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    Once Dead, Twice Shy: A Novel
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    Once Dead, Twice Shy: A Novel
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    Once Dead, Twice Shy: A Novel
    Ebook236 pages3 hours

    Once Dead, Twice Shy: A Novel

    By Kim Harrison

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this ebook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 26, 2009
    ISBN9780061888175
    Author

    Kim Harrison

    The only girl in a large family of boys, former tomboy Kim Harrison invented the first Brigadier General Barbie in self-defence. She shoots a very bad game of pool and rolls a very good game of dice. When not at her keyboard, she enjoys lounging on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching action movies with The-Guy-In-The-Leather-Jacket. She plays her Ashiko drum when no one is listening, and is hard to find when the moon is new.

    Read more from Kim Harrison

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    Reviews for Once Dead, Twice Shy

    3.5/5

    61 ratings34 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      While I love YA Teen books, this one confused me a little bit. I figured that since we knew Madison was dead, just from reading the blurb; that we would get a little more detail, or even a chapter out of what really happened that lead up to her being dead and walking around "alive". But really, you just get little flash backs and a few paragraphs after 3 or so chapters.
      Once I understood what all was going on, it was easy-ish to get into the story. Madison, our main character, is dead, but not really dead. See she snagged what she thought was a Dark Reapers amulet and has been trying to learn to use it with the help of her Light Reaper. Now, confusing as that was, I kinda got it.. Dark Reapers are reapers who scythe the living before it is their time, and Light Reapers are there to stop them usually. All the power of the reapers; both light and dark; comes from the amulets that they wear, which contains their power and scythe (sword).
      There are also Light and Dark timekeepers (which are humans), they make the amulets for the reapers. Light for light and Dark for dark... When Madison stole what she thought was a reapers amulet what she actually did was snag the Dark Timekeeper's (Kairos) amulet.
      So, when Ron; the Light Timekeeper and Barnabas; Madison's Light Reaper; figure out that what she actually has is the Dark Timekeeper amulet, they disappear to talk with the seraphs leaving Madison in the care of a first-sphere guardian angel. Madison and Josh ( prom date the night she died) along with "Grace" the guardian angel, barely make it through two days without Ron or Barnabas....
      The ending was kinda hard to believe, but then again, I know nothing of angels as I don't normally read any books about them ( just the Fallen ones!), but I am looking forward to reading the next book in the trilogy to see what happens.
    • 2/5
      An OK read that made me miss the TV series Dead Like Me. The TV series was better, but this one has some potential to grow into a decent story.
    • 3/5
      I’m just going to start this by saying that Once Dead, Twice Shy is probably a two star book. The story to me was just okay. The reason I bumped it up to three stars is because Kim Harrison has some of the funniest characters. It is one of the things I love most about her adult series. It is one of the only good things about this book. Though I’m not going to lie, I love me some Grace.I’m not exactly sure what it is that didn’t do it for me, but I just didn’t love it. Maybe I just went into it expecting too much. She is one of my favorite authors and has been for years, so I was expecting this to be amazing. So perhaps it was my fault.I will be continuing on with this trilogy, but I’m not super excited to do so.
    • 3/5
      Read and completely unsure what star rating to give the book. I think I would star higher than it deserved because I know it's the setup book for a new series; and, that I'd do lower than deserved because Kim Harrison such a favorite author I had unfairly high expectations. Book was a quick read and moved well enough; characters obviously had more to come and no doubt that will happen in rest of series; Ms. Harrison can write; not full of teenage angst (although could have stood a few less descriptions of exact same hair and shoes on main character and except for a few things like curfew and high school events, main characters did not come across as teenagers); last quarter of book really when reader gets to pick up on some of what's going on with the world building (main character and readers both pretty clueless until then) with a lot left unanswered/unresolved -- like I said, setup for a series. Will be sampling next in series to see if I want to continue on with the series; based on ending could get too much into more high school stuff and some hard to swallow plot stuff (so two immortal angels of death/reapers from opposing viewpoints are now pretending to be high school students in Madison's clique -- not sure that's a plot device I can follow although in all fairness neither one seemed to be the brightest bulbs in the box and don't seem to have learned much from their longer lifespans).
    • 3/5
      Kim Harrison is one of my favorite authors, so I really wanted to like this YA series. I didn't have the negative reaction many other reviewers apparently had, but I also didn't have enough of a positive reaction to go beyond three stars. I actually had trouble paying attention to the audiobook narrator at times, and it certainly wasn't because of her voice. There was a lot in this story I should have liked, but it just didn't come together for me.
    • 3/5
      I've enjoyed Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan/Hollows series and decided to try out her YA book. Madison is very much like Rachel, things just seem to happen to her. When Grace came on the scene I instantly thought of Jenks with her funny limericks, her naughty deeds and pixie-like stature.

