Starred Review Breezy Lin has been dead and buried for a year rdered and tossed into a shallow grave. So when she wakes up and claws her way out, no one is more surprised than she. She may not remember the last year, but she does remember the events leading to her murder. Worse, she suddenly finds herself possessing creepy powers: she can sense when someone has killed, and she can use that darkness to kill them. Also, she can't die (again), and it's not for lack of trying. Confused and alone, Breezy soon finds herself caught in a dangerous web of monsters and monster hunters, and she's not sure where she fits into that equation or if she has any chance of being redeemed. In a surprisingly nuanced first novel, Wallace draws on mythology from various cultures to create her monsters, and the monsters themselves ouls, revenants, nightmares e hardly standard. Asian, bisexual Breezy, who fought with her friends and dreamed of being an astronaut, is a well-drawn, melancholy heroine whose mourning for the life she lost is equally as compelling as her afterlife. It's a fast-paced story with an interesting hook, and a thoughtful look at what it means to be human versus what it means to be a monster. The end result is a superbly crafted debut bound to entrance.

Breezy knows she's undead but not much else. Why can she identify murderers, kill with a touch, and steal memories? Breezy explores the grim world of paranormal creatures--including monsters worse than herself--but can't progress in her new existence until she faces the truth about her death. Wallace tenderly herds Breezy from avoidance to acceptance in a satisfyingly bittersweet ending.

Monsters, magic, and murder make up this mysterious thriller. One minute Breezy is a normal teenage girl at a party, the next she is waking up in a shallow grave with a ring of bruises around her neck. Her memories are vague and confusing, but she is able to piece together that it has been a year since she was at the party and that she is not alive anymoreat least not in the traditional sense. She still has a heartbeat, she can still breathe, and she can still eat; however, she can stop all of those and continue to exist. Another thing she has discovered is that she can sense when she is in the presence of a murderer, and she has a strong desire to kill murderers. Her goal is to find out who killed her and to learn what exactly she has become, but the evil forces that could give her the answers she wants could be more dangerous than living with what she is.While promising at first, the ending of the story fails to deliver. The first sentence hooks the reader with a need to know how Breezy died and what the extent of her undead powers are. However, the story loses momentum as the plot slowly reaches its climax. Eventually, the reader learns that Breezy has known all along who murdered her, and the resolution leaves her with no idea how she will spend her life as a monster. This is recommended strictly as an additional purchase where supernatural thrillers are popular.Lynndy Hurdle.