Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Shallow Graves

by Kali Wallace

For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters-human and otherwise-lurk at the fringes. When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn't remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she's somehow conscious-and not only that, she's able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs-where killers hide in plain sight, and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous. Tense, complex, and wholly engaging, Shallow Graves is a stunning first novel from Kali Wallace.

Reviewed by readingwithwrin on

3 of 5 stars

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“It was too lonely to be heaven, and there wouldn't be stars in hell.”

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Breezy wakes up clawing her way out of the ground finding a dead man next to her grave. Who is the man and why did she kill him? Well that’s all thanks to her knew talent she has gotten since coming back. With her new sense breezy goes through life now trying to get rid of bad people, all while trying to figure out what exactly she is now, how she came to be, and who/why she was made in the first place.
Along her journey we see a pretty big cast of secondary characters, some that are important and others that are just passing through and will leave you with more questions than answers. Along the way though breezy makes a few friends, and starts to discover what she is all while running from a cult leader and his minions.
But what if this cult leader and his minions might have all the answers? What risks will breezy take in order to figure out what she is? Well that’s something that you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Overall I enjoyed this story; it was rather bland at times and then got suddenly creepy and terrifying towards the end. With so many different characters all having magical powers, we get to see a lot of different things in a short time making the story more enjoyable. We get to see Breezy remember things from her past. We also get to see her dealing with things now that range from homelessness to being a female hitchhiker. She deals with regular real life things still, which was nice to see in a paranormal fantasy book. We get to see her make jokes and deal with serious problems that will affect not just her but non-humans and humans alike. How taking out one person doesn’t just affect them and their immediate family but everyone else to.
Sure it was hard at times to see exactly what the plot was but if you stick with it to the end you’ll see that it’s really about good vs evil. Trying to find exactly where you fit into this world, and what to do when your whole life plan gets thrown out because of things you had no control over.
Is this book set up for a sequel? Possibly. But it’s also possible for it to be a standalone that’s left open-ended for you to decide what breezy does next with her immortality.

"I wasn’t pleading and begging. If that’s what she expected, she was going to be disappointed. I was here to meet her, one monster to another."

P.S. Does the way mother talks in the audio-book remind anyone of how Norman bates mother from psycho talked? Or is that just me.
Character is bisexual

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 September, 2016: Finished reading
  • 12 September, 2016: Reviewed