How to Save an Undead Life (The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy Book 1)

Review may contain spoilers... When there is a book I cannot stop thinking of and want to reread it you know it is good. The good: I haven’t read many book with necromancy in characters. Hailey has definitely created a whole new world that is thrilling and you cannot wait to hear more about. The high society vs. the low society and how they correlate to the human world. They make vampires from doing rituals on humans and aren’t making armies of undead humans like other necromancy characters. That is how they make there money and what separates high society from low society. The mystery surrounding the deceased is just too good! Who would kill one of the best necromancers. It makes you want to keep reading to find out what really happen. What is Grier having nightmares about?!? The characters are more than one dimension. You get to know them in this book, what makes them tick, what makes them happy, sad and what motivates them. It makes the reader want to continue learning more about them and grow with them. Grier is very well written, I like that Hailey incorporated her past personality and how she has grown into the woman she is today. She is funny, sassy, and apathetic. Of course I was drawn to her cause she was fresh out of prison and rides a motorcycle. Very intriguing! The bad guy was a little predictable but still thrilling. It is the first time you see Grier fight back and what she is capable of! The meh: The first time I read the book, it was a struggle to get through the first 2 chapters but I am so glad I stuck with it. Turned out to be one of my favorite series. The introductory was rough, it throws you into the world without any explanation. I was left wondering what Woolly was, what Boaz and Amelie relation to Grier was. Is it a necromantic world, human world? How do regular humans fit in. All these questions were answered to an extent but I had to reread the first couple of chapters for it to make since. This is the first book of the series and leaves you with a lot of questions which is fine (although as I have read the other books, unfortunately I am still left with some plenty questions) Can’t wait to read more. Hailey is an amazing writer and this series draws you in. Definitely recommend!!

A necromancer underdog heroine starting over sounded like an intriguing story not to mention several book pals really enjoy this series so I was glad to pick this one up and dive in. How to Save an Undead Life is the first book in a series, but I felt like it dove into the middle of a story arc. Grier is recently out of the magic world's version of prison for murdering her aunt and the horrors of her imprisonment are still with her. The sentient house, Woolly, where she grew up with her powerful necromancer Aunt Maud, is her home once again and she is eeking out a living as a ghost tour guide through haunted old town, Savannah. Her best friend, Amelie, from a lower level witch cast than Grier's necromancer family lives next door still while she finishes up college. Amelie works the ghost tour gig and is happy to have even this fragile version of Grier back. Then, her put-back-together life is invaded, first by Amelie's older brother and Grier's crush, Boaz, who just returned from the army and vampires from two different groups. Grier is leery of the vamps who both want something though one tries to smooze it and the other threaten for it. Meanwhile, her aunt's sister has now become the most powerful necromancer in their Society and she wants Grier present the night of her installation. Grier isn't sure she's up for one more surprise especially since most seem to be of the really bad kind. How to Save an Undead Life felt topsy turvy to me much of the time because of jumping in with both feet like that. It can never be accused of info dumps because, in fact, the info is delivered slowly and is part of the heightened suspense of the story. There are so many questions about Grier, her situation, the world of the story, the motives of everyone around her. It built slowly with a few exciting moments. Grier was a heroine that I liked, but hesitated over because so much was in the air. I wasn't sure about her behavior with Boaz which felt unsettled like she couldn't make up her mind what he was to her and, later in the story, when she should have known better, she pulled a stupid and got into some deep trouble. It did add some suspense as to how she'd get herself out of the trouble which I did enjoy so I guess I got over that easily enough. The end closed out the main conflict in this book while leaving a lot left for the rest of the series. That late introduction character has me the most intrigued. All in all, this book gave me a taste that I think I need more of the series to determine more about my feelings. Right now, I am curious and want to see where things go. The worldbuilding of the series got my attention as did the mystery behind her aunt's death, the vampires, and Grier's necromancer magic which I think is something interesting after all the hints. So, not dazzling, but definitely tantalizing. One I would recommend to Urban Fantasy fans.

