Emma is a painfully shy college student, living in the dorms with no real friends. She has acquaintances but nobody that she is really close to. She believes that she is "boring" or at least as boring as you can be while having the ability to se dead people!
When she blames herself for the death of a boy she has a crush on, she is willing to give her own life to bring him back. Not knowing how to use her new found abilities causes things to go a bit haywire but as it turns out maybe things work out the way they are meant to.
This was a very enjoyable book and I am glad to see it is the first of a series because I will definitely be looking for more! This was part fun, part spooky ghost whisperer type adventure and I loved it. Though it is categorized as young adult I know plenty of 40somethings, myself included who can enjoy a good story without the typical vulgarity and explicit sex that would be found in books geared towards an older audience. 5 out of 5 stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy for review
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I admit I picked up this book mostly because I thought it would be a funny read, not because I was looking for a necromancing guide. Also, I read Ann M. Noser's previous book Dead Girl Running last year.

When Emma and her drunk crush Mike go swimming in a river, Mike drowns. Emma, feeling guilty and newly in possession of a witch's spell book, decides to bring him back from the dead. However, with Mike, she also brings back a couple of other guys who've got some unfinished business.

It took me some time to get into the story. I quite liked the main character from the start, she's the shy kind of person who prefers to stay inside with friends over going out. The one time she decides to act out of character things go terribly wrong and from there, although she grows as a person, her actions are becoming less and less rational.

I won't spoil too much about the different guys Emma brings back but at a certain time it did get a bit old for me. I remember thinking: yet another one? Will it ever end?

Some things were a bit weird, like everyone sharing the same body and looking the same to everyone except Emma. I see how it facilitated the plot, but it didn't make a lot of sense to me. But all in all, a very nice, quick read and I'm certainly looking forward to the next novel in which will be trying to ditch dead guys...

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )

Poor little rich girl with neglectful parents who sees ghosts, falls for the first boy who speaks to her, he dies, she becomes a witch. Emma is so whiny and self pitying I almost ditched the book. About one third through it did improve. I never cared much for the characters but the situations and storyline were interesting. 2 1/2 stars. ( )

I received an epub version of this book from the author back in April in return for an honest review. You will note that I have categorised it on Bookcrossing as Science Fiction & Fantasy. This is because of the witchcraft/fantasy element, but it is also to a certain extent romance and to a lesser extent crime/thriller.

It took me longer than expected to start it, and I found the first few chapters hard to get interested in, but once I'd gotten about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way into the book, I couldn't put it down. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I did start consistently reading a chapter or so each night after going to bed, and I finished the majority of it in just the last week.

Other reviews and the cover blurb have described that plot, so I won't go into it here except to say that in general I don't really like stories involving witchcraft/magic or romance novels. This book proved, once I'd gotten far enough into it to start becoming emotionally connected to the main characters, that my usual blanket opinion might need some revision.

The main character, Emma, is well defined and you understand what drives her to try to bring back "from the other side" - which coincidentally is something I simply don't believe exists - Mike who drowned while drunk on a date with her. His death is not in any way her fault, but guilt does strange things to the human psyche, and Emma's journey back from guilt to a new sense of self-worth through magic and then helping the guys she has accidentally brought back from beyond is an interesting one.

And as Emma and the reader learns the backstory behind each of the once and soon be again dead we become invested in their stories too.

I've given it 7 out of 10, but if you a fan of romantic witchcraft stories, make it 8. ( )

I thought this was a really good story. It really begs the question what have you left unfinished after you die and if you have a chance to fix something, would you want to come back for a short time. Also, it shows you really should be careful with trying to bring the dead back. I was a little mad at Emma for letting Mike swim in the river when he was super drunk. I think she could have distracted him some way. I was mad at Mike's brother Kevin for getting him so drunk. It drives me crazy when I hear about a 21-year-old over drinking on their birthday and either getting injured or die. They have a lifetime to drink, their friends should know better than to keep pushing the drinks on them. Emma really seemed like a naive college student who didn't seem too smart about the real world. She grows up pretty fast once she is dealing with dead men.

Worth the read. ( )