When the Dead Comes A Knockin’
Author: BL Brunnemer
Series: The Veil Diaries #2
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult, Fantasy
Page Number: 560 pages
Format: Audiobook
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My name is Alexis Delaney, and I’m your average 17-year-old girl. Except I’m a Necromancer. Which means I can see the dead, talk to them and help them move on. Well, I used to be able to. Someone has sealed the Veil. Now the dead are stuck here. And with the extra energy floating around town, the ghosts are getting stronger.
It’s been two months since I came to Spring Mountain to live with Uncle Rory. And the guys, my five best friends, have done everything they can to help since. Things for once were almost normal, my issues with the dead had become routine. Until they all found girlfriends. Now I’m back to hiding everything again. With ghosts leaving their haunting grounds at will, new people asking questions and trying to build my link to the Veil, I don’t know how the hell I’m going to pull this one off. But it can’t get that bad, right?
MY REVIEW
I received a free copy for an honest review.
What I really liked:
• The voice actress
• A really good slow burn
• The Harem
What I didn’t like:
• The “rage – quit” angering quality this story possessed
• Alex’s occasional (cliched) main character syndrome (that is extremely unlikable, annoying, and stupid)
• The paranormal aspect of this story? (debatable).
Before starting off by reviewing the book, but I to discuss the audiobook (because I listened to this book in audiobook form). As I start to listen to more audiobooks, I began to notice the differences between good and bad audiobooks. The narrations are usually always extremely decent, but it’s how the same narrator voices the different characters that truly shines (especially when the characters are in different genders). You know the audiobook is good when you liked the girl narrator’s version of the guy’s voice better than the voices of the legitimate male actors hired to portray the male characters.
Okay, back to the story. This book has the perfect story to give the reader a really big urge to rage quit. The guy’s complete and utter ignorance about their girlfriends’ true colors was really frustrating – and the only redeeming factor regarding this area for them is how they didn’t hesitate and doubt when they were told them the truth (that was a relief). However, the thing I hated most that Alexis did (in the entire book) was how she went onto the classic protagonist road of extreme and idiotic selflessness, refusing to let the guys know just how horrible the girls were. I can understand that she did it because she wanted the guys to be happy, but to me and looking at where the circumstances were directing itself towards, I just find it very stupid.
It’s hard for me to discuss Daniel and Alex’s relationship without mentioning potential spoilers (because I already finished the series), but all I would say is this: don’t worry and just enjoy it. If you’re a reader for this series, you should definitely know what I’m talking about. If you’re not, just trust me and enjoy the relationship between these two and the normal relationship they developed in this supposedly not-so-normal world.
This book is also one of the least paranormal YA books I have ever read. To let you understand what I mean, the entire paranormal aspect regarding this story – from Alex’s necromancy abilities to the ghosts – could be replaced to anything else, and it could’ve still worked perfectly. At this point, it really seemed like the “story” has been pushed to the sidelines, and this story is really starring the relationship developments of this harem while the paranormal aspects are all just decorations to make the book more interesting. Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing, it really depends on what the reader is looking for. This would not be the ideal choice read for a person that wants to immerse in an extremely paranormal story and book. However, it would definitely fit the bill for someone to just enjoy a well-written reverse harem romance with paranormal factors on the side.
But one thing I truly want to praise is its pace. I am so glad that the author completely went full out, and did not hold back to make this series a slow burn. Not to add on, this slow burn is not even the usual hate-love relationship, it’s the friends to romance trope. The fact that the series took its time to truly develop this relationship and how it’s not rushed at all made me, a reader who practically only likes hate-love relationships, to like this series’ romance as well. This series was not something I usually read, and the fact that this book successfully made me like something I’m not used to (and don’t usually like) showed how successful its attempt to be a good book in general is. When the Dead Come A Knockin’ is not the best sequel I have ever read, but it did do its job to encourage its readers to continue the series, and I think that is something worthy of acknowledgment. This is why I’m giving it 4/5 stars.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
B.L.Brunnemer has been a devoted reader since she was young. As a child, she was instantly attracted to horror stories. The plot, the suspense, the action. She loved it all. Which, as she grew, branched out into several other genres. But a strong female character always caught her eye. Through the years romance became a big part of her reading. Then she found the Young Adult/New Adult genre. But she had a problem. She never found the romance between most characters to be realistic enough for her. At least in the paranormal romance section.
So, she decided to fix that. She’d been writing for years already and had always struggled to finish a manuscript. Until, she decided to write what she wanted to read.
B.L. Brunnemer doesn’t have any other publications at this time. She’s just a woman, who loves a good story with great characters. And she hopes you’ll love them too.