Review and Giveaway! "She Smells the Dead"

As part of the "She Smells the Dead" blog tour, I have my review and a giveaway of an autographed copy of the book!

"She Smells the Dead"
by E.J. Stevens

Publisher: Sacred Oaks Press
Release Date: Sep 9, 2010

Source: sent by author

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

It's the beginning of senior year and Yuki's psychic awareness of ghostly spirits is threatening to ruin her life. Her ability to sense spirits of the dead isn't glamorous like the ghost hunting on television.

SHE SMELLS THE DEAD.

The smell impressions are becoming stronger. Yuki is being visited in her dreams, and she suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. To make matters worse her crush on Garrett is going unrequited, Yuki's friend Emma is on a rampage against bee oppression, and annoying Calvin Miller mysteriously disappears.

Will Yuki be able to focus her powers in time to save the lost soul who is haunting her? Meanwhile, who will save Yuki from following the spirits into the light?

My Review:

The author has a great understanding of today's teen voice and manner of speaking and thinking. She definitely makes a point of describing Yuki's fun goth style. I think readers will like hearing about what Yuki is wearing, it feels really authentic and not stylized or condescending to the reader or the style.

I also loved Yuki's best girl friend, Emma, the animal rights activist. She was so fun to read about with her youthful exuberance towards the issues she fought for. Of course, there was some comedy with her all consuming activism, including fighting against "bee oppression."

Calvin and Yuki are a sweet, age-appropriate couple. However, I would have liked to have seen more build up to their relationship. One minute, they were friends, and the next they were a couple, no fireworks, no build up. Their love/like just didn't feel real to me. Maybe they should have just started the story as a couple and I would have found it more believable.

I couldn't help but make comparisons to "The Body Finder" while I was reading this book. Both heroines can smell the dead and both fall in love with their best friend. Unfortunately, I didn't think this one succeeded in either storyline like "The Body Finder" did.

I think this story could possibly translate better to a younger audience, but I felt the story needed more depth, especially in the romance aspect of the book.


Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5 (Emma the activist)
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 3/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 5/5 (WOW!! And I love that she really does dress this way)
Writing: 3/5


Bottom Line:I loved reading about Yuki's fashion choices, and the author has a great teen voice.

GIVEAWAY RULES:
EJ has given me an extra autographed copy of the book to send to one of the readers of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address!

Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy.

Extra Entries:

• +1 Tweet this contest (leave link in comment)
  
• +1 Post link in sidebar of your blog (leave link in comment)
  

Rules:

• US only
  
• Must be a follower to enter
  
• Extra entries are optional and can all be left in the same comment
  
• Leave a comment with your email address
• Ends Monday Nov. 1
  

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!