Tour Stop {Review/ Book Excerpt}: Undeadly

Undeadly (The Reaper Diaries #1)
by Michele Vail
Paperback, 272 pages
Expected publication: November 20th 2012 by Harlequin Teen
My Rating: ♥♥♥

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....

THE REAPER DIARIES

Molly's Reaper Diary

Top Five Reasons to Pay Attention During Butt-Kicking Class

1. When you don't hold up your arms to protect your face, your instructor might

box your ears so that you get the point. Or tweak your nose, which is more

annoying, especially since he's laughing at you.

2. If you punch like a sissy, your opponent won't be impressed, and may proceed to

show you a real punch, in which case, you'll go down like you turned into a bowl

of spaghetti noodles.

3. Learning to be a warrior is about mind and soul and magic. The Chosen can

access their necro abilities and use magic for multiple purposes (like when

Clarissa used hers to trip me). Most necros can only use their one ability for its

singular purpose.

4. You won't be taught how to use magic until you learn physical skills and

strengthen your mind ... no matter how many times you ask your instructor to

please, pretty please to show you magic, too.

5. You will sweat. You will be bleed. You will ask for mercy, and not get it. Get

stronger. Get meaner. Get
reaper.

Undeadly takes you into a world where the “living dead” are citizens.  Necromancy 101 is a prerequisite in grade school.  Five in ten people are born with the gene to control the deceased.  This book’s theme heavily involves Egyptian mythology and mummification.    Molly is just another gifted teenage in this zombie integrated culture.  That is until destiny steps in on her sixteenth birthday and things get a whole lot more complicated.

Molly was a likeable character in a dizzy early ‘90’s clueless jargon sort of way.  She was thrown allot of drama and the way she handled it all was believable. The plot was shaky.  I felt that it was overshadowed by the world building.  In the beginning of each chapter were a brief history lesson and/or facts about the setting.  While I think the way it was intertwined was ingenious; it was still somehow lacking.  For example, Molly brought her almost boyfriend back; a whole lot happened after that; and the solution to Rick was sort of thrown together right at the end.  It seemed to me as if it was an afterthought.  While I thoroughly enjoyed being sucked into this strange and unusual world, I longed for more action and romance. 

This Tour Stop is courtesy of Itching for Books!