Book Review: Undeadly by Michele Vail

Goodreads Summary: The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...
Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. 
Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another...except, there's something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly's got an undeadly knack for finding trouble....

Title: Undeadly
Series: The Reaper Diaries #1
Author: Michele Vail
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: 20th November 2012
Source: Harlequin Teen via NetGalley

I really enjoyed the story behind this book and the potential that it can hold for future books. It is a unique story line and it was a fast paced read. The characters were varied and typical teenagers, the fun of zombies and ghouls and ghosts was exciting and unusual.

Molly is a typical teenager living in a world where zombies and ghosts are created to help around the house. There are special talents that a person can have that allow them to be able to create these beings. Molly is one such person. On her sixteenth birthday she has a party and invites all her friends. She is excited to see the boy that will hopefully become her boyfriend, Rick. Rick reaches to give Molly her birthday present and trips, falling and hitting his head. Rick dies and Molly is beside herself; determined to bring Rick back, she grabs his soul and shoves it back inside his body, but some pieces are missing. Oh well, at least he is alive! But what is he?

Molly’s lives with her father, her mother left them when she was little. When you turn sixteen, your parents visit an Oracle to see if you are destined to become a Chosen of Anubis. As Molly’s mother isn’t around and her father didn’t want to visit the Oracle, Molly’s Grandparents went instead. Because of what happened and now that Molly is sixteen, her estranged Grandparents have come back into her life and want her to attend a school for the gifted. Nekyia Academy is like any other school, they have their cliques and Molly isn’t sure where she will fit in. The only difference with this school is that they have special classes for your own special abilities.

As Molly makes friends, tries to work out what her destiny will be and learn new skills; she still has to discover what is wrong with Rick and why she is having these odd dreams. Kids start to die and the school is in uproar, as Molly is the new girl, she has no clue what is going on.

Will Molly work out what is wrong with Rick? Can she fix him? Who is committing these awful murders at her new school? Can she discover the workings of this school and stay away from the Mean Girls? Is Molly’s destiny to be a Chosen one? Can Molly really have feelings for a Reaper, her trainer, Rath?

I really did enjoy this book, but there were a couple of things that were annoying towards the end. The “whatevs” and Molly’s every young attitude for her age really didn’t change throughout. But the concept and the whole picture of the story were fantastic and I did try to put those things out of my mind. I will definitely be reading the next book.

4 STARS - A GREAT READ

About the Author: Michele Vail writes young adult paranormal fiction about zombies and reapers. 

She likes reading, dogs, cats, board games, ghost-hunting shows, and Halloween. She believes in magic, in the impossible, and in the restorative powers of chocolate. 
Michele lives happily-ever-after with her Viking and their family. 

You can find more on Michele Goodreads, her website , Twitter, Facebook and Michele's books on Amazon.