Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
So – I read this for my 2nd book club. My YA book club. This is the first book in the series, and while I was immediately taken with the title (because, really? hee!), when I first started the book, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it.
The writing style is a bit juvenile, and although it’s a YA book, since there’s sex and violence (and necromancy), one would expect the book to have a more A than Y tone. BUT, as the book went on, the story, although not complex, engaged me, and I was able to move past my initial reservations about the writing and just enjoy the ride.
The Story
Sam (short for Samhain) is a college dropout who works at a local Seattle fast food joint. His co-workers include best friend from birth (or at least 5th grade) Ramon, junior employee Frank, and Brooke – who the boys are torn between lusting after and protecting like a sister.
A quick game of parking lot hockey (with brooms and a potato, natch – this fast food joint must actually cut their own fries – FANCY) results in a Mercedes with a broken taillight. When the owner comes in, he spots Sam, asks some inexplicable questions, makes some vague threats, and starts Sam’s (and the other characters) down a twisted path of death, destruction, and a first-hand glimpse into the magical world that they never suspected existed.
Sam finds out that he’s a necromancer, and the meanie car owner (Douglas Montgomery) offers to take him as an apprentice. This offer seems a bit sketchy (due to the violence inherent in the system perpetrated against Sam & his friends as motivational tools), and when Sam visits his mom to find out what she knows about this, he finds out that she was not only aware of his necromantic tendencies, but that she’s a witch who’s been trying (and lying) to protect him all these years.
Douglas Montgomery is up to more than just trying to take a new apprentice, and his minion (a werewolf named Michael) accidentally kidnaps the daughter – and heir – of the leader of the fey hounds. She is half fey hound & half werewolf, and when she is thrown together with Sam, their lives get pretty interesting.
The Score
Romance/Sexytimes: B+ – for a YA book, there was a bit of steamyness. Apparently throwing together a half were wolf who needs a LOT of physical activity to stay sane (and to not eat people) with an impressionable young man leads to…exactly where you’d think. Hee.
Writing: B – Like I mentioned above, the writing didn’t thrill me. I mean, it’s not Twilight bad or anything. The author seems to have a decent grasp of how sentences work, but it wasn’t what I would necessarily call really good or anything. It was an enjoyable story, though.
Paranormality: A- – I love me a book with secret magical worlds that the protagonist must discover. The magical hierarchy and world were not well-developed, more just taken as fact. I would’ve liked to see more, but I’m assuming there will be sequels (if there’s not already – I should look into that), that might do more world-building.
Book Score: B+ It was an enjoyable story. A light & easy read. Nothing earth-shattering or ground breaking, or even thought-provoking, but pleasant, interesting, engaging, and, well, werewolves! – I love werewolves!
