Book Review -- Graveminder

Title: Graveminder
Author: Melissa Marr
Genre: Fiction, possible urban fantasy
Pages: Hardback, 324
Published: 2011
Opening Lines: "Maylene put one hand atop the stone for support; pulling herself up from the soil got harder every year. Her knees had been problem enough, but of late the arthritis had started settling in her hips."

"Three sips to mind the dead . . . Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the small town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each one Rebekkah had watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: She took three sips from a silver flask and spoke the words 'Sleep well, and stay where I put you.'

"Now Maylene is dead, and Bek must go back to the place she left a decade earlier. She soon discovers that Claysville is not just the sleepy town she remembers, and that Maylene had good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in Claysville the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected; beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, a.k.a. Mr. D. If the dead are not properly cared for, they will come back to satiate themselves with food, drink, and stories from the land of the living. Only the Graveminder, by tradition a Barrow woman, and her Undertaker -- in this case Byron Montgomery, with whom Bek shares a complicated past -- can set things right once the dead being to walk.

"Although she is still grieving Maylene, Rebekkah will soon find that she has more than a funeral to attend to it Claysville, and that what awaits her may be far worse: dark secrets, a centuries-old bargain, a romance that still haunts her, and a frightening new responsibility -- to stop a monster and put the dead to rest where they belong."
~ Jacket copy

Thoughts: Admittedly, I was a little wary of this book. The concept was really, really intriguing, so I couldn't stop myself from picking it up. However, after reading the first two books in Marr's other series, I was really concerned that this book would end up just as poorly written, badly paced, etc. Surprisingly, I was wrong!

From the opening of this book, I was caught. But I'll start with the bad nonetheless. First, I am beginning to wonder where publishing companies are picking up their editors. I cannot even begin to explain my frustration when Rebekkah was spelled differently in the same paragraph! That shouldn't have skipped an editor's attention. Throughout the book, there were a number of editing mistakes. To me, it really distracts from the book. Also, she would mention several things that were quite interesting, but never really flesh them out or go into them in depth. I wonder if she is planning to use them in another book . . . Further, she did not spend enough time talking about the unwritten contract and everything surrounding that. It is such in integral part of the story, I felt something was missing. With Daisha, I wondered about her change in the last part of the book. I wish that was explained a little more. Plus, a little more resistance/conflict would have been nice.

Aside from that, I loved the book! Marr did a good job fleshing out Rebekkah and Byron, and gave the secondary characters enough depth to keep them from being flat. I really liked that she used drinking with Mr. D as a big deal. I was reminded of Persephone when she was brought to Hades. The existence of a long standing unwritten contract between Mr. D and the town founders created an awesome back story.

I like how the story ultimately ended, but I'm not sure how I feel about the culprit. It made a certain amount of sense; however, part of be didn't want to buy it. All in all, I still enjoyed the story!


Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Currently: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Current Pages: 14136
Current Progress:
39/50 books



Sinn

No comments:

Post a Comment

I comment in the thread. Please subscribe to receive my comments and the things other awesome people have to say ^_^

