The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy, Book 1Grier Woolworth spends her nights weaving spooky tales of lost souls and tragedies for tourists on the streets of downtown Savannah. Hoop skirt and parasol aside, it’s not a bad gig. The pay is crap, but the tips keep the lights on in her personal haunted mansion and her pantry stocked with ramen.Life is about as normal as it gets for an ex-necromancer … an ex-necromancer hiding among humans. Until the society that excommunicated Grier offers her a second chance at being more than ordinary. Too bad no one warned her the trouble with being extraordinary is it can get you killed.
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I was hooked from the moment our heroine began interacting with a sentient-but-unable-to-speak house. The backstory was well intertwined, the front story fast and twisty, and the side characters as intriguing as our heroine. What’s not to like?
Had a bit of a slow start but after discovering the whole story I can see why. So much to uncover in this series and I’m excited to move onto the next book.
Pretty obsessed with Necromancer stories, and it’s rare I stumble upon one. Had to give this one a read as soon as I read the title. The slow build of the tension and comfortable lull the main character goes through are palpable by the reader. I went through many emotions along with her as her fate unfolds. All of the relationships throughout the story as rock solid. It was comforting to see that even in magical worlds, they suffer from the childhood crush and overbearing moms.
I love this series! I’m on book 4 right now, but I was hooked from book 1. This is definitely a must-read series. Love, love, love Grier and Wooly!
Just wait, it only gets better…
How to Save an Undead Life is a brand new series by Hailey Edwards. I fell into the mystery and dramatic adventure of who and what Grier Woolworth is.
WOW I’m not sure where to start. This book is setting us up for one amazing adventure. Grier is thrown into the deep end and is not prepared for it. I felt for her. She’s one hot mess with some serious PTSD. You might wonder what happened, well lets just say her past is a tragic one and she didn’t have a chance. She also doesn’t know her background, has gifts she doesn’t know about, and everyone wants a piece of her. It’s a emotional roller coaster ride for the reader and Grier.
I liked the characters introduced and found them intriguing. The few friends Grier has are solid. I think she’s going to need those friends in the future. I absolutely loved her house, Woolly. Most think the house is haunted, but I think it’s more. The house is the only thing she has left of the caregiver she adored. We also meet Boaz, the neighbor boy and her long time crush. I’m not sure what is going on with these two. They where/are friends and may have been more if the events from her past hadn’t happened and now who knows where things will go.
This one is field with question’s, answer’s, mystery’s, more question’s, and some nasty stuff that Grier isn’t prepared for. I couldn’t put How to Save an Undead Life down and I’m excited to see what happens next.
Rated: 4 Stars
*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy provided by Hailey Edwards with the sole purpose of an honest review. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.
Audiobook review: Nice story at 1.25x speed. Good storyline with a traumatized 21 y.o. Necromancer. Good side stories. Looking forward to book 2. The narrator did a nice job with providing unique voices for each character and appropriate tone inflections for each scene.
Absolutely enjoyed
The intrigue and excitement in this book. I love the view of the paranormal in this series and absolutely enjoyed the characters the Author created. Definitely a fun read.
This utterly fascinating story kept me interested until the end. Grier Woolworth had been locked away in a supernatural prison for 5 years for murdering her adopted mom. The only problem? She didn’t do it. She’s was convicted without a trial and taken to the prison and left to die.
After 5 years she received a reprieve. She didn’t know who did it, or why, but she was back in her family’s manor in Savannah, GA. She’s back at her job as a tour guide for a haunted tour company and just trying to survive. She’s not part of the supernatural community because of everything that happened, and she’s perfectly fine with it. It’s not like she’d have had much of an impact anyway, her adopted mother declared that she was only fit to be a necromancer’s assistant. Not an in demand job. At least that’s what she was told she was. What she is though is much different. While at the supernatural prison she’d raised someone from the dead. The only problem, the undead person is now something rare, something no one has been able to make in a very long time. Something that a necromancer’s assistant shouldn’t have been able to make. Grier has no memory of the event since prisoners are kept drugged the entire time.
When a vampire shows up offering protection, Grier is confused. Since she’s a nobody within the supernatural community, why is she being offered protection? She soon finds out why when her inheritance is reinstated and the Grand Dame formally cleared her of the death of Grier’s adopted mom, while proclaiming Grier as special for what she did while in prison.
When Grier is kidnapped from her home, her life-long crush and next door neighbor Boaz steps up to rescue her. Boaz is the same man who spent Grier’s time in prison coming up with rescue missions, the one who later enlisted in the military, got part of his leg blown off by stepping on a man, and who is now part of the Elite Sentinel squad.
Look, if you love stories with supernatural creatures, one with great writing, wonderful characters, and a story that will reach it’s bony hand out and grab you by the ankle and keep you locked in until the last page, grab this book. I can’t wait to read book 2.
