Review: Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Around the World Tours
Other Info: 2010 Debut Author Challenge
IBSN: 9780316044301)
Blurb:
In less than a day I had been harassed, enchanted, shouted at, cried on, and clawed. I’d been cold, scared, dirty, exhausted, hungry, and miserable. And up until now, I’d been mildly impressed with my ability to cope.

At her boarding school in New Zealand, Ellie Spencer is like any ordinary teen: she hangs out with her best friend, Kevin; obsesses over her crush on a mysterious boy; and her biggest worry is her paper deadline. Then everything changes: In the foggy woods near the school, something ancient and deadly is waiting.

Karen Healey introduces a savvy and spirited heroine with a strong, fresh voice. Full of deliciously creepy details, this adventure is a deftly crafted story of Māori mythology, romance, betrayal, and war.


My Thoughts:

Ellie is attending boarding school while her parents travel the world. Everything is just like always. Hanging out with her best friend. Drinking in her room. But when she literally runs into her crush, her life is about to be turned on it’s head.

Guardian of the Dead is completely original. The premise and mythology is something I have never seen before in YA fiction. Karen Healey did a fantastic job of bringing these myths and stories to life in our world. And while I really enjoyed this book there were just a few teeny tiny things that bugged me.

I loved Ellie. She was feisty. She could kick some butt and she wasn’t super skinny!! That’s something you don’t find a lot in YA. I just really loved her character! Her love interest Mark was great too. He was the perfect amount of mysterious. He did some heroic things…..but I just didn’t get the relationship between them. I felt like I missed something. Why did they like each other so much? It was as though the author told us “These two like…maybe even love each other!” but never showed us. Other than that though, I really liked the characters.

For me, the plot moved swiftly at times and at a snails pace at others. I liked that the characters had to overcome a big hurdle fairly quickly in the book. It made it seem like we got two stories. I wasn’t too thrilled with the ending….but it will definitely make me read a sequel!

All in all, Guardian of the Dead was a good read. The mythology was great the characters were good and the plot was interesting but it still lacked just a little something….hopefully we will find that in Healey’s next book.

3.5 Stars