by Michelle Muto

I was warned. The story starts out with a girl attempting to commit suicide, to join her twin sister in death. The writing is very good and takes the reader into the character's mindset in a way that someone who hasn't been depressed normally wouldn't experience. The transition when she begins to realize she doesn't really want to do this is remarkable and I think would serve as a good warning for anyone who has ever contemplated suicide. Most people do change their minds when it gets too real, though for some it's too late by then.

The one thing I couldn't reconcile was disincarnate spirits having tears, letting out breath and bleeding when they don't eat or have other physical characteristics. Feeling pain might have worked on its own but too many living attributes hampered the believability.

Despite this, there was some real originality in the events and I found the story an enjoyable read. I did guess the twist at the end by halfway through, but I tend to pick up easily on the slightest hint of foreshadowing. Towards the end some of the fast action lost me a little, but overall I thought it was a good story and a well-written, enjoyable read.

Grief-stricken by the murder of her twin, Keely Morrison is convinced suicide is her ticket to eternal peace and a chance to reunite with her sister. When Keely succeeds in taking her own life, she discovers death isn’t at all what she expected.

Instead, she’s trapped in a netherworld on Earth and her only hope for reconnecting with her sister and navigating the afterlife is a bounty-hunting reaper and a sardonic, possibly unscrupulous, demon. But when the demon offers Keely her greatest temptation—revenge on her sister’s murderer—she must uncover his motives and determine who she can trust.

Because, as Keely soon learns, both reaper and demon are keeping secrets and she fears the worst is true—that her every decision will change how, and with whom, she spends eternity.

3 ½ ★

This is one of the harder books to review for me. I’m not really sure what to say without really spoiling it but I try and I make it short . I also should warn, that this book might not be for everyone. It deals with the rather sad and dark subject of suicide, teen suicide to be exact as Keely commits a pretty graphic suicide in the first chapter. When she wakes up in purgatory she finds the reaper and a demon there to escort her to hell. But it is clear very early on that there is much more going on. Keely has to be remain with Daniel and Banning until her fate for her afterlife is revealed for sure. Purgatory is not such a nice place to be and not very safe and even with Manning and Daniel by her site things start to get out of hand. Plus, both of them are keeping things from her and she does her best to figure it out and what is the truth. She also encounters some to her familiar faces, on her journey in purgatory. It is rather sad following her around and her journey as she sees firsthand how her loved ones deal with her death. She sees them grieve but also has to grieve her own death. She also meets other departed on her way. Plus Keeley wants revenge on her sister’s murderer, but as much else in the afterlife and her story it is does not go the way she may have thought. While I saw the end coming, it was still bittersweet. There were some plot holes I thought but otherwise even with the dark subject matter it was a good read and I enjoyed it and the characters .

I rate it 3 ½ ★

Quote:

“Despondency and death. A place worse than hell. There’s no Garden of Eden. God acts like he’s hands off, Lucifer has more of a say in things than I thought, angels aren’t what I’d expected, and demons….” I glanced around nervously for Daniel. “Where’s perfect peace? It’s not fair! When we die, isn’t it all supposed to be fair?"

*I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley and chose to leave a voluntary review. Thank you!

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This might take me a while, so far the book is really dark and depressing. 

   I am really liking this series. I think fans of Kate Daniels books would definitely dig these. Charley is maybe one of the biggest smartass characters I have read, and I of course, LOVE IT! She constantly has me cracking up throughout every chapter. When she dubbed her captors...

"Evil Riggs and Evil Murtaugh"

I laughed for awhile. Who doesn't like a good Lethal Weapon reference?!

And the ironic Tshirt and bumper sticker titles for each chapter are equally as entertaining for me.

     Second Grave on the Left was just as great as it's predecessor. My only real complaint was that I was hoping to have had more Reyes! He made a few appearances, but not as many as I would have liked and unfortunately not with the same sexy tone that was riddled throughout the first book. But we did get to find out more about him as a person and a supernatural entity, which was nice. The more I find out about him, only raises more questions, and I can't seem to get enough. Maybe I should join his fan club ;)

    I'm starting to truly understand that there really is never a dull day in Charley Davidson's world. While she was trying to find Reyes's corporeal body, she was also attempting to find Cookie's missing friend Mimi, which turned out to land Charley in someone's crosshairs yet again. There was also the added mystery of the dead guy that resided in Cookie's car, and some pretty revealing family drama with the Davidson's. So there was a lot going on. But with ample amounts of caffeine, gusto, and snark, Charley powered through it all. I do enjoy the multiple mysteries going on, but I also would have been happy to have maybe one or two less, to have a little more of something else in it's place. Maybe some more Reyes and Charley romance! Just sayin.

    We also get to see Charley uncover a little more of what she can do as the Grim Reaper, which as it turns out is pretty nifty!

 I think we have only just scratched the surface though, and it will probably just get more interesting from here. I really liked this book and can't wait to see what catastrophes await Charley in the following book.

  
     "There's a certain responsibility that comes with having a name like Charley Davidson. It brooks no opposition. It takes no shit from no one."

   Charley my dear, you have done your exquisite name proud. Charley was my favorite kind of heroine, brave, hilarious, tough as nails, smartass with a heart of gold. This character alone made this book awesome. And just when you thought it couldn't get anymore awesome, creeping in and out in the sexiest most mysterious fashion was, Reyes Alexander Farrow, aka tall, dark and yummy. I was practically as antsy as Charley was to find out the mystery that was Reyes. I have to say I was totally blown away by what she found! I didn't see that one coming, but it fits well, and I'm sure will make the following books even more interesting.

   I loved all of Charley's occupations. She was one busy, intriguing, little trouble magnet. She definitely surrounded herself with other interesting folks as well. I'd venture to say that there was nary a dull day in the Davidson household. Seriously even her dreams are an adventure, and oh what a ride those are! I will say she did a stellar job at getting her ass spectacularly kicked at pretty much every turn, but she always took it all in stride and kept getting back up to be inappropriately awesome another day.

   The ghosts added a real fun element to the story, particularly since Charley was the only one that could see and interact with them. The whole supernatural aspect of this book was actually quite unique. While ghosts and the people who see them are definitely not anything new, the other elements to their relationship were.

   Charley's grim reaper duties involved the spirits crossing through her to get to "the other side" wherever that may be. Her other jobs helped her aid them in wrapping up their unfinished business in this world before they crossed over, which was pretty sweet. I liked that there was a lot of things set up here for this whole world to really develop in the following books. I have a feeling we have only scratched the surface of the world of Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper, and I can't wait to see what is yet to come. I already purchased the next few books, and look forward to seeing where this series goes from here.