Synopsis:
Following the death of his father, Thomas Walsh had to grow up quickly, taking on odd-jobs to keep food on the table and help pay his gravely ill mother’s medical bills. When he’s offered a highly paid position as an interpreter for an heiress who exclusively signs, Thomas — the hearing child of a Deaf adult — jumps at the opportunity.
But the job is not without its challenges. Thomas is expected to accompany Vivienne wherever she goes, but from the start, she seems determined to shake him. To make matters worse, her parents keep her on an extremely short leash. She is not to go anywhere without express permission. She is not to deviate from her routine.
She is, most importantly, not to be out after dark.
A selective-mute, Vivienne Farrow hasn’t said a word in years — not since going missing in Red Rock Canyon when she was four years old. No one knows quite what happened to her out in the dark. They only know that the sound of her voice is now as deadly as a poison. Anyone who hears her speak suffers a horrible death.
Ever since that fatal family vacation, Vivienne has been desperately searching for a way to regain control of both her voice and her body. Because the face staring out of the mirror isn’t hers. It’s something with teeth.
Thankfully, Vivienne has a plan. She’s finally found someone who claims to be able to perform a surgical exorcism. She just needs to find a way to get rid of Thomas first. But Thomas can’t afford to walk away, nor is he willing to abandon the mysterious girl he’s quickly falling for, no matter what dark powers threaten to swallow them both whole.
Review:
Hello again dear reader or listener, do you fancy reading some YA horror? Perhaps with a dark romance, a teeny dash of eat the rich, but mostly an awful lot of body horror and supernatural phenomena of the eldritch variety?
Well, curtesy of the lovely folk over at Scholastic, I have just the thing for you! With thanks for the eARC, do come along for me to tell you more about this book that surprised me, and I didn’t want to put down, while still stumbling a little on occasion.
I had mentioned in the past that I’d felt myself ageing out of enjoying YA and, for the most part, that remains true. And I’m not here to say I like this book despite it fitting in that target group, or that it didn’t feel YA, so that’s why I liked it. I find that an unnecessary disservice, truth be told. This book very much felt YA and it fit into its bracket perfectly. It was the right kind of YA you could say, then. The kind that is written well, neither juvenile nor NA (hazy as that category itself is) disguised as YA to reach more sales, if you get my drift. It had the big and sweeping emotions that I felt at that age and that I chuckle fondly at now because I’m a more mature person and see them for what they were, while finding them no less valid.
If the above felt convoluted, apologies, I have a splitting headache while writing this, so things make a different sort of sense in my head atm.
Now then, I’ve been meaning to read Kelly Andrew for ages as almost all her books have really intriguing sounding premises for yours truly. My Gothic horror loving lil heart simply cannot resist. I even have The Whispering Dark in digital waiting to be read. And oh, what an amusing coincidence of sorts that turned out to be.
Why? Do you ask. Because despite there not being any mention of this fact anywhere in the promo (aside from the author’s own page) I Am Made of Death is an interconnected standalone with Andrew’s other books. And given that I have found I enjoy this genre all the more the less I know about it going in, I hadn’t gone onto said author’s page to know more about the book itself other than seeing the gorgeous cover and reading the blurb.
All of this to say, I might’ve been happier had I known. So, I am telling you, dear reader, so you can learn from my mistakes.
Andrew does a good enough job in order to allow this story to stand on its own two feet despite the interconnectedness with the others but, as mentioned earlier, there is the occasional stumble in that she forgets perhaps that the reader might not have read her other books. In fact, I found this story dang near perfect up until well into 70%, after which, shared characters started to appear, not merely piquing my curiosity as to their own background, but making me feel like I was missing important lore, relevant, albeit some times more and some times less, to the current plot. Luckily in the frenetic pace of the last 20% of the book I didn’t really have time to sit and look around confused a la Travolta for too long because I was busy reading on to see how it would all pan out.
But what about what worked great besides the absolutely badass premise of a girl being selectively mute because her voice can kill? Character dynamics for one. Andrew presents the reader with a double pov, which I always love, where both Vivienne and Thomas are relatable in their own ways and the author’s writing lays a lot of the groundwork for us to empathize with them easily and for their growing bond to be believable. The enemies-to-lovers is peppered in oh so well with a lightness to it that counteracts the heaviness of the rest of the story. Just as Thomas becomes a sort of lifeline for Viv, so do the antics that define that initial tension between them work to make sure the reader isn’t too overexposed to the horrors so that they become white noise. Andrew’s pace is also amazing and the smooth transitions from what is reality and what a hallucination keeps you on your toes throughout, without confusing you.
The author weaves ambiance, emotion, aesthetics, and pacing so damn well that you’re always wanting to read one more chapter, and the next one, until it is two am and you still don’t need sleep but you need answers.
The other thing that worked really well for me were some of the themes, among which trying to find yourself and who you want/can be separate from what others need/expect you to be. The author adapts this in two different ways for each protag and, Hell, I am ten years older than these characters and I am still struggling with that stuff.
Ongoing existential crisis, whomst? We digress.
Pair to that, finding the person for whom you are enough as you are without needing to hide or change parts of yourself, and you have a wonderful cocktail of both feels and sweeping narrative that makes you invested in both the characters and the story! Must also mention a good dose of yearning as a treat. Hat tip to you Ms. Andrew.
So, in all, if you’re ok with the mild confusion caveats, which again, fairly navigable, I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew comes out March 4th, and you should definitely preorder if you’re looking for anything like what I’ve touched on. And, if you’re worried about getting the connections, you have plenty of time to go ahead and read Andrew’s other books first, just in time for release!
I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author and seeing how the whole picture comes together even more!
Until next time,
Eleni A.E.
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