Author: Ruth Silver
Genre: young adult, romance, paranormal, supernatural, fantasy
Published: April 24, 2014
Publisher: Patchwork Press
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository
Forget everything you know about grim reapers.
Princess Ophelia Dacre sneaks out of the castle to visit her boyfriend in secret. A perfect night cut short when she's brutally murdered.
Ophelia is given the rare chance to become a grim reaper. She must become Leila Bele, cut ties with her old life, and follow the rules of the reapers. Her greatest adventure begins with death.
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“Life isn’t fair. Isabella will never see another sunrise, she’ll never experience another birthday, she won’t experience a first kiss, she will never dream of a boyfriend, and she’ll never get married. She’ll forever be four. It’s tragic.” Edon wasn’t minimizing the situation; he was being brutally honest. “I don’t like it either, kid, but it’s part of life, dying.”
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After reading Ruth Silver’s Orenda, I decided not to expect so much from Dead Girl Walking. The premise is honestly good. I always want to try paranormal reads (which until now I’m still not so much into). And guess what? It turned out pretty good for me.
Dead Girl Walking is this nice YA paranormal read with a dash of subtle romance. While the story progression is a bit similar to Orenda, I still find this a much better read.
I LOVE the development of Leila. Her situation, her unfortunate death, and her life as a reaper are all nicely laid out. Leila’s a nice heroine. Not the strongest out there but really, do all heroines have to be strong and capable of A LOT of things? I don’t think so. Leila’s weakness is readily shown. She’s having difficulty over her death and the life she left. And I think that it’s all so natural. The way Silver wrote it was really good.
I like the rules of that bound the reapers and the whole reaping concept. It’s new to me so I find it unique (or maybe I just need to read more YA paranormal?). I think that everything here is clear and well explained.
Leila’s relationship with the people around her is one of the things I really love in here. There’s her relationship with her reaper team which I think isn’t so deep and can be further developed but I think that it made a nice point. They were there to guide her as a new reaper and be there for her as her new friends. Leila is a pretty difficult person because of her previous life as a princess and her reaper team was really nice to be there for her and somehow adjust for her yet at the same time, they are there to tell what she must and must not do. There’s also Leila’s relationship with her sister Mara which I really love (I really just have this weakness for lovely sibling relationships).
The development of Leila and Wynter’s relationship is subtle. Right from the very beginning, it’s quite easy to see that there’ll be a romance between the two – that Wynter likes Leila and Leila will soon like him back. It’s certainly NOT an insta-love kind of relationship. There was a lot of struggle for Leila to get over Larkin and a lot of effort from Wynter to let Leila know that he likes her.
The climax is definitely noteworthy and a bit unforgettable. It’s thrilling in a way – a bit of emotional stuff going on. The ending, on the other hand, reminded me Orenda (again). It was a bit anticlimactic but it prepares you well for the next book. It makes you know what to look forward in the next installment.
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What I Like: (1) Leila is a very lovely and likable heroine, (2) the development of Leila is nicely laid out, (3) I LOVE ALL secondary characters, (4) Wynter is just soooo unforgettable right from the very beginning!, (5) I LOVE the romance between Wynter and Leila!, (6) I LOVE the relationship between Mara and Leila (sister-to-sister relationship is really just one of the things I LOVE reading!), (7) the whole reapers and dark angel concept, (8) the climax - very unforgettable in deed
What I Didn't Like: (1) it started off slow for me but after a chapter or two I really just have to read it all the way through without stopping!, (2) the ending was a bit anticlimactic but still quite beautiful (and romantic)
~this book was provided in exchange for an honest review~
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nicely written heroine + unique reaper concept + beautiful subtle romance = GOOD READ
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About Ruth Silver
Ruth Silver first began writing poetry as a teenager and reading heaps of fan fiction in her free time. She has written under three unique pseudo names and penned well over a hundred stories.
She attended Northern Illinois University in 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication. While in college she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, "Deuces are Wild", which she self-published in 2004. Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories.
Her love of writing, led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia. Silver enjoys reading YA novels and sharing her favorite books with other readers. She runs her own book blog and also enjoys photography and traveling.
Her favorite YA genre is a mix of Dystopian & Fantasy which is evident in the upcoming release of her latest book, Aberrant. Slated for release April 2013 by Lazy Day Publishing, it is the first in a trilogy.
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