Almost Dead in Aussie Readers

Dec 18, 2013 Joy rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal, contemporary, 2013-goodreads-challenge, requested-review, mystery

Rating: 3.5 stars

Macey seems to have the perfect life, but behind closed doors, it’s a mess. She’s being visited by ghosts that need her help to move on, and with her brother and best friend away on holiday, Macey’s left by herself to try and solve the mystery behind super cute ghost Nick’s astral walking tendencies. With a stalker attempting to scare her, a new family she never knew about and trying to not fall on her face in front of surf god Finn, Macey’s life has completely tipped upside dow Rating: 3.5 stars

Macey seems to have the perfect life, but behind closed doors, it’s a mess. She’s being visited by ghosts that need her help to move on, and with her brother and best friend away on holiday, Macey’s left by herself to try and solve the mystery behind super cute ghost Nick’s astral walking tendencies. With a stalker attempting to scare her, a new family she never knew about and trying to not fall on her face in front of surf god Finn, Macey’s life has completely tipped upside down and it’s up to her to piece together all the connections before her stalker finally manages to harm her.

Almost Dead is set in the backdrop of Australia’s Sunshine Coast. I always feel so proud every time I pick up a new book by a author from Australia because it’s so exciting to read about places you can pinpoint. It does wonder for setting up the scene backdrops! Delaney does a wonderful job in doing justice to the Goldcoast, and I could almost imagine myself being there in person with Macey as she walked along the beach.

Macey to me was a very interesting character. I liked her personality – it was feisty, but because of her no-nonsense personality, she doesn’t have many close friends or anyone to turn to. With her mum running off, her dad halfway across the world working and her brother disappearing on holiday with her best friend, Macey often has the house to herself. Except for the ghosts that visit her. I liked that there was an explanation for Macey’s ability to see ghosts, but it still felt a little rushed and unthorough. However, that doesn’t hinder your enjoyment as her being able to see ghosts is only a small story arc.

After meeting Nick and realising that he is in fact not dead, but astral walking, Macey begins to receive messages from her very own stalker. Nick warns her that he’s there to warn her about someone trying to hurt her, and that the connection has something to do with him. From that point on, the mystery of Macey’s stalker had me hooked from beginning to end – and let me tell you I did not see it coming!

Macey is an extremely smart girl, and I found myself holding my breath every time something creepy happened to her. Delaney’s writing is so realistic you find yourself beside Macey even when you’re not trying to be. The mystery is smartly woven in with the romantic elements of Macey’s life, making me question each and every person she interacted with. Macey has to deal with a lot of drama throughout the novel, which is very smart of Delaney. Her drama acts as different decoys, making you question how everything is connected, but I’m happy to say that the ending has a nice resolution that doesn’t leave you hanging. What a relief!

If I had to nitpick, I would have to say that I didn’t enjoy how Delaney attempted to create a love-triangle between Macey, Finn and Nick. It felt really forced, and didn’t eventually happen but I felt myself inwardly groan every time hints of it occurred. Nick as a whole felt really one-dimensional, and the ghosty element felt a lot like a plot point that was thrown in to attract the paranormal-genre readers. I understand why it was used, but I think the story would have been just as good without Macey’s ability to see ghosts.

At the beginning of the novel, I expected Almost Dead to be just like Meg Cabot’s ‘The Mediator’ series, but it’s nice to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how different it is. I thoroughly enjoyed this book a lot, and if you like high school mysteries with some glitz and glamour, then definitely pick this one up next year!

Thank you to Allen & Unwin Australia for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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  You can find this review and many more like it at Thoughts By J!

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Dec 08, 2013 Keely rated it really liked it

Shelves: for-review

Almost Dead is the new YA book from Kaz Delaney it is also some what of a companion to her other YA book Dead, Actually with some of the characters re-appearing. We follow Macey who for the last month has been seeing spirits and this time this spirit is insisting that they are still alive.

Nick is the lead singer of the band Pashton that Macey slammed on her blog about the lyrics not being original etc. and now Nick is in a coma after a car accident and people are starting to blame Macey. Nick kn Almost Dead is the new YA book from Kaz Delaney it is also some what of a companion to her other YA book Dead, Actually with some of the characters re-appearing. We follow Macey who for the last month has been seeing spirits and this time this spirit is insisting that they are still alive.

Nick is the lead singer of the band Pashton that Macey slammed on her blog about the lyrics not being original etc. and now Nick is in a coma after a car accident and people are starting to blame Macey. Nick knows Macey is in trouble but doesn't know who is doing it and wants her to have help from Finn his cousin.

Macey really has a bad week this in this book, her mother leaves her father, she finds out that her dad has another family so she has a half-sister and someone is stalking her. With her best friend Willow and her brother together out of the country she has no one to turn to now that she knows about her father's other family.

Finn is a champion surfer laid back, portrayed as a beach bum but knows how to look after a girl. He helps Macey through everything that she is going through and also knowing that Nick is around makes him feel slightly better.

The girls at Macey's private school are your typical snobby rich kids and Macey doesn't trust any of them. Even when they start hanging around because of the stalker. The relationship in this book progress a lot between the girls and Macey, Macey and her sister and the destruction of the relationship between Macey and her father which eventually is back to normal mainly because Macey is quite stubborn. They all play an important part in the story as the book goes on.

The revelation of the stalker was quite a shock even when I already had guessed who one of them was. It is a great story keeps you guessing and it being set in Australia was another great perk! Almost Dead is a different YA paranormal romance set on the Gold Coast which sucks you in until you have finished the book completely!

Thanks to Allen and Unwin Australia for the review copy!
Rating: 4/5

Keely xx ...more

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