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.

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 liked the story. The beginning was a little slow paced for me, but this is not one of my shoot 'em up romantic action books I tend to read. This book had, for me anyways, a lot of suspense and tension. The heroine just got out of a max security prison for paranormals, it was horrendous for her, particularly since she went in as a teenager, and was innocent of the crime. Now, it seems everyone wants something from her, and they will be unscrupulous in how they get it. While an explanation was given in the book, I have a gut feeling there is more to it. There are only 2 people she trusts, her childhood best friend, but her friend has little power. And her childhood crush, who clearly cares for her, but I think someone may be manipulating him too. It is a tense situation. She needs to get her necromancer skills up to par, but can she trust her trainer? I have been figuratively biting my nails trying to figure out how she is going to get out of the mess she is in. On to book 2.

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)!

Always fun worlds and a few quirky side characters to kick off a Hailey Edwards series, and this - like most of her first-in-series-books - is an enjoyable short read. Spoiler ahead. I've read portions of two other series by this author, so the introduction of Linus at the end of this opener tempted me to check reviews for the rest of the series. I’m not interested in another love triangle and it appears that’s what is ahead in books 2-9, along with the requisite betrayal and angst. So I’ll leave off the series here in search of greener tropes.

This was an interesting and entertaining story. A little on the short side though. Good characters and unique plot. No sexual content or gory violence. Good for all ages.

The first in the Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy series this urban fantasy is set in Savannah, Georgia. I was quickly drawn into the world and magic Hailey Edwards has created. We meet Grier Woolworth a twenty-something ex-necromancer who owns her childhood home. Wait until you meet her house! Grier has had quite a complicated life but I admired her spunk. Edwards enlightens us on her troubled past as she shares Grier’s struggles and her passionate love of local history. Grier works nights as a haunted tour guide. Right away I liked this damaged soul and moved right in. The past five years have been a nightmare and she suffers PTSD but the house and her childhood friends are there for support. This first book reveals the reasons the society that imprisoned her set her free and sets up the series. We learn Grier is far from ordinary and I am excited to see her growth as she gains skills. Edwards’ writing style has an easy, addictive flow as she fleshed out characters, explained the paranormal society and revealed Grier to us. The story has a nice balance of magic and humor. It delivered a side romance that has me curious. A zombie parakeet, temperamental house and things that bite in the night rounded out the tale. We see plenty of suspense and danger as news of what Grier is was leaked to the paranormal community. This thread allowed us to see how resourceful and powerful Grier can be. Once she comes into her powers and harnesses her magic, I have a feeling she will be unstoppable.