taken from Goodreads:
"
My name is Madison Avery, and I'm here to tell you that there's more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I'm there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.
Madison's prom was killer -- literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper -- yeah, that
kind of reaper -- intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But
before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his
strange, glowing amulet and get away.
Now she's stuck on Earth -- dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.
With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.
Well, if she believed in that stuff."
For the first three or four chapters of this book, I was completely lost. It felt like the book had started in media res and the author didn't think it was important to bring the reader up to speed, other than dropping a few vague bits of info here and there.
Turns out, that's kinda what happened; this novel is apparently preceded by a short story in the anthology Prom Nights from Hell, and those events are quite important to what's going on in this novel. Consider yourself warned; I'd look for the short story first. Otherwise, be prepared to do a lot of head scratching and page flipping as you try to piece together what's going on.
At one point, Harrison finally takes pity on the reader and fleshes everything out in what has to be one of the longest interior monologue / conversation scenes I've ever seen. That's my main problem with this novel; not a whole lot really happens, but when something actually does happen, it feels rushed and confusing. It's a pacing issue, essentially; Harrison needs to slow down the action and speed up the exposition.
This series is really promising, despite these issues. Madison's character is spunky and entertaining; I like her sense of individuality, and the section about her photography was really engaging. The premise -- light and dark reapers and human timekeepers -- is interesting, especially since the underlying debate on fate vs. free will take it beyond just a standard teen genre read.