      The premise sort of reminded me of a TV programme called Dead Like Me but this book was slightly more complicated. Reapers are angels of death who are given amulets which give them magical abilities by human timekeepers, who also give them times and location of those whose lives are about to be cut short. The dark reapers serve the seraphs (heavenly beings) who believe that people who are destined to make the wrong choices which have a major negative impact on other lives should be killed. Dark reapers do the killing by using black wings (creepy wraith things that look like crows) to find their victims and their sword which is connected to their amulet. On the flip side, light reapers serve a light timekeeper and believe that human choice is paramount so they try to prevent the dark reapers from reaping these souls. They believe the seraphs are all about fate and are killing people before they've even done anything wrong - reminds me of Minority Report .

      There is some YA cheese but I really enjoyed the ending with Ron, Nikita, Barnabus and the seraph.

      It's a fast-paced, short read. I think the next instalment on Madison's life (or death) will be even better than the first. At least I haven't got long to wait, only two months and some change.
    • 3/5
      Since I liked the Hollows so much I wanted to see what else was out there by Kim Harrison. I was surprised to see that she had also wrote a YA book and that Kim Harrison is actually her pen name. There is a whole other set of books out there by Ms. Harrison. I kept putting off reading this not sure if I was ready to read her YA stuff. I've finally took the plunge but decided to go for a audio read.

      The Madison Avery series is about angels, not just angels but the guardian kind, and also about reapers, yes the soul sucking kind. That would be the Dark Reapers, and Light Reapers who protect the humans who are targeted by the dark kind but both are called angels of death too. Who else do we have, yeah we also have Time Keepers who happen to be human, they work with the light reapers.

      The story is all about destiny, the destiny of humans who will do something significant in their life one day, whether good or bad. These humans are targeted by Dark Reapers who reap their souls. The light reapers job is to either protect them or keep the dark reaper from collecting the soul. I hope I got that right, I had to go back a few times to make sure I understood what I heard. Barnabas, that's the Light Reaper whose job it was to protect Madison's soul/life on the tragic night of her prom. Apparently Light Reapers aren't told who their charges are, they have to figure it out for themselves. There was an interesting glitch why Barnabas didn't know Madison was his charge, it had to do with her age, and it caused some confusion.

      It seems Madison didn't entirely need Barnabas' help because she somehow figured how to save herself, somewhat. Although she died that night she was able to stick around and continue to live her 'normal' but adjusted life. Oh yeah, ghosts too. Madison became Barnabas' responsibility after that and now he treats her like she is the bane of his existence, and tries to pawn her off on others. Most significantly a cherub like guardian angel, who did add some lighthearted moments to the story.

      It eventually came to light that the amulet that Madison snatched that saved her life, sort of, was no ordinary Amulet. It was directly linked to her imminent destiny, and Madison doesn't believe in destiny. This was the part where I just wish Madison would shut up and just accept her fate. It didn't sound so bad, but I guess to her it did.

      Madison tried to come off as tough and feisty but I just didn't believe it for a minute. I thought Madison was whiny, and kinda spoil, but who spoiled her I don't know. She was supposedly a handful for her mother so she was shipped off to live with her father. When she mentions all the trouble she gave her mother I tried to find that in her personality throughout the story, but I couldn't see any correlation between the character I was reading about (or listening to) with the one the author tried to portray. I guess she's suppose to be goth, but coloring your hair a risky color does not make a goth. A real goth would have some really sweet insulting comebacks for the 'popular meanies' when they try to shame them or maybe they would just scare the crap out of them. Instead Madison was a bit too meek and accepting, I really wanted to see some fire in her personality.

      Audiobook
      I ask myself, would I have heard the voice of the narrator if I had read the book instead? I think possibly, or pretty close. The fact that I thought Madison came off as spoiled and typically teenagery, meaning shallow and selfish, I thought the voice of the narrator did fit perfectly, she sounds exactly like a teenage girl.

