Thursday, July 26, 2012

Review of Something Strange and Deadly

Goodreads Summary: "There’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance."

 As a whole the Victorian Age isn't one where women are at their best. But Eleanor, Miss Fitt, is not your average Victorian woman. When we first meet Eleanor she is an idealistic girl and by the end you see a glimpse of the young woman she will grow to be. And I loved her from beginning to end. There was just something about her, about her story, and just everything about her that won me over. She was a great heroine and I loved her self-journey to realizing that about herself.

Daniel was the absolute swooniest. Why yes, that is now a word. In him I found my Victorian (fictional) boyfriend. After having read Defiance by C.J. Redwine I have a soft spot for inventors and Daniel is firmly in that category. A clever lad with a rough past (A bad boy! You know how I feel about those.) and a hopeful future. The kind of guy who may have started off on the wrong foot but it trekking around for the right path. The kind of guy that is rough around the edges, a diamond in the rough so to speak. Major boyfriend potential here. <3

Okay. So Something Strange and Deadly is a Victorian tale of zombies, the walking dead, the  undead, or The Dead. Though I'm super interested in these creatures I haven't read much of them beyond Carrie Ryan's trilogy (and my my boyfriend's first volume of The Walking Dead). So I'm pretty new to zombies as a whole. They're kind of creeptastic and I think Susan Dennard did a good job with them.

The action is believable. There's a mystery. There's romance. There's friendship. There is feminism, or at least the realization that their is more than one path available for women even in the Victorian Age. Basically, Something Strange and Deadly has a hell of a lot of awesome going for it.

The ending was so bittersweet. I was tearing up as I clicked through (I was reading on my Kindle) the last few pages of the final chapter of Something Strange and Deadly wishing that there was more, wishing that there was another ending, wishing, just wishing. I wanted more. I wanted...as I always want, for the main character to get everything she had ever dreamed of. But that is what sequels are for, and as such, I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series.


Rating: 4.5/5

I received an E-ARC of this novel courtesy of Edelweiss and Harper Teen in exchange for a fair and honest review of the material, this in no way influenced my review.

2 comments:

  1. Yay, I'm so glad that you enjoyed this one Ash!! I love how you used the word swooniest, I definitely think that needs to be added to the dictionary. ;) I think I'll start a Twitter campaign about that... Anyways, characters are super important for me, so I'm so happy that you loved Eleanor and Daniel! I can already tell that I'll really love Eleanor. =) I also haven't read too many zombie books, and have yet to find one that I really love, so I'm hoping that maybe this book will do that for me.

    Fabulous review Ash! I'm definitely looking forward to picking up a copy of this one! <3

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  2. Personally I am amazed that swooniest hasn't popped up all over in the YA world, I mean, we have the swooniest guys EVER. <3 [Lemme know if you ever do that campaign. ;)]

    Characters are super important for me too so I always try and break 'em down when I write my reviews. They kind of make or break a book for me so I figure I can't be the only one that thinks that way. Glad to find out for sure that I'm not!

    Thank you! <3

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