Novels and Necklaces: ARC Review: Shallow Graves

About the Book:

Title: Shallow Graves
Author: Kali Wallace
Pub. Date: January 26, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror
Rating: 2/5 stars

Synopsis:

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Review:

I really wish I didn't have to write this review because I had extremely high hopes for this book. Maybe that's where I ran into trouble because I set myself up for failure...I don't know. But Shallow Graves let me down in many ways. The one thing I enjoyed was the premise. It started off really well actually, and I was even more excited to dive in deep with this novel. However, after the first couple of chapters, I was left wondering

Basically, after those beginning chapters, everything went downhill. Kali Wallace plunges us right into the world that we are in with this novel with relatively no background. Normally, this doesn't bother me too much as things are explained later on in the book and everything is cleared up. That wasn't the case in this novel. I was left confused or just feeling without answers for the entire book.

As I said, the one thing I enjoyed about this novel was the premise and the beginning. It's not everyday that you have a book where a girl wakes up in a shallow grave and seeing the world through new eyes...eyes that allow her to sense murderers and well, is able to take care of things since she can't die again. I was hoping we would see more of this throughout the novel, but unfortunately we don't. Instead, we run into a cult focused on eradicating all things monster and magic. This aspect of the story was a major part of the plot line, yet it was very much underdeveloped. Even though this is such a pivotal element to the story, we only get vague information on what is actually going on. Breezy, our MC, is confused as anyone since she woke up to a world where monsters actually exist, but no one really takes the time to explain what actually is going on. And even when some characters she meets do, it's not even remotely enough for Breezy (or the reader) to fully understand the world or what is happening in this new world.

Another problem that I had with this novel was the main character, Breezy. Nothing was particularly wrong with her, but she didn't hold my interest. The situation she was in was more interesting than her to be honest, and I find that worrisome when I can't bring myself to become invested in the MC.

Ultimately, this book is forgettable. By the time I was finished reading I felt like I had more questions than answers. Nothing was really answered and the book just ended. Nothing seemed to be resolved, and I was left wondering what was the purpose of the story. Unfortunately, this book wasn't my cup of tea, and I would recommend skipping this one.