      Overall
      I wasn't totally perturbed by this book, I did find myself invested in the outcome. Because of the narrator's voice as well as the material, it made me certain that this book veers toward the younger spectrum of YA. I've read and enjoyed books like this before but sometimes they come off a little sappy and cheesy. I didn't feel this way more until the last chapter.

      The story was a bit flat for me, no substance when it came to the characters, or the development of the concept, I think it was a bit convoluted too. I am kinda curious to find out if Madison will eventually come to terms with her situation and accept her destiny. Very intrigued to find out.

      You can check out this review and more on my blog.
    • 3/5
      Angels dark and light fight over a teen girl and the souls of humans. A teen girl is dead but still has a physical body. She has to fight to save herself and those she loves. She ends up being in more trouble than she thought.
      It really is a teen book with teenager issues, I found it hard to relate too at times.
    • 3/5
      The series should be good, though this book left me wanting more. If you have trouble with the middle of this, I recommend pushing yourself to get to the end. Harrison has a good set up going for the series, it just takes a while to get there.
    • 3/5
      I adore Kim Harrison's adult paranormal Hollows series, and I like YA paranormals, so I was really looking forward to ONCE DEAD, TWICE SHY. I wasn't disappointed...but it didn't meet my expectations either.

      ONCE DEAD TWICE SHY has an interesting premise, with protagonist Madison Avery swept up in a heavenly battle between the divine guardians of fate, and the divine guardians of free will. While the guardians of fate seem to be the bad guys, because they assassinate innocents who are fated to commit evil acts in the future, the truth is that both factions have a heavenly mandate and seem to have the best interests of mankind at heart.

      While the set-up is great, I thought the book itself was a little too breezy. We spend a lot of time following Madison between her high school, the local pizza joint, the community park, and other suburban locales, and there's a lot of angst about whether or not popular-boy Josh is interested in Madison despite the fact that she's an outcast. There's plenty of action, with magic stones and magic swords and teleportation, but I didn't feel like I was on the kind of heart-in-my-throat roller coaster that I've come to expect from Kim Harrison. Maybe she thought she needed to tone it down for a younger crowd?

