Harrison, Kim: Once Dead, Twice Shy
Once Dead, Twice Shy (2009)
Written by: Kim Harrison
Genre: YA/Urban Fantasy
Pages: 232
This is one of those cases where it was solely the cover that got my attention, and once I started looking closer, I recognized the author's name and did a mental backflip. I've only read one of Kim Harrison's books, and that would be Dead Witch Walking. I absolutely loved it, and bought the rest of the series up until the latest hardcover, but I just haven't followed through with the reading. However, I didn't mind checking out Harrison's YA offering***, so I picked it up as soon as it became available.
The premise: Madison Avery had a killer prom. Literally. Killed by her date, she's only still kicking because she stole the amulet of the reaper who came for her soul. That amulet's the only thing keeping her "alive," and the reaper isn't too happy about it. He's doing everything he can to get that amulet back, even if it means using her friends and loved ones to do it. But Madison isn't going to take this lying down. She's got the help of another reaper (a light one, a good guy, she hopes), her cute crush, and a guardian angel. Hopefully it's enough to keep her alive and kicking.
Review style: for this book, I'm dividing it once more into two sections: what I liked and what I didn't. Expect spoilers in both, because what I like and don't like directly relates to said spoilers.
What I Liked
From where I'm sitting, the urban fantasy of this book is pretty darn original. First off, reapers. You've got the light side and the dark side, and while it's a little confusing to figure out, the dark side carries out the orders of the seraphs, who look into the future to see what souls are fated to cause TROUBLE, and then they tell the dark reapers to eliminate said souls. The light reapers, however, try and protect those souls, because the light reapers believe in free will, and they don't believe a person should be punished for something they haven't done or even thought of yet.
There's also timekeepers, which confuses me a little, but I think the timekeepers are the bosses of their respective reapers. You've got Ron (Chronos, ha!) in charge of the light; Kairos, who's in charge of the dark. They can create their reapers' amulets, which basically are the source of the reaper's power and allows them to carry their weapons with them at all times, without said weapons being seen until it's too late.
And the angel elements are pretty unique too, though angels are becoming more and more common in UF and regular fantasy. The seraphs are the all-powerful, all-wise beings and we don't meet one until the very end. What we do meet is a cherub--the guardian angel assigned to Madison to protect her and hide her aura so the dark reapers can't target her. Madison names this angel Grace (reason being obvious when the angel makes her appearance), and Grace is quite the delightful comic relief, very similar to the character of Jenks the pixie in Dead Witch Walking, but in a good way.
The uniqueness of the UF combines well with the characterization. Madison's pretty solid (I know, bad joke in light of the events of the book) as a heroine. She's not one of those in-your-face fighter chicks, but she's not a wilting flower either. She's got her flaws, which got her shipped from Florida to live with her dad in . . . crap, I've completely forgotten my setting. Alas. BUT! She's the new girl, and weird in the eyes of the high schoolers, and that's kind of what got her in trouble to begin with. However, I like how Madison TAKES ACTION. She surveys what's going on around her and makes the best decisions possible. She believes in free will, and she believes that it's not fair that people should die for something they haven't done or thought of doing, so when she's with her light reaper, Barnabas (what a name), she tries to help. This leads into a series of events that bring the dark reapers closer, and help her understand who REALLY wanted her dead, but not why.
But the important thing: Madison takes action. She doesn't go off and hide anywhere, nor does she make decisions that label her as Too-Stupid-To-Live. Her plans are pretty solid (ha!) even though she doesn't fully understand the consequences of her actions. However, in spite of that, the story wraps up pretty well. I love the cast, and I love how Madison makes it her mission to prevent dark reapings by intervening and making sure the target understands what's at stake. It's a nice springboard to a series, so I'm potentially looking forward to seeing what Harrison does with this.
Also a plus: this book is not related to the Hollows, which is the world her Rachel Morgan books are set in. To me, that's huge, because it allows the author to create a new world from scratch and allows the reader to learn about a new world from scratch. When Kelley Armstrong debuted her YA novel, The Summoning, I was dismayed to learn it took place in the same world as her adult UF series, and that effected my enjoyment of the book.
