Jul 28, 2012

{Review} Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

GENRE: YA Paranormal
THEME: Zombie/Voodoo
RECEIVED: Received from Harper Teen
AUTHORS BLOG: Susan Dennard's Site

BLURB:
The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

REVIEW:
This book was definitely not what I expected and I must say it was one action packed and scary storyline that never slowed down. Zombie’s to me are really creepy and imagining them walking around and being controlled by someone powerful just gives me the chills. Susan Dennard created a wonderful setting based in 1876 Philadelphia where being rich and marrying rich is important, but zombies are becoming everyones new worry.

Something Strange and Deadly follows young Elenor dealing with something out of the ordinary and very frightening… the dead are walking. When one of the zombies leaves her a note from her missing brother, she sets off to find the only people she believes can help find him. The Spirit-Hunters are the only ones that can stop the zombies and oddly enough Elenor seems to be their only connection to the dead. Together the must stop a very powerful necromancer and try to stay alive.

Elenor is the type of girl I would probably be like in that era. Tough, un-lady like and not caring about how pretty her dress is. Even in the scariest of situation, surrounded by the walking dead, she doesn’t give up hope in finding her brother. The whole time she’s not only trying to solve the reason for the zombie uproar while looking for him but also dealing with her mother who wants her to marry rich and a.s.a.p. I found her independent character refreshing and she really grows up as the story moves on. My only main annoyance was Elenors mother, I have no idea how this girl could put up with a mother like her, but I can say she has a lot of patients.

Daniel, one of the Spirit-Hunters has quite an interesting background and connection to Elenor’s family. He and Elenor also have a lot of chemistry, but he puts distance between them before they can connect any further. I can’t wait to see what developes between these two later if and when it happens. He also works along side two other hunters Jei and Joseph who each have a special talent in fighting the zombies.

The plot has a lot of twist and turns especially with Elenors brother and the person controlling the zombies. There are bit of steampunk gadgets used but not highly focused on as some other steampunk genres might be. It has a bundle of black magic, splash of romance and definitely a lot of action and mystery. Let me just say the ending was intense and the way Dennard set up her characters is going to make for one interesting story in the next book.


RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel with minor creepy or gory scenes of the undead. Fans of Innocent Darkness by Suxanne Lazear and Marta Acostas Dark Companion will want to get ahold of Susan Dennards Something Strange and Deadly.


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