      For most of ONCE DEAD, TWICE SHY Madison Avery is pretty helpless - she's really just trying to get by. By the end though, she has a part to play in the heavenly battle, and I think that - combined with my faith in Harrison's writing skill - will keep me reading the sequel. Once Madison starts getting her hands dirty, I bet the fireworks will really start to fly.
    • 4/5
      This is Kim Harrison’s first series since her Rachel Morgan series, and being such a huge fan of that one I had to give this a shot. This is a young adult series, so I expected the tone and writing style to be different. It was, but the things that make Harrison’s writing so good were still there – color characters, interesting sidekicks, and a compelling new world.At first glance, Madison’s world is just like ours. Except, she’s dead. Now, she’s trying to keep from the clutches of the dark reaper who didn’t finish his job, all while learning how to become a reaper herself.In many ways, this reminded me of the (much too short) Showtime series Dead Like Me, about a group of reapers out to save the souls of the recently departed. But not completely. Madison is a softer lead character than the bitter, sarcastic George of the TV series, and there is more of a good vs. evil feel to the book.Overall, I enjoyed listening to this, but I do have one major complaint. When the book opens, you are thrown into the story without any real explanation of what’s going on. This is something Harrison does very well in the Rachel Morgan series, but in this case I just felt like I was missing something. So much so that I double-checked that I wasn’t listening to the second book by mistake. I really could have used a slower introduction into what was going on.I’m not sure if this will end up being as fantastic as the Rachel Morgan series, but I will certainly read on!
    • 3/5
      A good first book in Madison Avery's adventures from The Dim Reaper. Darksr characters than other paranormal fantasy books make it more of a different but entertaining read. Madison a teen girl must become a dark reaper and must struggle between the dark and light. Infused with paranormal tugs here and there while we see one girl come to terms with a new life as well as right and wrong.
    • 3/5
      I’m a major fan of Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series. In fact, I think she is one of the top Urban Fantasy writers out there. I was very much looking forward to her new YA series about a dead girl whose afterlife turns utterly complicated. I think I might be a tad spoiled due to my love for KH’s other books, that I was left a bit unsatisfied with the first book in this series. You really jumped right into Madison’s afterlife without really finding out a ton about the world she now lives in. And once you learn more, it doesn’t really seem very interesting at the moment, in my opinion. I hope the plot and the world gets flushed out more later on. I read that there is a short story in the Prom Nights from Hell anthology that gives the background on Madison, so it might make sense to read it first. I don’t feel very attached to Madison, at this point. I do like her, but I don’t feel like she's a very significant person in her own series...yet. She is spunky though, and doesn’t sit around, waiting for afterlife to just take care of itself. She is a fighter (albeit a very scared one!), curious and a problem solver. Oh, and she has purple tips on her hair, which is uber cute. I also loved the “when I hit ctrl + alt + del" line.” That is definitely something a young person would say today. I must say I do love Grace. She is definitely the equal to Jenks’ character in The Hollows. While not as snarky as Jenks, Grace provides some comic relief and I grew to really like her. Again though, no real connection to anyone else. I think Nakita and Barnabus’ relationship is going to prove to be entertaining though. Conclusion: 3/5 stars. I liked it, but it wasn't a book that had me sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation, or daydreaming about it. I will continue the series because of my love for KH. I just hope things pick up, make more sense, become more substantial, etc. I do like the themes of fate / free will, light / dark, fallen angels, etc. I’m still a bit confused as to who is good and who is evil, but that is some of the fun of the book.
    • 3/5
      I don’t think that I have ever done so much head scratching when reading a book before. Once Dead, Twice Shy had such a confusing plot. I was able to follow along pretty well through the first half of the book, but towards the end I became totally lost. There was just too much world building information for me to keep track of. I’m not even sure how to write this review because I am so mixed up about Once Dead, Twice Shy.Madison was a very spunky and rebellious character. The plot may have confused me, but Madison was a likeable and fun character. In my eyes, this pretty much saved the book. I would have normally been tempted to stop reading a book the drove me so crazy, but I enjoyed reading about Madison enough to continue on. The relationship between Madison and the other characters in the book was one dimensional with the exception of the character Josh. Like Madison, Josh was very likeable and spunky. I really wanted the two of them to wind up together.I was pretty much lost by the end of Once Dead, Twice Shy. I didn’t understand the role of the timekeepers nor, the dark reaper who was trying to kill Madison. This was the most confusing aspect of the book for me. I really would have liked for Once Dead, Twice Shy to have ended in a way that helped rid me of some of my confusion. Alas, it did not and I’m still sitting hear scratching my poor sore head.Overall, I would not recommend Once Dead, Twice Shy. The plot was too confusing and devoid of meaning. I will not be reading any future books in the series.
    • 2/5