Two of my favorite authors are Laurell K Hamilton and Kim Harrison and this book runs in a similar vein. It's a really fresh take though, and I completely abandoned all my tasks to read it, nearly in one (long) sitting. I've read a lot of the reviews and agree with a lot of the good stuff written. There's a couple of reviews I disagree with though, and I'll put my interpretation here. RE "Cliffhanger Ending" - There is no cliffhanger ending. Yes, it's a series and it has a teaser at the end as nearly all series do. However, it is NOT one half of a book and you have to buy a second book to get the second half of the story. Yes, there's an overarching series arc, but the book contains a complete story. RE "Gritting My Teeth" - The protagonist is not a "victim". Bad things happen to her but she is a fighter and a survivor. She wasn't just "waiting for rescue" she had to fight her way half way there to meet her rescuers. I'd go into more, but spoilers. Additionally, the author has great skill in making you legit feel the protagonists confusion which is impressive when you only have words to work with. I bought this book hoping for a good story and now I've got a new addiction - that's a good thing! I think I spotted a clue I'm worried about so I'm off to buy the rest of the series!

I've read this book 3+ times, and I'm always struck by what an incredibly solid beginning to a series this is. Yes, it is, in its own right, a wonderful book. What you need to know, though, is that it's a passage to an incredible saga that you will love. A setting with characters that you won't soon forget and will want to revisit. So take the first step. Begin the journey. Read this book.

I enjoyed this book; in fact, I bought the sequel right after I finished and stayed up much later than I should have in order to continue the story. Grier Woolworth has recently been released from a prison for magical offenders. She's reclaimed her home aka Woolly a sentient house that she inherited from her guardian. Now that she's home, she has to start to reclaim the other pieces of her life including finding her place in a world that showed her no mercy or support when she most needed it. Helping her with this seemingly impossible journey is her best friend, Amelie, a member of Low Society, and Amelie's brother, Boaz, Grier's longtime unrequited (though maybe not anymore) crush. I thought the Pritchard siblings were fun supporting characters. Boaz is a ladies' man with no shame about his past. He shamelessly flirts with Grier, and the banter between the two of them is fun, flirty, and lets us see a lighter side of Grier. It was surprising how much personality Woolly had, and I thought it was a pretty cool concept for the house to have a full-fledged sentience. Woolly worries about Grier and even has her own relationships and attachments to the other people in her owner's life. That was a bit of creativity that made the series stand out for me against others I had recently read. I've looked at a few of the other reviews, and I can't help but agree that the worldbuilding would probably be my biggest negative. There were definitely times when I felt a little confused about how their Necromantic society worked, and I was wondering if I had missed some kind of short prequel that should have plugged in some of the blanks about Grier's imprisonment and what happened to her guardian. Overall, a lot of the blanks about how their world works gradually get filled. A lot of those questions were answered enough that I wasn't distracted by any confusion. There's still a lot left to learn about Grier's past and imprisonment, but those blanks are still there because Grier is, in part, an unreliable narrator. Due to circumstances beyond her control, she's had cause to doubt her own mind and memories. Despite my curiosity, I'm willing to learn along with Grier. Definitely give the book a read and make sure you check out the sequel (it gets better)!

I couldn’t decide between three and four stars for this book. I think it’s an interesting story, but I did have some issues with it. First off, all of the humor in this book is sexual in nature. It got old really fast. There are other things to joke about than Boaz’s need to get into every girl’s pants. Another big thing that bugged me was the lack of descriptions. I don’t know what the characters look like. It felt like the scenes were not fully fleshed out. I don’t understand the society either. One thing that I thought was really well done was the pacing of the book. Information wasn’t given all in one information dump, but instead it was given throughout the book in such a way as to keep the reader interested. Just little tidbits of information here and there that slowly painted a fuller picture. Another thing that was well done was the development of the main character’s psyche. Her imprisonment broke her. That brokenness was really well done, and it was well portrayed throughout the book.

Plenty of mystery to go around in this one! Grier has been recently released from the hell hole of a supernatural prison called Atramentous, where she was drugged into submission. Accused of killing her necromancer mentor Maud, she has no recollection of what happened the night she died and series case of PTSD from the prison. Armed with her zombie parakeet named Keet, a haunted house named Wooly, and the two best friends she had to leave behind, Grier struggles to readjust to the real world and the new attention she's been getting of the undead variety since her release. I enjoyed the haunted house! She was one of my favorite characters. Giving life to an object is difficult, but Hailey Edwards did it tactfully, utilizing the parts of the house with skill. Now I could have done without all the sexual tension, I rolled my eyes every time her childhood crush, Boaz, dropped hints, but I know there are readers out there who enjoy it. To be honest I just skipped those parts. The story line itself was great. I'm hooked and want more.

