Reviews

Dying for a Living by Kory M. Shrum

magnetgrrl's review against another edition

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1.0

Disclaimer - I'm adding just about every book I read in 2016 to Goodreads in December.

I read a ton of lesbian romance novels on Kindle Unlimited this year. Most just kind of blended together in my head, but this stood out because I hated it.

First, it was sort of incorrectly recommended to me by Amazon. I can only blame myself, so I'll not say much more about it, other than that I was expecting a lesbian romance, and instead I got a straight girl who has both a guy and a girl best friend in love with her, kinda wants neither of them, but ends up with the guy anyway. That could NOT be more disappointing, but whatever.

The setup for this doesn't make sense to me. I didn't really like the main character. The ONLY character I sort of liked - although you barely know anything about her other than you feel kind of bad for her - is Ally, the lesbian involved with her best friend. The guy she starts dating, Lane, actually seems kinda selfish and possessive... in sadly a really casually male, creepy, and all-t0-realistic sort of way.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit I read this, and would not recommend it to anyone I know. I guess it's part of a series? Which I will not be reading any more of, but which I nonetheless hope improves.

kepheus's review against another edition

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4.0

The love triangle is pretty tired and the ending was a little too tidy, but it sets the series up nicely. Otherwise, this was a quick, fun read.

drawmejay5233's review against another edition

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4.0

I've gone through the reviews expecting to see some 3/5 and 4/5, however I am happily mistaken. It seems everyone loves this book as much as I do, it was fast paced, brilliant humour, a pug for Christ sakes!
The only reason why I didn't give this a 5/5 was because at the beginning it didn't hook me, don't get me wrong it's a great plot but about a quarter way through i didn't think "okay I need to read more" because it didnt hook me (at the time). But once the ball got rolling it had everything that's needed for a brilliant book

nemerith's review against another edition

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3.0

About half way through the book I thought about giving up, but I persevered and ended up really enjoying it!

World-building was good, it takes place in modern day and age with the exception that a small amount of people have powers. All scenes and environments were well written and clear.

Character development was good. Jesse is, I wouldn't say broken, but very afraid of letting people get close to her since she's afraid to end up like Rachel, in a mental hospital, when her lot of death replacements are over and her brain can't take the damage anymore. It really doesn't help when she starts seeing an angel, who (of course) only she can see and talk to.
While some reviewers mentioned that the love triangle bothered them, it didn't for me. It is part of who Jesse is, of her choices in life and her fears. While she doesn't always make the "right" decision, it still fits her profile.
The support cast were good, Ally and even Lane were worked out sufficiently and felt real. Brinkley felt like the glue that kept it all together and kept the story moving forward.

Pacing and flow were decent. There is a good amount of conversation, and well... since this is the first book of the series that is to be expected, though the balance is pretty even between all the talking and action.
As I've said earlier on, halfway through the book there was a lull in the story, it crawled forward and at the time of reading I felt impatient for the story to continue. Things picked up not long after though and it was smooth sailing till the end :)

The book in itself is well written, some little errors here and there, but nothing that bothered me.
There is sex in this book, though not described (if that is important to you).

All in all it was a nice surprise! It was more than I have thought it would be, so yeah, I will be reading the next in the series :)

pixelateddragon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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emeraldreverie's review against another edition

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4.0

Really fascinating spin on the zombie idea. Great writing, had me hooked the entire time. I immediately and constantly wanted to know more about the world building and the characters and the plot. Definitely reading the next.

apatrick's review against another edition

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3.0

The plot was pretty good, an imaginative, but the writing just isn't that great. I enjoyed it okay, but not enough to read the second book in the series.

textandtunes's review against another edition

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4.0

Unexpectedly good!

neilsef's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

While having an interesting premise as the major plot point, people who can detect death happening in a person and then somehow take that into themselves so that that person survives while they die and reanimate in a day or so, this turned out to be enjoyable but not particularly engaging. 

I liked the characters and the interaction between them all, plus the plot was intriguing with a little bit of mystery and nicely paced. 

It's not a series I am likely to continue with, at least not in the foreseeable future, but I may pick it up again one day. 

jobatkin's review against another edition

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2.0

I was interested by the story outline for this but didn't realise it was a YA novel, so ended up being disappointed. The dialogue was constantly immature, and the motives and actions of Jesse, the main character, were confusing and inconsistent. I didn't think it flowed well or even made a lot of sense at times and I definitely didn't identify with any of the characters. Granted, I'm definitely not the target audience for the book but I wish that YA novels in general had more depth and less sassy-ness. The story idea of a mutation in humanity that allows some people to regenerate after dying and take the place of those without this mutation by dying on their behalf was original and interesting enough to keep me reading until the end, but I won't be reading the rest of the series.