Happy Halloween! Today I have a great review celebrate Halloween. A Stiff Kiss by Avery Olive is a great young adult paranormal romance. It’s a classic story about the goth girl and popular athlete fall in love with some death mixed in there. It’s an easy quick read that will take you on a surprisingly emotional ride at times. For my full review be sure to check it out after the book blurb. I hope you all have a Happy Halloween! Don’t eat too much candy! 🙂
Book Blurb:
Who knew kissing a corpse would change everything? Death always hits Xylia Morana too close to home, but she likes it that way. She hangs out with the terminally ill, attends random funerals, and every so often, when the weather is right, she sleeps in open graves. But after Landon Phoenix, the high school hottie, dies in Xylia’s hands, she sneaks into the morgue to say goodbye. How could she know stealing a kiss from his corpse would wake him up? With Landon returned to the living and suddenly interested in Xylia, life has new meaning. But what Xylia doesn’t realize is that by kissing Landon back to life, she’s thrown Life and Death off balance. The underworld demands a body, and it might just have to be Xylia’s this time.
Review:
Xylia is a normal girl except for her obsession with cemeteries, attending funerals and visiting the terminally ill. All the while she is a bit of an outcast with her obsession she harbors a crush on one of the hottest guys in school. Landon is popular and a soccer god. When Xylia is at the soccer game where Landon passes out she is forced to help try to revive him with her father. despite her efforts Landon dies and she can’t wrap her mind around it. So Xylia’s obsession crosses over to her visiting the morgue where Landon is. For reasons unbeknownst to her she decides to kiss him and he wakes up stunning her and the world. As that one act changes their lives, Landon can’t help but want to know more about the girl with the green eyes and Xylia finds herself hiding from Landon. But, the more Xylia runs the more Landon is intrigued by her and why she is all he can think about. In almost a fortuitous coincidence they find themselves on a trip together and find out more about death and themselves then they thought possible. But, in the end with that one kiss Xylia has upset the balance of life and death. Someone must die to restore balance.
I really liked this book. You really fall for the characters and develop an emotional tie to them. When a choice must be made you really don’t want either choice. Xylia really develops as a character and her suspicious behavior is explained and understood. Landon is also more than you expect. But, in the end you do ask if it’s just that near death experience that makes him care for Xylia or not. The story was great. I enjoyed that the point of view went from both Xylia and Landon. I would have really like to have known who the “angels” were. They were quite mysterious and when asked what they were they never explained. Overall, it’s a great quick read with a wonderful story. It is quite fitting for todays holiday.