BookTalk
Emma was the chick who liked to hang out in the graveyard. Not, like, a goth chick…more like a girl who’d lost too many people she loved. First her father, followed by the boy she loved. Emma goes to the graveyard to seek the comfortable silence that those she loved provided in life and now in death.
She’ll ignore the fact that she needs to keep these nightly ghost walks with her pet rottweiler a secret. No one would really understand…
What Emma didn’t see coming was stumbling upon the cute new kid, Eric, in the graveyard. Eric having a conversation with an old woman in rags. The old woman offering Emma a gift that doesn’t appear to be real…Until the headaches start, until Emma starts to see ghosts, until Emma becomes a Necromancer…until Eric divulges that he’s bound to kill her…
Review
First things first, why oh why does Silence not pop up when you search for it on GoodReads? So not cool because this was a great start to a supernatural series. I loved that Emma was allowed to be smart and caring, and that while she admits Eric is cute…there’s no insta-love in sight. Emma is still dealing with the death of the boyfriend, as well as the general drama of a teenage life.
I liked that Sagara had different supporting characters. We have the smart but shy bff, the teen queen, and an autistic boy named Michael. What’s so cool about this mix of people is what brings them together…not Emma, but Michael. The girls decided early on in school to band together and help Michael navigate the torturous world High School can be for a person who is autistic.
And Michael was such a smart addition to the story. As Emma and her band of misfits get deeper and deeper into the world of necromancers Michael’s ability to see and intercede in situations that freeze other characters (literally) is an obvious plus. Because Michael only understands logic (and not the gray area most of our reasoning occurs in) he becomes this walking truth indicator for the group. If Michael sees it, believes it, accepts it…it must be true. Helps to bring a lot of the characters into the paranormal loop fast.
But, supernatural aspects aside, why I enjoyed this book so much was because it reminded me of Deadly Cool in its feel. Romance was not the central focus of the story. A girl learning who she is, what she is capable of is the point of the tale. Emma is allowed to be cool and smart, and not necessarily a sex symbol. It was a breath of fresh air in the YA division. I’ll definitely be sticking around for the rest of the series because this first installment leaves you with questions!…
- Why is Emma a Necromancer?
- Why is she so powerful?
- How the heck could she open that door?!
- Who is the scary lady?/The old man?
- What the heck was ____ going to tell her?!
So not fair I have to wait months to get my answers!!
Rating: 4/5 For a smart, normal girl mixed up in a ghost ridden paranormal series.
*Book received via the publisher (DAW Books, Inc.) I was not compensated in any way other than the offer of a free read. Any comments and opinions are my own and were unsolicited. Thanks!*
Sara O
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