Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things by Martina McAtee - 5/5
Summary from Goodreads:
17 year old Ember Denning has made an art of isolating herself. She prefers the dead. She spends her days skipping school in old cemeteries and her nights hiding from her alcoholic father at the funeral home where she works. When her own father dies, Ember learns her whole life is a lie. Standing in the cemetery that’s been her sanctuary, she’s threatened by the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen and rescued by two people who claim to be her family. They say she’s special, that she has a supernatural gift like them…they just don’t know exactly what it is. They take her to a small Florida town, where Ember’s life takes a turn for the weird. She’s living with her reaper cousins, an orphaned werewolf pack, a faery and a human genius. Ember’s powers are growing stronger, morphing into something bigger than anything anybody anticipated. Ember has questions but nobody has answers. Nobody knows what she is. They only know her mysterious magical gift is trying to kill them and that beautiful dangerous boy from the cemetery may be the only thing standing between her and death. As Ember’s talents are revealed so are the secrets her father hid and those in power who would seek to destroy her. What’s worse, saving Ember has put her cousins in danger and turned her friend’s lives upside down. Ember must learn to embrace her magic or risk losing the family she’s pieced together.
Review:
Can somebody please tell me why I haven’t heard of this before?
I’m excited, you guys. Like… ACOMAF and Lady Midnight level excited, and since those are my top two books of 2016, that’s a pretty big deal.
Let me just start off by saying that I love this cover. It’s gorgeous and the color is spot on for getting readers into a supernatural sort of mood. It’s creepy and beautiful at the same time and just overall very well done.
On to the plot… It’s been awhile since I’ve read an Urban Fantasy that I’ve enjoyed as much as Cassandra Clare’s shadow hunter world, but this book takes the cake. Imagine reading one of Clare’s books told from a downworlder’s POV but with lots of extra spunk and pizazz. I LOVED watching Ember’s life fall apart and then slowly come back together as she navigates her way into a new home and family and life. I loved how colorful and whimsical her new magic-filled world was. I loved EVERYTHING about it.
Martina McAtee’s writing style is fantastic. Sometimes it can get confusing to jump between the POV of so many different characters, but it really worked in her favor. We were given more information than we would have otherwise had and it helped me form relationships with more than just one character. It helped me to fall in love with each of them, no matter their faults. It also helped with McAtee’s pacing. There was ALWAYS something going on with somebody and it was always dramatic and I had a very difficult time ever putting this book down.
McAtee’s characters are the stand out piece of this book. There are so many, but it is never overwhelming or confusing. Each character has a totally different personality from the next and they are so well-rounded. Ember is an awesome MC. The story is really all about her as she comes to the realization of what she is and begins to navigate her powers. She is spunky and witty and so unlike many of the cookie-cutter protagonists that litter ya lit these days. She's weird even before she comes to the realization of what she is, and it’s beautiful. I struggled to connect with Tristan the most because she’s such a jerk for most of the novel, but I appreciate that we get to watch her unfold so that we can better understand her. I think her un-relationship with Quinn is adorably mushy and I could probably read an entire book about it.
The wolves are the best! The family aspect of the wolves and their faithfulness to Ember and the twins is unprecedented. They bring humor and love into this story. Wren and Isa are adorable and Rhys, in all his emotional constipation, is a seriously lovable dude.
Kai became my favorite character from the very beginning. He’s lovable and sarcastic and sweet and I wanted more and more about him. A big thank you to McAtee for including queer characters in her writing because it isn’t done enough and when it is done, it’s often done wrong. McAtee didn’t focus on his being gay as his singular character trait. She didn’t try to shock her readers with it. She simply allowed him to be himself and silently accepted by his family. The same can be said for Rhys. There was no big “gay panic” response. It was just accepted. And I’m so thankful for that because I’m tired of books that are filled with strictly heterosexual relationships. It is so. effing. boring. Thank you for the representation!
Lovers of all things paranormal and witchy will gobble this book down and be left aching for more. Congratulations to Martina McAtee for a stand out debut novel. I can’t wait to read the next!
