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Book Review of Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly, Bk 1)

Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly, Bk 1)
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Summary:
Eleanor is growing up in Victorian Philadelphia. Her brother, Elijah (love that name!), has disappeared. Her family is not doing so well and in true Victorian fashion, her mother is attempting to marry her off to rich Clarence (again, love the name). Eleanor goes along like a good little girl, but also tries to find Elijah. In order to do that, Eleanor goes to the Spirit-Hunters. The Spirit-Hunters are a ghost hunting group that use a mixture of technology and magic. Oh, I completely forgot to mention that there is a hoard of very hungry zombies running around. The dead have been raised by a necromancer. What's a sweet Victorian lady to do?

My thoughts:
Honestly, I love when author mix genres up. This was written very well with lovable and quirky characters, but the Victorian atmosphere sold it for me. I think part of it is because the mixture of a demure young lady that kicks behind is so much fun. Eleanor delivers! She plays the perfect young lady while also risking everything for those that she cares about. She also is stubborn and spicy when it comes to the love interest, who is also stubborn and spicy. The relationship is not a fall in love at first sight type of thing, but one in which there is just as much conflict as chemistry. They are just adorable.

This is also a newer twist on zombies. I enjoyed a reason behind the risen dead. The necromancer identity is supposed to be a twist, but it is fairly easy to figure out who it is. I don't think that really takes away from the story though. Since I am used to figuring things out in YA books, this just was par for the course. I think the zombie, Victorian, steampunkish technology is reminiscent of Lia Habel; however, the love story (which I feel is a major part of Habel's Dearly, Departed: A Zombie Novel series) is not even close to similar. I love Bram from Dearly, Departed, but his love story is a love at first sight type thing. I feel like the love story in Something Strange and Deadly is more believable for the characters involved. I also feel like Eleanor is a stronger female lead. Regardless, both books are good companions to one another and I high recommend some History+Zombie reading.