Book Review: She Smells the Dead

She Smells the Dead  (Spirit Guide #1)
by E.J. Stevens
Kindle Edition
Published August 19th 2010 by Sacred Oaks Press
Source: Author
Buy the book: Amazon| Book Depository

Summary:

It's the beginning of senior year and Yuki's psychic awareness of ghostly spirits is threatening to ruin her life. Her ability to sense spirits of the dead isn't glamorous like the ghost hunting on television.

SHE SMELLS THE DEAD.

The smell impressions are becoming stronger. Yuki is being visited in her dreams, and she suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. To make matters worse her crush on Garrett is going unrequited, Yuki's friend Emma is on a rampage against bee oppression, and Calvin Miller mysteriously disappears.

Will Yuki be able to focus her powers in time to save the lost soul who is haunting her? Meanwhile, who will save Yuki from following the spirits into the light?

Review:

She Smells the Dead has the type of premise that is intriguing and something that would surely appeal to teens. The characters are funny and easy to like, especially Yuki. Although I might be biased because we share the same love for anime. She dresses the way she wants and doesn't care what other people say about her. She has two best friends, Cal and Emma, who are both hilarious and real good friends. The first part was generally enjoyable. However, I can't say the same about the second part.

While I love books with fast-moving plot, I didn't like how fast the story went in the book. It almost seemed rushed to me. The case of the dead person in the "bee overlord's" house which I thought was a major conflict in the book ended too abruptly, which was both disappointing and baffling since the first part of the book seemed to have its focus on that case, and also because I was really looking forward to how Yuki would solve the case. The romance was abrupt as well. One moment, Yuki was pining after Garrett and later, when she found out that Cal was in love with her, it only took a snap before she realized that she, too, was in love with him. (?)

I was surprised too when I found out the truth about Cal. I thought it was contrived. There were so many things happening in the book and all those could have worked together very well if they were written in more details. And the ending? I think it was supposed to make the readers more excited for the second book. But to be honest, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. It was so sudden and it just left me more confused than ever.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Disclosure: This e-book was received from the author for free in exchange for an honest review.