Once Dead, Twice Shy

by Kim Harrison

“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 killer—literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent 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 Earth—dead 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.” (from the publisher)

I did not give this author enough credit when I decided to read Once Dead, Twice Shy. I know Kim Harrison mainly writes paranormal fantasy/romance for adults, but I didn’t know how well she would make the transition to YA writing. But I really liked this book. I liked Madison’s character, she was entirely believable as a girl who had made bad decisions in the past and when trying to make up for it, was killed in a freak incident by a boy who reaped/scythed her. Thus starts the whole process of Madison trying to train as a reaper, but because she is not fully alive or dead, her situation is trickier. You see, when Madison ‘woke’ up in the morgue, the same boy who had tried to reap her was back to finish the job, but Madison, for some unknown reason, was able to steal his amulet, and therefore remain undead.

Like Madison, the reader is unable to figure out by themselves why Madison was able to live because she is not being told everything by Ron, the light timekeeper, or by Barnabas, the light reaper she is training with. Madison is left clueless to her place in the light vs. dark struggle, but with the aid of her old prom date and a guardian angel named Grace, Madison discovers that her role in the light vs. dark struggle is bigger than even she could have imagined.

Some of my favorite parts from this book dealt with the guardian angel, Grace, and all the little ditties she sang to Madison.