Scan barcode
cutenanya's review against another edition
4.0
I like this book because a majority of the characters have fascinating and unique personas. The villain, despite all he did, was human in his own way, a person who had good potential but not the right environment to bring out that potential. Apparently, the central character is James and I like him. Will look forward to book 3 and hope there will be more Douglas!
jasonabbott's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
inook_u's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars this book was good but not as great as the first one. This was fell a little too flat for me in the action parts, I wish it had more interactions with a certain character that popped up and I wish that scene when he came in more heartfelt. However I did love the creativeness of the story, there was Bigfoot in this one. How cool is that. I loved Sams creepy house and all the creatures that lived in the house were the funniest thing to read about. The gnomes were by far my favourite. "What's you name?"..."Twinkle....The Destroyer" ahahaah that was awesome. Lisa I hope this is not the end? I need more sam and nick!!! I really want to see that play out more. However there novellas that I may need to read in order to understand nick better im guessing? So I shall read those this month too. Overall give this series a read it's so much fun.
dyinghusky's review against another edition
3.0
The sole reason I'm rating this book 3 is because I didn't get to see Sam and Brid get a happy ending. *sobs*
The story was great, and the characters developed really properly. Last book, I wrote in my review, how the antagonist could have had more screen (text?) time and could have been used better. The author did a great job at that in this book.
The story was great, and the characters developed really properly. Last book, I wrote in my review, how the antagonist could have had more screen (text?) time and could have been used better. The author did a great job at that in this book.
readingjag's review against another edition
4.0
Another charmer from McBride. I liked this one better than the last--the characters were more fully developed and the storyline was complex. I love Sam, he's a total dream boat. Lots of humor, including a very funny glimpse at the world of the Bigfoot. Yes, Bigfoot. Looking forward to the next in this fun, entertaining series.
ashley_choo's review against another edition
5.0
I breezed through this book. It was such a great, fun read, and I was so pleased with the ending, and I just want to read more about Haley and James. I ship them hard.
jenniepicky's review against another edition
3.0
This book, and series, is such a guilty pleasure. It's fun and silly and doesn't take itself seriously. It's Kelley Armstrong if she wrote a teen comedy.
heyjudy's review against another edition
4.0
~4.5/5
This book was so good. Even better than the first one, I think. I can’t believe it took me so long to finally read it. (Also, at first, I was worried about my memory being so fuzzy when it came to the first book, but that wasn’t really a problem. Particularly because of the fact that McBride seems to know what she’s doing with the whole recap thing. Most of it was in the first chapter, and it was done very well—giving a good idea of what happened in the first book, along with a lot of humorous comments from Sam.)
I love the characters, all of them. I love Sam, the necromancer; he’s a rather average guy in personality, he’s sarcastic, he’s new to all this supernatural stuff but he’s handling it rather well. He’s fun, and I like being inside his head. I love all of his friends. Ramon, his best friend and newly been made were-bear, is awesome. He works just so well with Sam, and he’s just so sweet and funny and great. I love Brid; she’s strong and smart, and handles things under pressure, and while she does something not smart in this book, she has her reasons for it. Frank I didn’t remember very much, nor do I have a good handle on who he is, but I liked his part in the book, particularly when he got the job of taking care of the creatures that live on the land and making sure they’re happy. The werewolf pack was fun, and I liked the little insights given about them, particularly Brid’s brothers, and even more so Sean. I like Sam’s family and his relationships with them.
I love the romance between Sam and Brid; they are just so sweet and adorable and fun together. I wouldn’t mind more time between them, really. And I’m not very happy with what happened between them in this book; but I don’t want to spoil too much. Part of me wasn’t hit as hard as I probably should have been, just because I didn’t really believe it would last, but it seriously sucks. I liked how everyone around them bothered them about it, though. And I really want there to be another book now so I can read what happens between them soon.
Next, is Hailey and James. As individuals, I rather like both of them. Hailey, Sam’s little sister, is fun, and very much a character I enjoy. And James is just fantastic and I love him, he’s such a show stealer. He used to work for Douglas, but is now stuck with Sam, and he’s very conflicted with his feelings, and I felt so bad and understood it and wanted to hug him. I love what happened to him at the end, it was… so fantastic. Now, the Hailey and James part. There are very big hints to those things happening, and I am a huge fan of that. I ship them. I ship them completely. By the end of the book, they even had more of my fangirling attention than Sam and Brid did (by a small but still noticeable amount).
