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Once Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery, #1)

Kim Harrison

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Aug 03, 2009 Seth rated it did not like it

Shelves: sf-f-h, crap, modernfantasy

I read it. It was the first thing by Harrison I almost didn't finish(1). But since it's a one-crap(2), I went ahead.

Sadly, it's flat, predictable, formulaic, and lacks all of Harrison's great interpersonal conflict and understanding. The setting and subject are stock, the characters are from the Urban Fantasy Rent-A-Character Temp Agency, and the final tableau can be predicted from about page 50, with each new character having an obvious place in the resolution so as to maximize easy sequels.

Ter I read it. It was the first thing by Harrison I almost didn't finish(1). But since it's a one-crap(2), I went ahead.

Sadly, it's flat, predictable, formulaic, and lacks all of Harrison's great interpersonal conflict and understanding. The setting and subject are stock, the characters are from the Urban Fantasy Rent-A-Character Temp Agency, and the final tableau can be predicted from about page 50, with each new character having an obvious place in the resolution so as to maximize easy sequels.

Terry Pratchett says that writing YA only requires simplifying the sentence structure(3). Whoever advised Harrison on this suggested simplifying the characters, plot, setting, and conflict instead.

Having said that, if you're a completist you'll get it anyway (I did, after all). If you can bear to, wait for the paperback, although I could see this one never making it to pb.

I hate saying all this. Harrison has been my favorite new writer since I picked up DWW right after it appeared. But what I love about her writing is all missing from ODTS(4).

Some people worry that readers who missed the prequel, a short in Prom Nights From Hell will be lost at first. I haven't read the short, but I thought the backstory was explained in loads of detail. Repeatedly. Over and over. Redundantly, even. I had no trouble following the extremely trite setup(5) and I can overlook the cut-and-paste exposition; she could learn to do more recap in the Hollows books, after all.

One thing that might ameliorate my disappointment would be to recategorize ODTS as Independent Reader rather than Young Adult. When they're separated (which not every outlet or library does), IR targets a younger audience (pre-tween) and expectations are significantly lower. Sadly, it's listed and shelved as YA everywhere I've looked.

1) one-crap: a book easily finished in one sitting; this does not imply a sitting short enough to do in the bathroom, it's just a silly phrase

2) I rarely give up on books in the middle (see my "couldn't finish" shelf, for example), but I do put books down indefinitely, intending to return to them. And I usually do return to them. In this case, I almost put it on my "couldn't finish" shelf.

3) And in Pratchett's case, writing for slightly less-young readers and not targeted to the Unchallenging Twilight Ripoffs crowd, increasing the violence.

4) Actually, all the things I love about her writing are also missing from the back third of WWBC. I had assumed she was taking shortcuts and easy outs so she could concentrate on ODTS, but ODTS clearly required little concentration.

5) She went to the prom with a guy she didn't know and he treated her poorly [clearly: Crush Interest Number One]. Hot, dashing guy [obvious villain:] swoops in, plays tonsil-tango, and tries to kill her. I-Hate-Him-So-I'll-Love-Him shows up and watches Hunky Villain try a second time and succeed. Protagonist, now dead, realizes she has limited series potential and wakes up. Proceed to multi-book deal, do not pass cliche check, do collect advance check. There, now you've read the short story, minus any good writing Harrison used. All other content can be summarized as "{insert teenage angst; copy from any other series and file off the serial numbers}." ...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Lorena rated it did not like it

Pretty terrible. I find it baffling when an author whose adult writing I enjoy comes out with a YA series that is totally unrecognizable as the work of the same person. I understand taking out some of the racier or more luridly violent elements of the The Hollows series for a younger audience, but why take out all semblance of a fully-developed plot? It read more like a rough outline for a story than a fully-realized book.

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