The story generates a lot of questions about Grier. We get the story from her perspective, & since she was in a hellish prison that left her mind messed up, memories lost or scrambled, & some serious PTSD, we're struggling to figure out what's going on right alongside her. She's long been a nobody in necromancer society, so she's very confused to find herself as both pawn and prize in the middle of a life and death power struggle. Grier's not the stereotypical bad*ss who somehow fights better than all the guys. She's a realistic depiction of a young woman who's long tried to smart talk her way thru life but is forced to find her internal strength & scramble to learn to defend herself both physically & magically while attempting to figure out how to navigate a perilous political tug-of-war. It's not so much action packed as it is intriguing, perhaps, but I'm hooked and hope to find out some answers in the next book ... ***Content*** *Romance: Flirty banter between protagonist & best friend's brother that is openly suggestive & leans a bit crude. But nothing graphic (at least not in this 1st book) *Language: minor; a handful of d-mns & h-lls *Religion: 2 trivial uses of the Lord's Name (ie "in vain"), plus 1 use as a curse. The protagonist speaks of plural gods & prays to Hecate (which leaves one wondering why the unnecessarily offensive uses of God's Name were included)

Voilà un roman que j’étais curieuse de découvrir ! Il n’y a pas beaucoup de séries qui mettent en avant des nécromanciens et la seule qui me vient à l’esprit est Anita Blake, je dois dire. Alors comment résister à Grier ? Pauvre Grier, il n’a vraiment pas eu de chance dans la vie. Après la mort de sa tante, elle a été accusée du meurtre et a été enfermée dans un endroit terrible jusqu’à ce quelqu’un l’en sorte sans qu’elle n’en comprenne la raison. Et même si elle a tout perdu, il lui reste au moins sa perruche zombie et sa maison. Une maison qui n’est d’ailleurs pas ordinaire et qui a une âme propre. J’ai adoré voir comment Wolly pouvait communiquer avec notre héroïne ou avec ses invités. C’était une très bonne idée. Dans tous les cas notre héroïne essaie de s’en sortir comme elle peut avec sa meilleure amie et le frère de cette dernière qui sont prêts à tout pour elle. Mais voilà sa vie est complètement chamboulée quand un jour, un vampire, Volkov, se présente pour lui proposer une alliance avec son clan. Pourquoi en voudrait-il quelque chose d’elle? Elle n’a rien ? J’ai vraiment passé un super moment avec ce livre. Si j’ai eu un peu de mal à rentrer dedans et à comprendre au tout début de l’histoire, j’ai vite été happée par l’histoire ensuite. On se laisse emporter par notre héroïne qui va devoir faire face à de nombreux nouveaux problèmes et plusieurs questions se posent à présent. C’est d’ailleurs pour cela que je suis impatiente de me plonger dans la suite pour découvrir ce que l’auteure nous réserve. Grier est un personnage très intéressant auquel on s’attache très facilement, tout comme ses amis et je dois dire que les problèmes ne font que commencer !

This book is excellent UF. Scary, sad, sweet and intriguing, it's the story of how Grier, a trainee necromancer's apprentice, copes in the aftermath of spending years in a supernatural prison, framed for her aunt's murder. She has no idea why she has been released, but so many people suddenly take an interest in her that she begins to wonder if she's more powerful than she was originally told. The plot races along with plenty of thrilling moments, and some genuinely terrifying ones, too. The first person POV really helps immerse you into the story, and the characters are well-drawn and realistic. There are a few potential love interests circling around and it's not completely obvious who will be chosen, which is a rare treat. The setting - a sentient house in Old Savannah - is lovely, and the world-building mostly centres around the necromancer and vampire societies, a little different from the usual but easy to get to grips with. I enjoyed it immensely and am now going to binge the series.

I enjoyed this book. It has well made characters and a good story I would recommend it to anyone I know.

I stayed up late reading this book, it had me hooked!! Gobbled up the other two instalments too, this series just keeps getting better:) Definitely recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. The lead characters are likable and gutsy. A satisfying amount was revealed, while leaving plenty for future books. I also particularly love houses with character, so Woolly is right up my alley.