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This book was the very first one to pop up on
my screen when GoodReads first introduced their recommendations based on what
you’ve already read and enjoyed. It took a while but eventually I got myself a
copy of this book, though this may have been more to do with the fact that
people who like similar UF to me sign its praises!
Information:
Title: First Grave on the Right
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Charley Davidson #1
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Target
Audience: Adult
Genre: Urban fantasy
Length: 315 pages
Story: A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper
Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.
Thoughts
and impressions:
The opening of this book was a bit… weird to say the least – a bit intense? I
have to say, I usually prefer my sex scenes to come a bit later on in the book!
The author does deliver with a longer, better sex scene later on, but I was
surprised to find one as the opening passage.
I was
obviously being particularly slow while reading this book. It wasn’t until
Charley pointed it out herself that I drew the parallel between her name and
Harley Ds! She was definitely as cocky and in-your-face as a Harley D so I’d
say her name was well chosen. In fact, at times she was a little too cocky for
my tastes but this was easily overlooked.
The
narrative was meant to be humorous and there were plenty of times when it
pulled it off and I’d snigger out loud, but there were other times when the
humour felt forced or was too repeated. This can easily be explained away by
the differences between British and American humour, but at times I found it to
be more on the side of tiring than funny. Still, in the long run I enjoyed
Charley’s narrative voice. Due to her role in life, she’s used to keeping
everyone at arm’s length and this shows – usually by her insulting anyone who
tries to get to close.
Charley
is, of course, the grim reaper. The ghosts of the departed go to her to get
some closure to their lives before they go into her light. She works with the
local police force where her uncle Bob, Ubie, is an officer, giving the
“anonymous tips” necessary to put the bad guys behind bars. She also runs her
own P.I. business on the side, keeping busy with both the living and the dead
(as the dead obviously don’t tend to pay).
But when
three lawyers working to get an innocent man’s name cleared of a murder he
didn’t commit are all assassinated on the same night, Charley finds herself
caught up in an investigation that seems hell bent on getting her killed.
Luckily for Charley, she seems to have a guardian angel in the form of some
unknown entity that scares her shitless. I have to admit that she did get
injured a bit too often for it to really be believable. I think not a single
day went by without her having a brush with death. It would have been easier to
accept it all if it had been set over a slightly longer period, giving her a
little bit of reprieve each time.
The
romance with Reyes felt rather… unfounded. The two of them never had an
interaction that didn’t end up giving in to lust. I knew next to nothing about his
personality, because Charley didn’t know it either – she just felt this
inexplicable attraction to him. This led to me feeling that I didn’t know
enough about him to be particularly interested in their relationship – or maybe
invested is the better word. That said, I really liked the sentiment behind the
idea that Charley is quite literally the girl of Reyes’s dreams! There are
enough tantalising hints about his role in life, the universe and everything
that I’m interested in finding out more about him, but I wish I’d been able to
get a better handle on him in this book.
I would
have liked to have seen more of Charley’s family as well, especially her
father’s reaction to her stepmother’s open animosity towards her. I suppose
that this could easily be explored more in future instalments but it’s one of
the things I’d be interested in exploring.
A
fabulous introduction to an urban fantasy that deserves its position in the
fantasy market!
Style: Very catty, very chatty. Informal,
but fun.
Final
verdict: A fun read
that had me laughing out loud at times! I’m already looking forward to reading
the second book! 4 stars
Extra notes: Both bad language and sex are
present.
Glad you like it and thank you for your review. I've had this book forever and I haven't read it yet :(
ReplyDeleteFunny is good. :-)
ReplyDeleteYEAHHh! so happy you read it! I love the series and you'll see, they improves with the books. Now I can't wait to see your opinion about them!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I'm about to say (or type) this, but I've never read any urban fantasy adult novels! When it comes to adult, I stick to historical or paranormal. I'm very narrow with my adult reading, since I'm still considered "young adult" and read more of the young adult genres. That's kind of...awkward that the first sex scene comes straight out in the first passage. Weird is right! But Grim Reapers are cool. I wouldn't mind seeing more books with them involved (I love the show Grimm!). And funny is always good. Thanks for the review!!!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa Susanna