Paranormal / Fantasy Review: Gotta Love "Graveminder"

Author:  Melissa Marr
Narration:  Emma Galvin
Format:  Audiobook
Length:  10hrs 25mins
Publisher:  Dreamscape Media LLC
Age Range:  Adult
Rating:  5 of 5 Stars


The New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series delivers her first novel for adults, a story about the living, the dead, and a curse that binds them.

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn’t a funeral that Maylene didn’t attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place—and the man—she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D—a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.  -Goodreads

     This book takes the phrase "a pawn in the game of life" to a whole new level.  Particularly when the entity playing the game is Death himself.  (AKA Mr. D) 
All Rebekkah did was to come home to bury her grandmother.  She had no intention of falling in love, being the object of family jealousies and hatreds, or becoming the guardian of the dead for an entire town.   SERIOUSLY????
     I started the book thinking love story...bring on the heavy panting.  Then the dysfunction started.
This book had it all.  Family freak outs, commitment  phobias, work related stress, and walking flesh-eating zombies with homicidal tendencies.
My favorite part of the story was the Hades and Persephonesque interaction between Mr D and Bekkah.
I also liked the "just desserts" aspect at the end.
This book is very well written and the plot integrity is very well maintained throughout the story's course.  Though this story is written for adults, there is not the abundance of sex or cursing that  "adult" novels often contain.  Thank you soooo very much for that!
I really look forward to more adult novels from Ms. Marr
     I listened to this book in audiobook format and loved the narration of Emma Galvin.  If at all possible...take a listen.

3 comments:

  1. eh girl! as I don't have access to audio I have placed a hold at my local library for this book so that I can check it out. :)

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  2. All I really needed to read that this was a book involving Death. Thanks for the review!

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  3. This sounds like a great book! I'm always looking for something good to read, thanks for your review!
    jackieinmi67@gmail.com

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