Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 03, 2010 Shannon rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: color-red, male-protagonist, novels, young-adult, werewolves, 2013, buddy-reads, urban-fantasy, ghosts, fairies

This review is mostly a lot of negatives, but I still liked this book. I wanted to give this 4 stars, I really did, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it had a lot of problems. You know that feeling you get when you're rooting for the characters and you're immersed in the world and you're frantically turning pages because you can't wait to see what happens next? You get to a certain level of emotional investment where you feel like an active participant and not just a spectator This review is mostly a lot of negatives, but I still liked this book. I wanted to give this 4 stars, I really did, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it had a lot of problems. You know that feeling you get when you're rooting for the characters and you're immersed in the world and you're frantically turning pages because you can't wait to see what happens next? You get to a certain level of emotional investment where you feel like an active participant and not just a spectator on the sidelines. Well, that didn't happen for me in this one. The characters didn't feel real enough to me, the world wasn't as well-formed as I would've liked, and there were a couple of plot points I thought only existed to artificially move along the story without actually being plausible.

First off, if point-of-view jumping bothers you, definitely steer clear of this one. Not only do we get multiple POVs (I think I counted five in total, with a brand new one showing up just a few chapters before the end,) the story shifts from first person to third person as well. Sam, the main character, is the only one we get first person POV from, and the rest of the time the chapters are told in third person subjective. Normally I'm the last one to notice POV or tense, and that could be because I'm so used to reading YA novels, but I know certain things like first person present tense POV drive people nuts (this isn't in present tense though, if that helps.) I really only noticed when the story switched from third person to first person, and I admit that was a bit jarring, but it ultimately didn't ruin the book for me. I do think this contributed to me not connecting with the characters as much as I should have though. There was too much head-hopping for me to really latch on to any one person.

A lot of the additions to the world on top of Sam's necromancy were included that I thought should have been saved for the next book. There were too many supernatural beasts, types of magic, and revelations thrown all into one novel. I thought Sam's initial story was compelling enough to hold its own and the multiple plotlines and side characters only weakened the core idea. I also found it annoying that there was so much going on and so much tossed in at once but so little was resolved in the end. I understand this is a series, but I wanted at least a little more closure than what I got.

Two things that I thought only existed to move the plot along in an implausible way: certain characters keeping important information to themselves and the villain deciding he's going to train Sam to be his apprentice. The first thing is a commonality in a lot of genre fiction but that doesn't mean I'm not sick of it. "She didn't need to know now, there was already too much going on." UGH. No, tell her. So much could be solved with simple communication. The second part is included in the description of the book so it's not a big surprise, but still, it doesn't make sense. Douglas thinks Sam isn't a threat, but I don't see at any point where Sam makes it seem like he's on Douglas's side. Sure, let's train the kid who we've threatened and terrorized to use his special powers. Or, I know, just kill him and find some hired muscle to do your dirty work instead.

I don't know how many people watched the show, Reaper , but it was a short-lived series on the CW that I thought was highly underrated and didn't deserve to be canceled. It's about (a different) Sam who finds out his parents sold his soul to the devil so he has to work for him as a bounty hunter capturing escaped souls. Sam works a crappy job at a Home Depot-like store and has a group of sidekick friends (a Latino, a chubby funny guy, and a pretty girl) and they get into mischief with all sorts of supernatural beings. Sam has special powers, an important side character gets irreparably ... damaged, and there's a certain level of slapstick comedy mixed with the macabre. (Sound familiar?) I really doubt many people watched this show, but I can't help thinking how much it compares to this book and how the show was funnier, smarter, and better. I suppose it's not fair to compare two completely different mediums like this, but it was in the back of my head the entire time. And it really made me miss Reaper.

Good lord, this is getting long and I haven't said anything about what I actually liked. I do think the series has potential. While I didn't connect with Sam, I still liked him, though I think my favorite character was Brid. Douglas was certainly an evil and malicious guy and I liked that he had an incredibly dark side to him. I'm especially curious about James though, as he seemed possibly grey-ish. Some of the other side characters towards the end intrigued me as well and I'm looking forward to what awaits them in the next book.

The end wasn't completely fulfilling though it's not a true cliffhanger so that won't annoy people who hate those with a passion. The story held my attention, I didn't actively hate anything, and I want to know what happens next. It wasn't a perfect book by any means, but I liked it enough to want to continue the series.

I also have reviews for the two short stories that McBride wrote: Heads Will Roll (Necromancer, #0.1) and Necromancer: A Novella (Necromancer, #0.5). ...more

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May 07, 2012 D.G. rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, audiobook, funny

GR ate my review!!! Argh!!!

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this book. I totally loved the combination of humor and urban fantasy and Sam was a huge hit with me (I'm totally into nice men who make me laugh, are not ashamed to love their Moms and want to do good in the world.) I though the villain came down too easily but it's within the realms of possibility.

The audiobook was hilarious - both narrators were good but the one who portrayed Sam was great. I'm definitely listening to the audio when I listen ...more

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