Death Inception

by Tamara Rose Blodgett

[Angie]

While Death Inception is a prequel to the Death series, I think the author did good by listing this at book 3 instead. I do think you can still read it first, but I feel like something extra would be missing from the reading experience. This novella alternates between 1929 and the early 2000s. It immediately grabbed me from the first page at the site of a familiar name. I formed a theory, but it wasn’t confirmed in this story, but I’m hanging on to it! I wouldn’t say that this novella is necessary to understand the main plot of the series, but it does provide a lot of background and extras that are nice to know.

I was always interested in how the Pulse technology came to be, as well as the beginning of the paranormal ability screenings. I had this nagging feeling in the back of my head during the first two books that something may not have been totally “right” with that process, and this caused me to be a bit suspicious of Caleb’s father. Luckily, he’s one of the characters followed and his role is all of this was cleared right up. I appreciated how the author gave us this glimpse into the past; it just adds to the already amazing world-building.

It was fun getting to see the characters in a different light, and that’s why I would recommend sticking to reading this one third. I believe it would take away some of the mystery of Clyde and Jeffrey that comes with meeting them in Death Whispers rather than in Death Inception. There are also a few scenes in the series’ present day that will make more sense if you’ve already read their occurrence in full. There are no spoilers, so you would still be safe to read this first if you so choose. Some mid-series novellas are completely useless, but this is not one of them. It may not be necessary to the plot, but it definitely contains some insightful information that you won’t want to miss out on.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.