Once Dead, Twice Shy

Reader reviewed by Arianna

I thought the book was fairly good. I have to say though that i felt a little like i was missing something first, then i found out that there was another story leading up to this book that i should have probably read first. I loved the plot of the story, but i wished the story and its characters were more fully developed. There could have been a lot more detail gone into everything, and throughout the book there were patches that needed more to the story, and other places were there was too much unecessary detail for that particular scene. Overall though, I thought it was a really good book, and i loved all of the characters (all though, i like the Barnabas character more than Josh, and kind of wish he would go away...). I am looking forward to the next book that is coming out, and I hope there is more detail in this one where it needs to be.

Reader reviewed by sariebearie08

I have never read a Kim Harrison book before, but I have heard great things about her books. I love young adult novels, and this one sounded extremely interesting to me, so I thought I would give it a try. I am so glad that I did. The story is very imaginative and there are plenty of plot twists. I love the main character, Madison Avery, she certainly has plenty of spunk. I only had one problem with this book - parts of it really seemed to drag. I listened to this on an audiobook and I don't know if I would have had this problem if I read it, but I found myself zoning out when some of the time keeping explanations were being explained. But, overall I enjoyed the story. I don't want to give too much away, but the ending of the book left me eagerly anticipating the next book - I am going to pick it up as soon as I can!

Reader reviewed by Nikki

"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 there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.

Madison's prom was killerliterally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaperyeah, that kind of reaperintent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.

Now she's stuck on Earthdead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.

With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.

Well, if she believed in that stuff. "

I was really excited for this book...however it wasn't exactly what I hoped.

It was a good book but it seemed kind of childish, and the main character was a but whiny.

I do recommend this book, if you have a free day or two and want an easy to read book!

Reader reviewed by Lia

Wow what an amazing book! I couldnt even
blink reading this book! At first i wouldn't even want to read this
book! since she was dead and it all looked soo weird! but thankz god i
did! I just cant wait to read the next book, i just cannot wait!

Reader reviewed by Suzanne

Once Dead, Twice Shy is about Madison, a girl who was killed by Death. But unlike the others she stole his amulet, and is now stuck between worlds. She can be seen, but she's not alive. Now her and her guardian angel Barnabus have to fight off the dark angels and get Madison's life back. But the dark angels are so desperate to have her dead they try to kill one of her friends, and it turns into a battle between good and evil timekeepers. Madison was destined to be the dark time keeper, but denies it, knowing that she is a good person! Funny, suspenseful, and dramatic. Different from most books having to do with the afterlife. Can't wait for the sequel!

Reader reviewed by ReggieWrites


First off...did you see the cover? It's so cool! I love all of the purple in it.

Anyway,
back to the review. This book became one of my favorites but it did
have its share of problems. I admired Harrison's writing from start to
finish. It was consistently exciting and unexpected throughout the
whole book. And although her writing was continually original, I was
confused after forty pages. I didn't realize that the short story
Harrison wrote-Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper-was connected. It was the short story in Prom Nights from Hell and Harrison poorly executed the recap of it. But once I had that cleared up, I devoured the book page by page.

Basically, the whole book revolved around Madison and her dilemma. She needed to get her body back. Madison's
character was very lifelike even though she was supposedly a ghost of
some sort. I was able to relate to her feelings towards the events that
happened to her. I felt sorry for her at times because I felt like she
couldn't trust almost anybody. She was drowning in so many lies and so
many evils. She did nothing wrong and yet she was being punished.

There
were many unexpected things that happened, but they all fit into the
plot perfectly. The plot was original and captivating. The characters
were what made the plot unique and insightful. They went through what
normal teens would...even if
their situation isn't exactly normal. I was able to catch a glimpse of
how it felt not to be so normal through Madison's eyes. She was mature
for her age; I was expecting someone less deep and less perceptive.
Harrison did a great job with Madison.

The Bottom Line: I liked it. It's one of my favorites but Harrison didn't do a great job recapping the story. Read Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper first. It's sets the stage for Once Dead, Twice Shy. I loved the characters and I loved the plot. Once Dead, Twice Shy is definitely worth remembering. I can't wait for the next book. A. :-)

Note: This book is also on my book blog. Link is: http://theundercoverbooklover.blogspot.com

Reader reviewed by Lilibeth

In this fast-paced novel of the cosmic world being balanced between light and dark, Madison Avery has become a pawn in the grand scheme of things--and she doesn't know how big a pawn she is. Barnabus, her light-reaper "teacher" skips out for less than forty-eight hours with his boss, and that's all it takes for Madison to get the ball rolling into more trouble than her death and stealing-of-the-amulet originally cost. There is deception around every corner, and the crush and guardian angel that she's come to name are the only she can trust for that time. "Mad Madison" always accused of being the oddball and trouble-maker, finds it no easier to deal with the popular crowd once she's dead. Except, maybe taking some bad shots of Queen B in all her sweat-stained track gear glory.
In Once Dead, Twice Shy, you get a deeper sense of Madison's kind-hearted, wild heart--even if it only tends to beat when she's scared or panicking, and that is fairly often. You also find out the real "meaningful" purpose as to why Kairos--dark-reaper--specifically targeted her in the first place, and then again after death wasn't enough to accomplish the putting-back-together-fate process. Besides the wit and adventrous-battling streak, there is a sark-worthy humor, in which I found some substitutes to my usual profane babbler-mouth. Son of a dead puppy; Oh, for cripe's sake; What the devil; there are a couple others that I cannot remember and equally love. There is also hinting of romance here and there, and a good measure of finding oneself and not trying to be like everyone else to fit in; that I know you won't want to miss...

Reader reviewed by KJ

Madison Avery was, for some reason, the target of a dark reaper, who wanted to destroy her, body and soul. Madison stole the reaper's amulet and escaped. The amulet gives Madison the illusion of a body, but she's really dead, toeing the line between life and death. The dark reaper is still after her, so with the help of a light reaper, her guardian angel, and possible boyfriend, Madison sets out to stop the dark reaper before it's too late.

Once Dead, Twice Shy was an exciting, well written, and unique book. When I first read what this book was about I thought it sounded really stupid. One chapter later, and I was hooked. Kim Harrison took what could have been the worst book ever and made it something great. Fans of The Summoning, Evermore, and Need will definitely enjoy this book.

Reader reviewed by Beth

This book was really cute. The concept was interesting, once I finally
was able to figure it out. That was my issue with the book. Things
didn't really move along very fast. It took too long to figure out what
was going on, and why things were the way they were. Also, some of the
characters didn't really get developed. They remained rather flat.
Despite these failings, the book managed to be tons of fun to read. I
loved the originality of the ideas; I hadn't ever read anything that
felt the same. Although I love faerie and vampire books, this was a
very nice change of pace. This book is fairly short, and I finished it
in a couple of hours. This is a great little paranormal read for the
summer. Although it deals with some weighty matters, don't really
expect a great deal of philosophical thought. The book leaves at a good
place for a sequel to pick up, but who knows. Perhaps that would solve
the problem of the underdeveloped characters.

Reader reviewed by stephanie