      **CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!**"Once Dead, Twice Shy" has a good premise that is presented in a rather shaky manner. When I read the book jacket, I was interested in reading about Light and Dark reapers, their relationship with humans and their purpose on earth and how a girl who died isn't really dead, but the Dark reaper who killed her is still after her to finish the job. Also thrown into the mix are Barnabas, a good-looking but overworked Light reaper who is in charge of teaching Madison how to exist in her new state, Madison's crush Josh, and a mischievous guardian angel who likes to sing limericks. In addition to Dark reapers (who kill people before their time) and Light reapers (who try to stop Dark reapers from preemptively killing people) there are timekeepers who are humans given the responsibility to find the humans who are targeted for early death. However, the first chapter left me very confused because I was expecting the story to open with Madison still alive so we could see how she was killed, how she escaped the Dark reaper who targeted her, how she met Barnabas, and her initial adjustments to her new (non)existence. But the story opens with Madison already dead and already familiar with Barnabas and her solid-illusion body. I actually checked the book to see if I had picked up the second in the series by mistake. In addition, the rules and roles of the various people and powers in the story is rather vague and sometimes contradictory. Madison seems more irresponsible and impulsive than courageous (although some courage is there), surviving mostly through luck. There doesn't seem to be any real pressing motivation for her to try to return to life since her possession of an amulet gives her a body corporeal enough that no one knows she's dead. In fact, she has the advantages of not needing to eat or sleep or feeling pain. And, honestly, I wanted to know more about Barnabas and couldn't care less about Madison's crush Josh (who got more of the spotlight than Barnabas) or Madison's feeble attempts to fit in to her new school. Sorry, but when you're dead, you'd think she'd have more interesting questions on her mind and more dangerous things to worry about. All in all, "Once Dead, Twice Shy" had a great deal of promise, but with a murky delivery that left me unimpressed and wishing that the manuscript had gone through a few more edits...or had a prequel.
    • 1/5
      Sadly the best thing about this book was the cover. I’ll admit, my expectations for this book were rather high
    • 2/5
      I was completely unfamiliar with Kim Harrison’s work until the Supernatural Tour back in May; and after her reading from Early to Death, Early to Rise, and seeing that a good 80% of the folks there were there just to see her, my good friend Jenna and I decided it was time to sink our teeth into her new YA series.Madison Avery is dead, but still enjoying teenage life with the added difference that she has a Light Reaper, Barnabas as a constant companion now. There’s a slightly complicated story line about Light Reapers versus Dark Reapers, Light Timekeepers versus Dark Timekeepers and choice versus fate in human life. Wrapped into all of this there is the greater story of why Madison was killed by a Dark Reaper and why she’s dead but still functioning almost completely normally.My very first comment on this story is it took me most of the book before I really wrapped my mind around what Kim Harrison was getting at. I felt like there needed to be a much clearer set up early on to explain the workings of her fantasy world. My second comment is I read the whole book and didn’t come away with an attachment to any of the characters. Honestly. None of them. And thirdly, although it’s a rapid fire book I was never particularly drawn into the action, repeatedly putting it down in the middle of important big moments. At a very brief 256 pages I should have breezed through this story in a couple of days, tops. Instead I was carrying it around with me for a good 5 days or so.Not a great read, however, trooper that I am, I carried on to book two in the hopes most of the wrinkles would be ironed out and I’d get down to why Kim Harrison is such a popular author.
    • 4/5
      I won an autographed copy from the author and I was thrilled about this. I have never read anything by Kim Harrison before and I liked the book. Luckily, I won the second book as well. Apparently this book is based upon a short story detailing Madison’s prom night from hell. Without any background on this, this book was slow to get started for me. I am glad that a glossary was included for all the characters in the book: timekeeper, light & dark reapers, and black wings. I liked the strong spirit of Madison and how spunky she is. This book is a very quick read and it is considered for young adults, has a lot of action in it, but not a great novel. It held my attention and I was anxious to read the next book.
    • 3/5
      I'm a few books into enjoying Kim Harrison's Hollows series, so I thought I'd give this new series a try as a gift for a "young adult" I know. Unfortunately, while it's more suitable for the YA market (no steamy vampire sex and such), it's also flat and (excuse the pun) lifeless compared to Harrison's more adult series. In fact, given that the plot, themes, and characters are very similar (e.g. Grace the guardian angel instead of Jenks the pixie), this new series comes off as a bit of a poor carbon copy of the Hollows. In the end, I decided to go with a different book for my young friend.Having said that, the latter half of the book was somewhat better than the first, so I was glad I stuck with it despite my disappointment. It's probably still worth a try as a companion at the beach or on a long trip; I may even give the second book in the series a go if I find it cheap.[2010-06-27]
    • 4/5
