Series: Madison Avery Trilogy
Author: Kim Harrison
# of Books: 3 (Once Dead, Twice Shy; Early to Death, Early to Rise; Something Deadly This Way Comes)
There is a prequel novella in the Prom Nights from Hell anthology
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Heat Rating: cool
Thoughts:
I can’t remember how I came across these books. I have a feeling it was recommended to me by Chapters but I could be completely wrong. I do remember loving the covers so I probably saw the picture of the cover somewhere and decided to grab it 😛
The premise was super interesting to me and at the time I was reading more action/paranormal young adult reads so it seemed like a good fit. Unfortunately, this series just didn’t do it for me.
The first book, Once Dead, Twice Shy, was alright. Madison was likeable and so were the other characters but nothing wowed me about them. The plot was also blah as well–I just kept waiting for something big to happen and nothing ever did.
I also got confused about the whole reaper situation. I’m not sure if it was because I skimmed over it or if I was getting it confused with other novels but either way, I just felt like I never had a full grasp of what was going on.
To be honest, I’m not sure why I read the next two books in the series based on my lackluster experience with the first one. I think it was because I had the rest of the series out from the library and they weren’t overly long books to read so I decided to finish them. I also think that I was holding out for some big plot twist that I kept expecting to happen–but it never came. I read the rest of the series and found that I felt the same about the rest of the books: they were ok but nothing really blew my socks off.
Conclusion:
If you like books that don’t have a great deal of action and have a paranormal twist then this is a series to look into. Otherwise, it’s dry for those who like a lot of action and plot twists
Rating: 2.5/5
Similar Reads: Shadowland by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series #1), Everneath by Brodi Ashton (Everneath Trilogy #1) and Swoon by Nina Malkin (Swoon #1)
Synopsis for Once Dead, Twice Shy (from Goodreads):
My name is Madison Avery, and I’m here to tell you that there’s more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I’m there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.Madison’s prom was killer—literally. For some reason she’s been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.
Now she’s stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn’t know why the dark reaper is after her, but she’s not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.
With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison’s ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.
Well, if she believed in that stuff