Search

Categories

'70s (1) '80s (1) '90s (1) 1 skull (7) 100 followers giveaway (2) 14 (1) 1980's horror (1) 2 skulls (21) 2011 in review (1) 2012 (1) 3 skulls (29) 3 stars (1) 4 skulls (33) 4 stars (1) 5 skulls (50) 5 stars (1) 50 books in 2011 (1) 5skulls (1) 80s nostalgia (1) a court of mist and fury (1) a court of thorns and roses (1) a local habitation (1) a perfect blood (1) a rush of wings (1) abuse (1) adam nevill (1) adam neville (1) adrian phoenix (2) adults only (3) after the ending (1) alice's adventures in wonderland (1) alien invasion (1) alien invation (1) aliens (3) aliens: earth hive (1) ally condie (2) alma katsu (1) amanda ashby (1) amy lukavics (2) anastasia (1) andrea cremer (1) ania ahlborn (3) annie walls (1) antarctica (1) antebellum (1) anthology (1) apocalypse (2) apocalypse watch 2012 (9) arc (2) ashfall (1) audio book (8) author interview (3) autobiography (1) award (3) bag of bones (1) batman (1) bdsm (5) beast fable (1) beautiful creatures (1) beautiful darkness (1) beauty and the beast (2) becca fitzpatrick (1) bentley little (1) best of 2011 (1) bethany griffin (1) beverly kills (1) biography (1) bird box (1) bisexuality (1) bite club (1) black magic sanction (1) blog award (1) blog layouts (1) blogoversary (2) blood rights (1) blood rights vampires kristen painter (1) blood rites (1) bloodfever (1) bloody mary (1) bob marley (1) Book Beginnings (2) book blogger hop (5) book challenge (7) book club (1) book review (146) book review suzanne collins (5) book review urban fantasy (2) book reviw (1) book tour (6) brenna yovanoff (1) brian asman (1) brian keene (1) brother (1) bullet for my valentine (1) business (1) c.e. murphy (1) caitlin r. kiernan (1) cameron dokey (1) cameron roubique (1) campy horror (2) Candace Welsh (1) cannibalism (1) carrie ryan (3) carrie vaughn (2) catching fire (1) catholic (1) catriona ward (1) cenobites (1) censorship (1) charlaine harris (2) charlene teglia (1) charlie higson (1) cherie feather (1) cherokee nattion (1) Chic and Sassy Designs (1) children of paranoia (1) china (1) chivalry (1) chris wooding (1) christopher moore (1) cinder (1) cinderella (2) civil war (1) claimed by the wolf (1) claire thompson (1) classics (3) clive barker (1) cold (1) comedic horror (3) comfort food (1) comfort foods (1) comic (2) coming of age (1) commenting (1) contagious (1) contemporary (3) conversation (1) cooking (1) courtly lover (1) Courtney Crumin and the Night Things (1) courtney summers (1) coyote (1) coyote blue (1) craig johnson (1) crime fiction (1) crime thriller (1) crossed (1) crossover (1) crow (1) cuckoo song (1) cyborg (1) D/s (1) dan wells (1) dana fredsti (1) Daniel Volpe (1) dante (1) dare (1) dark fantasy (2) darkfever (1) dathan auerbach (1) daughter of smoke and bone (1) daughters unto devils (1) David Clement-Davies (1) david hahn (1) david oliver relin (1) david tischman (1) days of blood & starlight (1) dd barant (1) dead (1) dead beat (1) dead light (1) dead on the delta (1) dead until dark (1) deadly night (1) dean koontz (2) dearly departed (1) death masks (1) deliverance (1) demon hunts (2) demon possession (2) demonic (1) demons (3) devil (1) diana rowland (3) DID (1) dirty little secret (1) disaster (1) disco deathtrap (1) discount armageddon (1) discussion (1) disliking a book (1) disqus (1) DMC: Devil May Cry (1) DNF (1) dnf skull (2) dreamfever (1) dresden files (3) duncan ralston (1) dust and decay (1) dying bites (1) dystopian fiction (7) e-book (1) e.l. james (3) eat slay love (1) edgar allan poe (1) education (1) elissa wall (1) elizabeth reuter (1) ellen potter (1) Emily Lloyd-Jones (1) England (1) erin a craig (1) ernest cline (1) erotica (10) even white trash zombies get the blues (1) exorcism (1) extreme horror (1) f. paul wilson (1) fae (6) faefever (1) faeries (2) fahrenheit 451 (1) fairies (1) fairy tales (3) fantasy (5) feed (1) female protagonist (1) fiction (8) fiction with zombies (5) fifty shades darker (1) fifty shades freed (1) fifty shades of grey (1) fighting to survive (1) film tie-in (1) final girls (1) fire baptized (1) first days (1) first days: as the world dies (1) flds (1) flesh and bone (1) follow friday (36) following (1) fool moon (1) Fragile (1) frances hardinge (1) FrankenDom (1) frostbitten (1) frozen (1) funny (1) furiously happy (1) gabriel's inferno (1) gabriel's rapture (1) game reboot (1) gargoyle (1) garth ennis (1) garth nix (1) geek (1) georgina kincaid (1) gerald's game (1) gfc (1) ghost hunters (1) ghost shadow (1) ghost story (4) ghost trackers (1) ghost walk (1) ghostland (1) ghosts (1) giveaway (7) godsmack (1) google reader (1) gothic (3) government (1) Grady Hendrix (3) grant wilson (1) graphic novel (8) grave peril (1) graveminder (1) greg mortenson (1) grim (1) guest post (3) gypsies tramps and thieves (1) halfway to the grave (1) Halloween (1) hammer of thor (1) haunted asylum (1) haunted house (4) heather blake (1) heather graham (2) Heather Morris (1) heavy metal (1) hellraiser (1) henry james (1) high school (1) hillybilly (1) historical (1) historical fiction (4) history (3) holiday (1) Holocaust (2) home before dark (1) horns (1) horror (37) horror/urban fantasy reading challenge (12) horror/urban fantasy reaing challenge (1) horrorstör (1) howard chaykin (1) humor (1) hush hush (2) IKEA (1) imm (1) in my mailbox (1) in the blood (1) infected (1) internet blackout (1) irresistibly sweet blog award (1) isaac marion (1) islam (1) isolation (1) it takes a witch (1) jane was here (1) jason hawes (1) jaye wells (1) jeaniene frost (6) jeff hirsch (1) jeffery deaver (1) jennifer blood (1) jenny lawson (1) jesse petersen (3) jim butcher (10) jodi lynn anderson (1) joe hill (2) jonathan maberry (3) joseph spencer (2) josh malerman (1) jrr tolkien (1) juneau (1) k (1) kami garcia (2) karen marie moning (5) kate williams (1) Katherine howe (1) katie alender (1) kelley armstrong (1) kenya wright (1) key west (1) kim harrison (3) kindle (1) kitty and the dead man's hand (1) kitty and the silver bullet (1) kitty thomas (1) kresley cole (1) l. frank baum (1) laini taylor (2) Lale Sokolov (1) late night (7) Laura André (1) Lazy Sunday (1) leaving (1) lee hunt (1) lee roland (1) lesbian (2) lia habel (1) liebster blog award (1) liesel hill (2) limerick (1) Lisa Unger (1) lit rpg (1) little red riding hood (1) living dead in dallas (1) lolita (1) longmire (1) lost and forgotten languages of shanghai (1) lovecraftian (1) madeline sheehan (1) mages (1) magic (1) malice (1) man fuck this house (1) margaret stohl (2) marilyn mason (1) marissa meyer (1) mark of the demon (1) married with zombies (1) masque of the red death (1) matched (1) matched series (1) matt baglio (1) matt shaw (1) MC (1) Melissa Marr (1) mental illness (2) meteor (1) Michael Vey the Prisoner of Cell 25 (1) middle east (1) midnight blue-light special (1) mike mullin (1) mike pace (1) mira grant (1) Mockingjay (1) monstrumology (1) monthly wrap-up (2) moon called (1) motorcycle (1) movie casting (1) movie review (1) muisc (1) my book boyfriend (3) my life as a white trash zombie (1) my wishlist saturday (1) mystery (11) mythology (2) naomi novik (1) native americans (1) nazi germany (1) necromancy (1) neil gaiman (3) nerd (1) new adult (2) new blog (1) new orleans (1) new year (1) night huntress series (1) nightlife (1) nightshade (1) non-fiction (4) nos4a2 (1) nyc (1) old kingdom series (1) on my wishlist (1) one grave at a time (1) opinion (1) order of the gash (1) pakistan (1) pale demon (1) parallel dimensions (1) paranormal (2) paranormal romance (11) partials (1) pass slowly (1) patricia briggs (2) paul kane (1) percy jackson (1) persistence of vision (2) peter clines (1) peter straub (3) philippa gregory (1) pinterest (1) plague town (1) podcast (2) podiobook (1) poison princess (1) police (1) political thriller (1) post-apocalyptic (10) post-WWI (1) promo (2) promo blitz (3) proven guilty (1) PSA (1) puppy (1) quote (1) r (1) R.A.K. (1) rachel morgan (1) random acts of kindess (1) ravenhurst (1) ray bradbury (1) ray chen smith (1) re-read (1) reading challenge (2) ready player one (1) red-headed stepchild (1) resident evil 6 (1) retelling (6) retellings (3) review (7) rhiannon frater (3) richard paul evans. 