savannah. Hoop skirt and parasol aside, it's not a bad gig. The pay is crap, but the tips keep the lights on in her personal haunted mansion and her pantry stocked with ramen.

Life is about as normal as it gets for an ex-necromancer hiding among humans. Until the society that excommunicated Grier offers her a second chance at being more than ordinary. Too bad no one warned her the trouble with being extraordinary is it can get you killed.

Warning: This book contains one ex-con/ex-heiress with a pet zombie parakeet who lives next door to her ex-army/ex-crush. Brace yourselves, we're talking more exes than a pirate treasure map here.

Audible US | Amazon Kindle US/UK | Book Depository

8.5/10

* * *

A really excellent urban fantasy, and an author I felt at ease with from the get-go.

Grier is a disgraced necromancer who was thrown in the worst prison for all the supernaturals for supposedly committing a murder. At a tender age of 21, she is inexplicably let out and is trying to get back to some sort of normal life. Normal for Grier is living in a haunted house named Woolly, working as a ghost tour guide with her best friend Amelie and generally keeping a low profile while she is battling her PTSD.

From one moment to the next she goes from nobody to someone extremely important. Someone who is wanted by necromancers and vampires alike. She doesn't know whom to trust, her new vampire friend Volkov or her formidable, scary aunt, who sent her to the prison in the first place. All she's got is Amelie, her brother Boaz, and her dead parakeet, whom she accidentally turned into a psychopomp at a tender age of nine.

Grier is also deliciously stubborn, full of sassy comebacks and a beautiful if slightly naive urban fantasy heroine. I loved her Woolly, who could make conversations with flickering lights or sliding draws and who fiercely protected people it loved, and I really liked her friends.

The world-building is solid without being overwhelming and the pace is brisk without too much violence. I predict a long and beautiful friendship between me and this series. It feels comforting and charming. Very much recommended.

* * *

Превосходное городское фэнтези и автор, с которым я сразу же почувствовала себя комфортно.

Гриер - некромант-изгой, брошенный в худшую тюрьму для паранормалов за вроде бы ею совершенное убийство. В нежном возрасте 21 года ее неожиданно выпускают без каких-либо объяснений, и Гриер пытается собрать свою жизнь по кусочкам обратно. Возвращение к нормальному для Гриер - это жизнь с Вулли (ее домом с призрачной полтергейской натурой), работа с лучшей подругой Амели в качестве гида по страшилкам Саванны и каждодневная битва с ПТСД после кошмаров заключения.

С одного дня на другой она просыпается важной персоной, за которой гоняются некроманты и вампиры. Ее страшная тетя и некий сооблазнительный вампир оба пытаются чего-то от нее добиться, но Гриер может верить только Вулли, Амели и ее брату Боазу пока она пытается примириться с ее новыми обстоятельствами.

Очень мне понравилась главная героиня. Она полна острых шуточек и бравадо, несмотря на свою наивность и хрупкую психику. С ней, ее подругой и Боазом себя чувствуешь прям как дома. Построение мира крепкое, но ненавязчивое и темп очень живой.

Я предчувствую долгую и сладкую дружбу между мною и этой серией. Классно, очень рекомендую.