I want to like this book so much the cover is so pretty and an interesting idea but really, really can't! For starters the book is more about romance then smelling the dead and at one point she smells the vinegar smell all the time, can't even eat etc.. but then she doesn't smell it all at? Or at lease no more mention of it every 5 seconds.. 90% of this book is about her new boyfriend and HIS story not hers. The smelling dead people part seemed to just be thrown in the first part to match the title of the book. The "case" see had to figure out was, well sort of lame attempt to get it into the book then we go right back to Calvin's story and again not Yuki's. Yuki is just now getting to were she can smell dead people yet it does not freak her out at all? She learns her boyfriend is a wolf and again doesn't freak out at all even a little? Then there is plot point issues. I don't want to spoil anything but something is a month away and later "3 weeks" later it is still a month away? The last thing that is bothering me is that she suddenly comes into this "gift" or whatever of smelling dead people and learns that her BF turns into a wolf yet none of this really phases her one bit? To me that just doesn't make a lot of sense.This book was so boring and I wanted more of what I bought the book for a young girl who can smell dead people. Not a boring story about a boy changing into a wolf that doesn't even make sense. THE FAERYS VIEWFirst off-I am amazed that I haven’t read the Spirit Guide series by E.J. Stevens until now! How could I miss such a gem of a read! She Smells The Dead is a One-Sit-Read for me-literally and figuratively! Once I picked it up, I didn’t put it down until I finished it and then I quickly downloaded the rest of the series on to my Kindle and did the same. I read the entire series in 2 days and now I want more!E.J. did a beautiful job in all aspects of her novel but what impressed me the most was her character descriptions; the main character Yuki (really Vanessa, but that’s a story within itself!) quickly endeared herself to me. She is 5 ft nothing, Goth and tortured by the jocks at school who think she’s a witch but Yuki’s the kind of girl who doesn’t let them see how it hurts her, she’s a tough cookie on the outside but has a heart of gold. She’s a vegan and loves showing her own uniqueness in her sense of style. So what if it happens to be knee-high lace ups, torn tights and white make-up-she is proud of her style and wears it well. Yuki values her friends Calvin and Emma. Calvin or Cal, is a meat eating hunk who’s as anti-goth as they come but has been friends with Yuki forever and Emma, straight laced, organized, factual, extreme animal rights activist and dresses basically only in beige don’t seem to be who you’d pick out of a line up as Yuki’s friends but they are loyal and supportive of each other. E.J.’s description of the trio’s friendship is realistic and true, she could have been talking about my own besties. The secondary characters, particularly Simon, are a joy and I couldn’t wait to read more about them.Told in Yuki’s POV, I was completely engrossed in a wondrous tale about an unusual young woman with the gift of smelling the dead and by smelling the dead she learns she can help those spirits that are reaching out to her for help or closure. There is so much more to the story then this, though. E.J. incorporates young love, hilarity in the form of Yuki’s personality and her interactions with her friends. Yuki’s favorite saying, ‘Son of a Dung Beetle’ is so apropos and Cal often calls her ‘Dung Beetle Princess ’. The story holds many secrets for the reader to discover. There’s quite a bit of mysticism involved, Cal is a practitioner of many variations of meditation and vision quests. Yuki finds that her dreams are prophetic and that she has a spirit guide and the form of that spirit guide is a riot but you must read to find out! Interestingly enough, Cal has his own supernatural ability to cope with and it ties in with Yuki, making the story all that much more fascinating.She Smells the Dead by E.J. Stevens is a captivating read that I completely enjoyed on so many levels. The next in the series, Spirit Storm promises to be as fanfaerytastic as She Smells the Dead! I know this because I’ve already read it! THE BOOK FAERY SAYS ROCK ON E.J. STEVENS!
What do You think about She Smells The Dead (2010)?
I like the story and the characters. There was no teen angst, and that was fine.
—Erin10
Probably great for a young teen, but maybe too juvenile for an adult (me).
—BIGC