3 skulls (1) richelle mead (3) rick riordan (1) rick yancey (3) riley sager (1) rob thurman (1) robbie dorman (1) Robin L Rotham (1) rockabilly (1) romance (2) rosamund hodge (1) rosemary and rue (1) ruiyan xu (1) rumpelstiltskin (1) rusty fiischer (1) ryan c. thomas (1) s. evan townsend (1) s.g. browne (1) salem witch trials (1) sandman (1) sara gruen (1) sarah j maas (2) sarah kernochan (1) schools (1) sci-fi (7) scott sigler (2) sean mcdonough (1) seanan mcguire (4) seether (1) serial killer (1) sexuality (1) shadowfever (1) shaman (1) Shawn Sarles (1) sherlock holmes (1) sight (1) silk (1) simon holt (1) sinnful 2¢ (3) slasher (4) slasher horror (2) slavery (1) slippage (1) smallpox (1) song (1) SOPA (1) Soulstice (1) soundtrack (1) speculative fiction (1) spinning silver (1) stacey jay (1) stacking the shelves (1) stalker (1) steampunk (2) stephanie meyer (1) stephen ayers (1) stephen king (3) Stephen King project (1) steve perry (1) stolen innocence (1) stop online piracy act (1) storm born (1) stylish blogger award (1) submission (1) succubus blues (1) succubus on top (1) summer knight (1) summer reads (1) supernatural (1) supernatural suspense (1) susan beth pfeffer (3) susanne winnacker (1) suspense (3) sylvian reynard (2) T (1) taking on the dead (1) tami jackson (1) TAPS (1) TBR pile (1) tears don't fall (1) teaser tuesday (39) technical difficulties (3) ted naifeh (1) texas chainsaw massacre (1) the auction (1) the babysitters coven (1) The Bone Collector (1) the car thief (1) the cold dish (1) the dark and hollow places (2) the dead and the gone (1) the dead girls of hysteria hall (1) the dead-tossed waves (2) the demon of renaissance drive (1) the divine comedy (1) the donner party (1) the eleventh plague (1) the enemy (1) the forest of hands and teeth (2) the game (1) the haunted (1) the hobbit (1) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (1) the house of salt and sorrows (1) the hunger (1) the hunger games (2) the isle of blood (1) the jazz cage (1) the kneebone boy (1) the lady of the rivers (1) the last house on needless street (1) the monstrumologist (1) the other life (1) the physick book of deliverance dane (1) the replacement (1) the rite: the making of a modern exorcist (1) the sandman (1) the sight (1) the summer i died (1) the taba convention (1) the taken (1) the talisman (1) the tomb (1) the vampire of new york (1) the women in the walls (1) the wonderful wizard of oz (1) theme song saturday (65) Theme Thursday (15) theodore weesner (1) theories (1) this is not a test (1) this world we live in (1) three little birds (1) thriller (6) tiger lily (1) toby venables (1) tomb raider 2013 (1) tomes of the dead: viking dead (1) top ten tuesday (1) trevor shane (1) trickster god (1) truth or dare friday (2) twilight (2) undead (1) undeniable (1) underneath (1) unrate (1) update (6) updates (1) urban fantasy (54) vacation (1) valentine's day (1) vampires (10) vanyel ashkevron (1) versatile blogger award (1) vicki pettersson (1) video game review (3) video games (1) vikings (2) viper moon (1) vladimir nabokov (1) volcano (1) voodoo (1) waiting on wednesday (1) war of southern independence (1) war of the roses (1) warm bodies (1) water for elephants (1) werewolf (1) werewolves (4) western (1) what maisie knew (1) whispered truth (1) white night (1) winner (2) winners (1) witch (2) wrong turn (1) wyoming (1) YA (17) YA adventure (3) ya comedic horror (1) YA contemporary fiction (1) ya dark fantasy (1) YA dystopia (1) YA fantasy (6) YA fiction (22) YA historical fiction (1) ya horror (6) ya issues (1) YA mystery (1) YA paranormal romance (2) ya post-apocalyptic (14) ya retelling (1) ya retellings (1) YA romance (4) ya sci-fi (1) YA series (14) YA supernatural (1) YA supernatural romance (2) YA suspense (2) YA urban fantasy (2) ya with zombies (1) yellowstone national parl (1) zombie month (12) zombie music and movies (1) zombie queen of newbury high (1) zombies (24) zombies don't cry (1)

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab my Badge

Sinnful Books
 

Follow Me!

Follow on Bloglovin
Follow on Bloglovin

Followers

Linky Followers

Reading Addiction Blog Tours

Contributors

My Photo
"If you’re a freak like me, Wave your flag! If you’re a freak like me, Get off your ass! It’s our time now, To let it all hang out!" I am a recovering English major, closet bibliophile, breve addicted, zombie lover with a rockabilly and heavy metal fetish.
MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected