Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison
Release Date: May 26, 2009
Publisher: Harper Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Everyone does it. Dies, I mean. I found this out for myself on my seventeenth birthday—which also happened to be the night of my prom—when I was killed in a car accident. It was a carefully planned scything, just a small moment in the battle between light reapers and dark, heaven and hell, choice and fate.
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 seeing it, hearing it, touching it, living it.
Once Dead, Twice Shy was an interesting read. I was about thirty pages or so into the book, and I was pretty confused with what exactly was going on. I then read Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper, which is a short story in the Prom Nights from Hell anthology, I’d recommend reading that before Once Dead, Twice Shy, if you find yourself lost like I was. The short story sets the stage for Once Dead, Twice Shy. Harrison did a poor job recapping. Once that was out of the way, I was finally able to get into the story. I’m still not sure who the good/bad guys are, but I’m assuming that is something that will be addressed further into the series. Harrison has created a unique and fascinating world of reapers and after life shenanigans.
Madison’s character as well as her thoughts seemed uneven at times. Adding another complication to the story. The plot was steady throughout the novel until the very fast and anticlimactic ending.
Overall, a very interesting world, it just seemed to be executed poorly.