      Kim Harrison writes The Hollows, a popular adult paranormal series. The Hollows is a lot of fun, with vibrant characters and a world that is an interesting twist on reality. The Madison Avery series so far has a lot of similarities. Madison is a sassy, offbeat girl who does things her own way. She has a tiny cherub guardian angel that protects her and gets under her skin. Unfortunately Madison’s world falls a little flat. The seraphs, reapers, and cherubs plonked down in the middle of a plain old suburban town are not quite enough to gleefully engage the imagination. There is also something about characters that never sleep that exhausts the reader. Everyone needs a little downtime, and if the main character isn’t given any, the story seems to plod into a tedious overdrive. Nevertheless, Madison’s struggle with free will and fate is an interesting dichotomy, and one that will resonate with the increasing self-determination of adolescents. Madison’s habit of not following (or even understanding in some cases) directions and arriving at unimagined destinations is another wonderful parallel with a teenager’s experience.
    • 2/5
      Once Dead, Twice Shy is a fast-paced novel that sadly I just did not enjoy. For one, the book starts and you feel like if you missed the first half of it. You just get thrown right smack into the story, or at least that's what I felt like. Now for me it was a little different because I read the short story in Prom Nights from Hell titled Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper which was were I was originally introduced to Madison and what intrigued me enough to make me want to see what happens next with her.I really liked the premise of the story. I'm a sucker for good vs. bad (or, in this case, dark vs. light) stories and this really sounded promising. But in the end, I just didn't get a true feel for the characters and the story ended up being too predictable for my tastes.I can definitely see it's appeal and why teens would want to read it (with all the hype for paranormal books nowadays), but it just didn't work for me.
    • 4/5
      For a YA book, this was a lot of fun. Madison is a typical teen who dies in a wreck after leaving her high school prom with someone who isn't her date. Oops, because that someone is Korios, the dark scyther Timekeeper, and the wreck is not an accident. In the confusion, Madison grabs Korios' amulet, which means she is the new Timekeeper. I was watching a Dr. Who marathon as I read this book, so some of that time stuff might get confused. Basically, the sythers are angels who are sent to kill people on earth, especially (I think) people who are dying before their time. Dark scythers believe in fate, while light scythers believe in free will (to an extent). In Madison's case, however, the leaders of both sides - the Timekeepers, actually - betray themselves as believing in the other side. That is, the light Timekeeper believes Madison is fated to be the Dark Timekeeper, while the dark side Timekeeper believes he can change fate (and hold on to his own power) by killing her, which he repeatedly attempts to do, directly and through emissaries.I like Madison, but apparently she is the type of girl who thinks yellow skirts go with purple tights and wears yellow and purple sneakers with skulls on them. Fun, and good enough that I will probably watch for the sequels. Still waiting to see if there is any overlap with the word of The Hollows, Harrison's adult paranormal series.
    • 2/5
      As a rule, I love Kim Harrison's books. I absolutely HATED this one. For starters, I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on for the first half of the book. It turns out that even though this was billed as Book 1 of the Madison Avery series, there is actually a prequel that you can find in a book of short stories. Had I read the prequel first, I probably would have been less confused.Then again, it may not have helped all that much. Even after I had kind of figured out what was happening, I was still confused about all the characters and different types of supernatural beings. We had amulets and auras and swords and timemasters and light reapers and dark reapers and shadow wing things and cherubs and seraphs. I read a ton of urban fantasy and couldn't keep any of them straight.Two chapters in, I wondered if I should even continue reading the book. I talked myself into finishing it because I love Kim Harrison. I wish I had just put it down. It sucked away hours of my life that I will never, ever get back.
    • 4/5
      My Thoughts: The beginning of Dead is a tad bit confusing, as Harrison doesn't give any real back story to the world of reapers, timekeepers, and angels. However, you will soon forget you are confused because of the hilarity. Madison could be a completely emo, downtrodden character, but Kim Harrison writes her with the best personality. Not even three chapters in, I got the feeling that I wanted Madison Avery as my best friend. There was tons of fluff in this story, but not so much that you couldn't see the actual story underneath. Madison's snappy comebacks and witticisms are what had me laughing the most. In this book, the phrase "when I died" could have been greatly overused, but Kim did a phenomenal job at not letting that happen. I think one of my favorite lines is when Madison says "when I hit ctrl + alt + del" instead of saying "when I died". There was a lot of action right up front, but then it sort of cooled off for a while and it felt like nothing happened. The end, however, is packed full of everything I love about Kim Harrison. We expect a page-turning urban fantasy from Kim, and she delivers in Dead. She doesn't take an overused fantastical world from YA fiction and plug her characters into it. She uses our world, right here, and twists what we already know. This is a war between good and evil, choice and fate. You just don't know which is which.The Verdict: A great read for anyone with a paranormal sense of humor.Expect a sequel on, or around, May 12, 2010
    • 4/5