What I Didn't Like
Okay, I'm still trying to figure this out, but it boils down to this:
Madison was targeted by the dark side, specifically, by Kairos the timekeeper himself, because she was fated to become the dark timekeeper of the next generation, which meant that Kairos would have to train her and step down, grow old and then die. He's lived too long and looked young for too long and didn't want to give that up, so he killed her. Or tried to until she stole his amulet.
Okay, I get that. But what I don't get is when Madison becomes convinced she's not supposed to be the dark timekeeper, but the light one instead, because she believes in free will. And this would make sense because it's obvious that Ron, the light timekeeper, is withholding information and jerking her chain around.
Now, I don't know if she was truly meant to be light or dark. I do understand that Ron took an apprentice and really wanted Madison as the dark timekeeper because it would be awesome for both the light AND dark timekeepers to believe in free will. Oookay, but I can't work out the timing. How long has Madison been dead, and did Ron take an apprentice when she died so that she couldn't claim her spot by his side? And if that's the case, how can that be since this apprentice wasn't fated to be the light timekeeper (maybe that guy was supposed to be dark?)
Or was Madison meant to be dark all along, and if that's the case, why in the HELL did Ron withhold this information from her? Why didn't he tell the seraphs what Kairos tried to do and bring all of this to a swift resolution? If the dark side is the answer to my confusion, then the answer to my question is that the reason Ron didn't do any of these things is because we wouldn't have a story otherwise, and that doesn't sit well with me.
If the answer is, however, that Madison was meant to be light, but now there's someone else in her place, I'm still confused, because that means there's a fated dark timekeeper out there, somewhere (which could work for the longer arc of story), and there's a light timekeeper who was never meant to take the mantle to begin with, and that could cause problems.
However, it's confusing because at its heart, the story constantly raises the question: fate or free will? With that kind of MAJOR THEME at the heart of the story and plotting, confusion is bound to arise. And I'll be the first to admit that maybe I read this book too fast and missed some vital information, but at this point, I'm not satisfied when it comes to the manipulations driving the plot in this book.
And while this really isn't a criticism, as I would've NEVER KNOWN or SUSPECTED this had I not visited Harrison's website, this is not Madison Avery's debut appearance. She first showed up in the anthology Prom Nights from Hell in the story "Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper." While Harrison does an excellent job in the book letting us know the backstory of what happened at prom (though I'll be the first to admit, the opening of this book? A wee bit confusing for various reasons not related to the short story), the fact that I've missed out on a short story that would further my understanding bugs me on principle.
My Rating
Buy the Paperback: this is a tricky rating. If I were basing it on unique urban fantasy elements, this book is an absolute must-have. Truly, it's unique, and again I applaud Harrison for giving me a strong heroine and for not setting this series in the same world as her Rachel Morgan books. However, basing the rating on the fact it's a YA novel (which makes me consider the length) and the problems I had working out some of the motivations that pushed the plot forward, I don't feel it's worth the cost of a hardcover. It's a good book, and I'll very seriously consider the next book in the series (and in hardcover, since that's what I started with), but unless you're just a major Kim Harrison fan or the book sounds so awesome to you that you can't wait to read it, wait for the paperback. It's good, but it's not HARDCOVER good.
Cover Commentary: It was the cover that caught my eye on Amazon. I love the model they used and her LOOK, which gave me a fantastic mental picture of Madison, and the pink just really draws the eye in contrast to the black & white image. Sharp cover. It caught my eye just like it was supposed to, because otherwise, I would've never noticed who wrote the book, and that's why I bought it.
Next up: I know I'm bombarding you with reviews, but this last week made it impossible to stay up-to-date, and I apologize. I've got one more, and it'll be short, for reasons that will soon become obvious.
Mainspring by Jay Lake
*** = I find this latest trend interesting. Big name UF authors are also starting to write in YA. It's not surprising, and it makes a helluva lot of sense. Thanks to the success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, there's a slew of readers who are very likely to enjoy OTHER UF that's found in the adult shelves, and the best way to snag that market is to write stuff they can find on THEIR shelves first. At least, that's what I think is going on. Or, perhaps it's just the fact that YA is where the money is at right now, and why not cash in while you can? Thoughts?