“Seventeen, dead, and in charge of heaven's dark angels—all itching to kill someone.
Madison Avery's dreams of ever fitting in at her new school died when she did. Especially since she was able to maintain the illusion of a body, deal with a pesky guardian angel, and oh yeah, bring the reaper who killed her to his untimely end. Not exactly in-crowd material. It's amazing that her crush, Josh, doesn't think she's totally nuts.
Now Madison has learned that she's the dark timekeeper, in charge of angels who follow the murky guidelines of fate. Never one to abide by the rules, she decides it's time for a major change to the system. With the help of some unlikely allies, Madison forms a rogue group of reapers who definitely don't adhere to the rules of the heavens.
But as she grapples with the terrifying new skills that come with being a timekeeper, Madison realizes she may not be prepared for what lies ahead—unless she gets some seriously divine intervention.” -Book Cover
Madison is now the official Dark Timekeeper, but the rules already set in stone don’t quite cut it for her and she is determined to change things. While still trying to find her body, she will work with Barnabas, former Light reaper and Nakita Dark reaper to try change the fate of those meant to do terrible things, and save their lives – and souls – in the process. Impossible task made even harder by Paul, rising Light Timekeeper, and his mentor Ron who are mind-set to ruin Madison’s attempts.
I really liked the second book in this series. Madison is trying to learn her new timekeeper role along with the abilities that comes with it. She will do some faux pas, but she is strongly determined and won’t let a little – ok HUGE – trouble get in the way. Nakita is so lovely. She is trying so hard to fit-in and understand Madison’s reasons to try and prevent scythe. She can’t quite grasp what’s going on but she really wants to help Madison. She is also constantly fighting with Barnabas, which is quite funny. Paul might also because an interesting character, so I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen next with him.
While I liked the plot and how it wrapped-up, I found myself craving for more. Early to Death, Early to Rise is only 228 pages long, which is quite short. I was hoping to see Madison master more skills, but the entire book happens in like 24hours, so it doesn’t leave much room for that much progress. I was also sad to not see Josh in the story. He appeared in only two scenes and I really wanted to see some romance between Josh and Madison.
The bright side is there is still one more book planned in this series, so maybe my hopes will come true in the next book.
The lore of this series is quite amazing and original, so if you haven’t started it yet, I strongly suggest you start with Once Dead, Twice Shy. Harrison’s jump from adult novels to young adult ones was a success, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!
Madison Avery Series:
Once Dead, Twice Shy
Early to Death, Early to Rise
Book Stats:
Book Source: Review copy sent by Harper Collins
Thanks for the review. I have seen this book in so many places but never stopped to read a review of it. It does seem like a short book but it seems good. I may just have to add it to my list. :)
ReplyDeleteHere via the Saturday Network. I was surprised how much I loved ONCE DEAD TWICE SHY - mostly because my mom loves Kim Harrison and she and I rarely agree on books. I'd forgotten the sequel was out already! Need to add it to my TBR list, even if it is a little short.
ReplyDeleteI also want to say that I absolutely love the covers of these books. They are so stark yet evocative.