      In Once Dead, Twice Shy, Kim Harrison introduces the reader to Madison Avery shortly after her 17th birthday. It's an understatement to say her birthday isn't the best day of her life. The all important high school ritual of prom is the same day, her date is the son of her father's friend who took her as a favor since she's new to school, and the handsome stranger she left prom with purposely crashes his car. When she doesn't die he scythes her because he's a reaper. But she steals his amulet which gives her the illusion of a body. She's dead and stuck on earth with no body.While reading this, I was reminded a little bit of the tv series Dead Like Me. The reapers are given their assignments and they're supposed to help the souls go to a better place until they've done enough assignments to go on to their own reward. Once Dead, Twice Shy is only similar on the surface. There are dark reapers who believe in destiny and cut down those who would make a name for themselves in history. Their counterpart, the light reapers, believe in free will and they protect people who are about to die. The reapers are angels who have been assigned this duty.I loved this book. Madison sounds like a self-aware teenager who misses her old life. It can be difficult for a writer to nail the voice of someone 20 years younger. The world Harrison has built is complicated. Avery is kept as much in the dark as the reader regarding the motivations of other characters and how the magic works. It's great to read a book where you're learning about things along with the main character.
    • 5/5
      I really really enjoyed Once Dead, Twice Shy. I loved the twists and turns and how Harrison was able to keep the plot and characters fresh and fun. I read all of the Rachel Morgan books previously, before I stumbled on Once Dead, Twice Shy. I'm really glad that I had been browsing the YA racks for Cassandra Clare and Holly Black. I hope that there will be more of Madison's adventures in the future! :)
    • 4/5
      Kearsten says: This was ok fun - an interesting concept, but it seems...less than it could have been.Madison's stolen a reaper's amulet - of course, the reaper had just killed her, so she seemed to have the right to it. But what this ability means to Madison's murky future is a surprise she's never have considered.Madison is a strong and a bit quirky character, and one can't help but root for her. Siegfriend's reading, however, is quite annoying. I can't stand it when narrators read teenagers in the same whiny, annoying tone. Not every teenager whines EVERY MOMENT OF THE DAY. Sigh.
    • 3/5
      Title: Once Dead, Twice Shy Author: Kim Harrison Publisher: Harper Teen Number Of Pages: 232 Publication Date: May 26th,2009Synopsis from back of book: 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 Madison realizes she has to take control of her own fate once and for all, before it takes control of her. Well, if she believed in that stuff.New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison’s teen debut comes to Technicolor life with mischievous humor, attitude, and enough paranormal thrills to leave readers dying for the sequel.Review: Once Dead, Twice Shy is a really good book. It has witty characters, an interesting storyline, and was a really fun read. Although, I really think that the plot was too rushed! Oh, and you should probably read the short story in Prom Dates From Hell because it provides a lot of information about the book. I felt Once Dead, Twice Shy had a good story, but I wish that it was written a little better. I really don’t have too much to say about Once Dead, Twice Shy. I will definitely read the sequel though.I recommend this book if you like paranormal books, Kim Harrison books, and YA novels.
    • 4/5
      Once Dead, Twice Shy is the first Madison Avery book, and as fun paranormal reads go, it's pretty good. The premise is that there are two groups of angels, the light reapers and the dark reapers, who are working among humanity. The dark reapers work to reinforce Fate, reaping the souls of those who are destined to make certain choices. The light reapers work on behalf of Free Will, attempting to thwart the dark reapers whenever they can manage it. At the end of the school year, Madison was killed by a dark reaper for reasons unknown, and her soul was separated from her body. At the morgue, she wakes up (outside of her body, natch) to find that the dark reaper is still after her, trying to destroy her soul permanently. Being a stubborn sort who enjoys existence, she somehow manages to steal the reaper's amulet, which is the source of his power. With the amulet in her possession, she now has the appearance of a body, a light reaper named Barnabas for a babysitter, and a dark reaper who wants his amulet back and her dead for good.I'm a fan of Kim Harrison's series The Hollows, and was hoping for some of that series' significant edge in this book. Although Once Dead, Twice Shy wasn't exactly warm and fluffy, it didn't have the take-no-prisoners attitude of Rachel and her buddies in the Hollows. Nevertheless, the premise is unique and there is plenty here to keep you reading. It's also pretty short and fast-paced, which makes it a quick book to get through. Long story short, if it sounds interesting from the blurb, I'd definitely read it! If the plot summary leaves you shrugging your shoulders, it would be fine to skip it. Either way. Fun! But not essential.
    • 3/5
      Once Dead, Twice Shy has too many things that are happening and too much information that it tries to squeeze in, yet the full story somehow escapes me. Apparently there is a "prequel" short story in Prom Nights From Hell that tells a more detailed story about Madison's killer prom night. It would have been nice to read that piece beforehand since I do not feel that the prom night fiasco had been recapped well in Once Dead, Twice Shy. Or the whole dark/light reaper had been explained well either. The ending was too neatly-tied for my tastes - and tied in a such a way that I'm not sure how the sequel will go (I think there's supposed to be a sequel), but I suspect the direction will be as criss-crossed.My main disappointment had been the less-than-dominant presence of the evil villains - Kairos and company. I had hoped for more face-to-face between Kairos and Madison, but sadly there was not enough interaction to satisfy me.