Now the Douglas/actual serious plot of the book. That was done very well and was very exciting, and I really like how it all concluded. Plus there was a lot of personal growth for Sam, what with getting used to his powers, taking control of his new house (which, ohmygod, the gnomes are amazing and ohmygod I love them and I want more, ahhhh), everything that happened with Brid and even with Ramon, and then his taking position in the Council and standing up for himself about it.
Every bit of it was just so good. I loved it, and I want more. I believe McBride is writing a related series next, but that she plans to continue this one later, and I cannot wait. I’m very excited for her other series, though, as it sounds good, and I really just think I love her writing and characters and everything. She’s definitely an author that has moved onto my watch list.
This review is also available on my blog, with extras.
This book was so good. Even better than the first one, I think. I can’t believe it took me so long to finally read it. (Also, at first, I was worried about my memory being so fuzzy when it came to the first book, but that wasn’t really a problem. Particularly because of the fact that McBride seems to know what she’s doing with the whole recap thing. Most of it was in the first chapter, and it was done very well—giving a good idea of what happened in the first book, along with a lot of humorous comments from Sam.)
I love the characters, all of them. I love Sam, the necromancer; he’s a rather average guy in personality, he’s sarcastic, he’s new to all this supernatural stuff but he’s handling it rather well. He’s fun, and I like being inside his head. I love all of his friends. Ramon, his best friend and newly been made were-bear, is awesome. He works just so well with Sam, and he’s just so sweet and funny and great. I love Brid; she’s strong and smart, and handles things under pressure, and while she does something not smart in this book, she has her reasons for it. Frank I didn’t remember very much, nor do I have a good handle on who he is, but I liked his part in the book, particularly when he got the job of taking care of the creatures that live on the land and making sure they’re happy. The werewolf pack was fun, and I liked the little insights given about them, particularly Brid’s brothers, and even more so Sean. I like Sam’s family and his relationships with them.
I love the romance between Sam and Brid; they are just so sweet and adorable and fun together. I wouldn’t mind more time between them, really. And I’m not very happy with what happened between them in this book; but I don’t want to spoil too much. Part of me wasn’t hit as hard as I probably should have been, just because I didn’t really believe it would last, but it seriously sucks. I liked how everyone around them bothered them about it, though. And I really want there to be another book now so I can read what happens between them soon.
Next, is Hailey and James. As individuals, I rather like both of them. Hailey, Sam’s little sister, is fun, and very much a character I enjoy. And James is just fantastic and I love him, he’s such a show stealer. He used to work for Douglas, but is now stuck with Sam, and he’s very conflicted with his feelings, and I felt so bad and understood it and wanted to hug him. I love what happened to him at the end, it was… so fantastic. Now, the Hailey and James part. There are very big hints to those things happening, and I am a huge fan of that. I ship them. I ship them completely. By the end of the book, they even had more of my fangirling attention than Sam and Brid did (by a small but still noticeable amount).
Now the Douglas/actual serious plot of the book. That was done very well and was very exciting, and I really like how it all concluded. Plus there was a lot of personal growth for Sam, what with getting used to his powers, taking control of his new house (which, ohmygod, the gnomes are amazing and ohmygod I love them and I want more, ahhhh), everything that happened with Brid and even with Ramon, and then his taking position in the Council and standing up for himself about it.
Every bit of it was just so good. I loved it, and I want more. I believe McBride is writing a related series next, but that she plans to continue this one later, and I cannot wait. I’m very excited for her other series, though, as it sounds good, and I really just think I love her writing and characters and everything. She’s definitely an author that has moved onto my watch list.
This review is also available on my blog, with extras.
lindsayb's review against another edition
5.0
CONTAINS SPOILERS.
I wasn't so sure I was going to like this follow-up to Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. I wanted to, believe you me, and the first chapter was awesome. But then it quickly devolved into mushy domestic bliss that just had no truck with me (albeit causing a slight existential crisis because I was actually feeling adverse to the kissy parts and I almost always love the kissy parts), and I wavered, wondering if Lish could actually lead us astray like that.
