Review: Twice Dead (C. Seal)
My thoughts are all in a jumble about this book, because on one hand I really, really liked it while on the other hand... romance. So I'm going to try my best to keep my personal feelings about romance out of it and just judge it based on everything else.
Naya is the daughter of a merchant captain, who sends her off to meet with a potential trading partner. She never makes it. Killed in an alleyway, Naya is then brought back to life as a wraith, bound to her former body by runes engraved on her bones. Dragged into becoming a spy, Naya soon uncovers a web of deceit, betrayal, and war that will cause her to question her own loyalties, and everything she knows about those she holds dear.
I love, love, loved the supernatural element to this book. Ghosts/wraiths/corpses are not normally really my thing (still can't make it through the Pirates of the Caribbean movies without killing someone's hand) but I really loved how they were portrayed in this book. They weren't super creepy, per-say, but their origin stories were unique, how they were created was unique, and their powers were unique. The reason I'm repeating "unique" over and over again is that with a lot of paranormal books there's a rut that most characters tend to fall in, and they all seem like cookie-cutter versions of each other. That wasn't the case at all with this book, I've never read a book like it with the binding to the bones and all of that. So that was a huge plus in my eyes, I love originality.
Also, huge fan of the spy plot. I love spies. I may hate James Bond movies, but I love spies. This spy plot was just so masterfully conceived that it made my heart happy. I didn't feel like it fell into any of the normal ruts that some spy books do, it kept me on my toes and guessing, and it just created this huge atmosphere of suspense that I loved. And it was original. That was one of my favorite parts about this book, that I've never read another book like it, which is unfortunately slightly difficult to come by in this day and age.
My only complaint is that it moved a bit slowly, and that after about 50% of the book the romance derailed the plot for a good 25% of the book (I was keeping track on my Kindle). I don't think I would have minded as much had the romance been woven into the story, but because it kind of stood as an intermission between two acts/parts of the story it rubbed me the wrong way a bit.
Overall, this was a really great read, I read the first 51% in one sitting and then the rest over I think two more, which is pretty good for me (attention span of a toothpick here). Even if you aren't a huge paranormal reader (me), this is definitely a book that you can enjoy.
4/5 Stars
Disclaimer: I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way impacted my review of, opinions on, or feelings towards the book.
Twice Dead is slated for release on August 18th, 2018.