**Read with my Kindle Unlimited Subscription.
I absolutely ADORE this book and this series. It features one of my very favorite urban fantasy/paranormal romance couples EVER (not going to spoil which one that is–ask me later) and HANDS DOWN my favorite non-humanoid character ever ever EVER. If I sound super enthusiastic, it’s because I am! Great job Hailey. =)
Loved this series. I really enjoyed watching the main character grow and find herself.
This book hooked me right from the start. I’m not usually into vampires but Hailey Edwards blending of vampires with necromancers was fresh and surprising, with characters that come right of the page to live in your heart.
At times gritty, and dark, which I loved, it’s also made me laugh, and even tear up. Sure sign of a winner.
I bought Book Two – How to Claim an Undead Soul as soon as I finished it.
I picked up this book because people in other reader groups recommended Hailey Edwards. Unusual setting and heroine . Grier was thrown into an horrific prison for supernaturals for a murder she didn’t commit. She’s stripped of most of her inheritance. She is mysteriously pardoned and mysteriously pursued by various supernatural groups who wish an alliance with her. Grier doesn’t know why or remember everything that happened in prison. The story starts with Grier having gotten out of prison and we learn about her prior life as the story goes on. I had a hard time getting into this book as it was a bit confusing at first but stuck with it, then got interested enough in to finish when some of the plot started coming together. I did enjoy the enchanted house, Woolly. That added a lot to the story. It did get better so I’ll probably pick up the next one since it’s on KU.
This was my first book by Hailey and I loved it. The world-building is wonderful and the storyline is very original. Loved the house! I’m looking forward to reading much more about these characters.
This book is about a world where necromancers are very powerful. They have families in high society and Grier is adopted by her aunt, Dame Woolworth. The house they live in is sentient. When Grier is 16 her aunt is killed and – accused of her murder – Grier is locked up in a horrible prison.
The book starts when Grier is 21 and has been recently released from prison. She has no money and has lost her position in the Society, but more important: she doesn’t know why she has been released. Her best friend is her neighbor Amelie and Grier is happy to find Amelie’s brother Boaz has returned from his army job. She has had a lifetime crush on Boaz, but he was three years older and quite a ladies man. A special role is created for Grier’s familiar, an (undead) parakeet named Keet.
The story is rather confusing in the beginning, as not much is explained about this world. I was intrigued however and after a while I really got into it and I want to know more! (2018)
A fresh take on the vampire story, with plenty of magic, ghosts, and even a haunted house.
I picked this one up on a whim, and was frankly delighted the whole way through. I loved how even the house is character! I immediately bought the next in the series as soon as I finished this one.
I would caution a PTSD trigger for this book. It was an amazing read. It does a good bit of jumping around, but it’s her thought process and it shows how she’s healing from her wrongful incarceration. No one believes she’s innocent, just that she’s something they want. There seems to he manipulation from all sides.
This series is an interesting urban fantasy take on vampires and necromancers, set in a very moody, Southern-Gothic version of Savannah, Georgia, complete with dress-up ghost walks, riverboats, old mansions, and a paranormal underbelly veritably drowning in old family secrets. And a house with a lot of…character. 🙂 I ticked the “romantic” box because there’s a slow-burn romantic subplot that’s a little unexpected. I like the unusual take on vampires, and there are few enough books with necromancers in them that I tend to perk up a bit.
Grier is an easy to like character. She is focused on just trying to make it day by day after being released from a prison of no return, yet for some reason people in high places have big plans for her. It is not clear the what or why of that.
I felt this intro book was okay/good. I wasn’t totally hooked, but I was mildly curious. The social structure irritated me a bit, but I can understand it also. On the one hand, I feel her PTSD should be a bit more extreme; on the other hand, maybe we just didn’t see her in any situation where it was severely tested? Although…it probably should have been worse.
It’s somewhat hard to explain How to Save an Undead Life, since it’s an unusual take on vampire lore, where vampires are mostly made by necromancers, who are at the top of the secret magical society. One such necromancer is Grier Woolworth, who is recently released from the prison she thought she’d never leave after being falsely accused of murder. Having had her title and inheritance taken from her, she’s been scraping by with the little she makes as a haunted tour guide. All she has of her old life is her sentient house and Amelie and Boaz, her best friends from childhood who live next door. Then she is contacted by her aunt, who is the new Grand Dame of the necromancer society and she learns that her release comes with certain strings attached. Add the irresistible vampire that is wooing her, the attraction of her childhood crush Boaz, mysterious attacks on her home, and recurring nightmares, and Grier’s life couldn’t be more complicated. With a great survival instinct and good friends on her side, she’ll make it through. I liked this story so much I immediately downloaded the other three books in the series to my Kindle so I can find out what happens next.
Grier is awesome! I have never read a series quite like this one. I have read about necromancers before but none like Grier, Linus, Boaz and Amelie. A lot of action, intrigue and a little romance. Great first book in the series. I got sucked in within the first chapter and a half. Now I read it from the beginning every time a new one releases. I might have to get these ones in paperback! Fabulous!