Ye of little faith. Once Brannoc was murdered, I found myself in the same state of rabid consumption as with HMCN. I just adored learning about the characters more. Every one of them I loved, even that tiresome meanie Douglas. I especially enjoyed the character development with James and watching him come into the family. Even Frank, who I find a little insufferable, became more endearing with his relationship with the gnomes; and similarly, I enjoyed that the shenanigans of the lawn ornaments and shrubbery were included rather frequently to lighten the plot. And Minion?! Hilarious!
I had a little bit of a hard time with Sam's character and what seemed like a bit too frequent mention of his guilt for dragging his friends into the mess of his necromancy. Hadn't this already been addressed at the end of HMCN? After a while, I really wanted him to grow a pair and move on. And I was taken aback a little with his automatic and fierce treatment towards his Uncle Nick. In all other facets, Sam was so compassionate, and it seemed from the information learned in the first book that Nick's behavior was understood, no matter how aloof. So that left a bad taste in my mouth.
The final fight scene redeemed Sam in the end with how he treated Douglas. I really applaud McBride for how she handled that. It could have turned sappy and after-school-special, but it was such a heartfelt and (wonderfully) still violent interaction, that I maybe kinda started misting up a bit.
I would also like to give a shout-out to McBride for not leaving us with a gimmicky cliff-hanger that happens so frequently in other YA series. Those so often fall short and don't deliver in the sequels. Sure, NTS has little tidbits of what will be addressed in the next book, and I certainly look forward to book 3, but I feel so content with how this book stands on its own (though not to be confused with being stand-alone). HMCN was great in this same way, and I truly hope she continues to treat her novels with this kind of dignity.
I look forward to learning about more of the Council in the following book(s?) and watching Brid come into her own as leader of her pack. James's evolution will be interesting to see, and I hope we get more of Ramon and his new were-bear status than what seemed to be in this book. All in all, I really love this quirky, snarky world we get to be privy to with its limitless bombardment of all things supernatural. Three cheers for Lish McBride for another fantastic novel!
I wasn't so sure I was going to like this follow-up to Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. I wanted to, believe you me, and the first chapter was awesome. But then it quickly devolved into mushy domestic bliss that just had no truck with me (albeit causing a slight existential crisis because I was actually feeling adverse to the kissy parts and I almost always love the kissy parts), and I wavered, wondering if Lish could actually lead us astray like that.
Ye of little faith. Once Brannoc was murdered, I found myself in the same state of rabid consumption as with HMCN. I just adored learning about the characters more. Every one of them I loved, even that tiresome meanie Douglas. I especially enjoyed the character development with James and watching him come into the family. Even Frank, who I find a little insufferable, became more endearing with his relationship with the gnomes; and similarly, I enjoyed that the shenanigans of the lawn ornaments and shrubbery were included rather frequently to lighten the plot. And Minion?! Hilarious!
I had a little bit of a hard time with Sam's character and what seemed like a bit too frequent mention of his guilt for dragging his friends into the mess of his necromancy. Hadn't this already been addressed at the end of HMCN? After a while, I really wanted him to grow a pair and move on. And I was taken aback a little with his automatic and fierce treatment towards his Uncle Nick. In all other facets, Sam was so compassionate, and it seemed from the information learned in the first book that Nick's behavior was understood, no matter how aloof. So that left a bad taste in my mouth.
The final fight scene redeemed Sam in the end with how he treated Douglas. I really applaud McBride for how she handled that. It could have turned sappy and after-school-special, but it was such a heartfelt and (wonderfully) still violent interaction, that I maybe kinda started misting up a bit.
I would also like to give a shout-out to McBride for not leaving us with a gimmicky cliff-hanger that happens so frequently in other YA series. Those so often fall short and don't deliver in the sequels. Sure, NTS has little tidbits of what will be addressed in the next book, and I certainly look forward to book 3, but I feel so content with how this book stands on its own (though not to be confused with being stand-alone). HMCN was great in this same way, and I truly hope she continues to treat her novels with this kind of dignity.
I look forward to learning about more of the Council in the following book(s?) and watching Brid come into her own as leader of her pack. James's evolution will be interesting to see, and I hope we get more of Ramon and his new were-bear status than what seemed to be in this book. All in all, I really love this quirky, snarky world we get to be privy to with its limitless bombardment of all things supernatural. Three cheers for Lish McBride for another fantastic novel!