I'm a sucker for award stickers on books. They always drive me in, thinking, "Well, if this book was good enough for a bunch of people to vote for it, I'll probably like it too!"
And so I grabbed Hold Me Closer, Necromancer off the shelf not knowing what to expect, the William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist sticker glimmering in the light. Little did I know it would fall into the supernatural/fantasy genre, which I usually can't stand. This book was okay. Really, just okay. Not super, not horrible...just okay enough for me to finish it and contemplate if I should file it in the "I actually like it" category. Still debating.
It's about a boy, Sam, who dropped out of college and works at a fast food place in Seattle. Due to a little mishap with a potato one night, Sam gets the crap kicked out of him by a mean customer who has noticed a "talent" in Sam that has never before surfaced. Sam is a necromancer and didn't even know it. If you're like me and have no idea what that word means (and if I did, I wouldn't have chosen this book.....cheers to my severe lack of vocabulary.... hint of sarcasm there), a necromancer can apparently bring the dead back as zombie-sorts, and control them.
Anyway, because Sam just learned of his talent and is now in major trouble with the most powerful necromancer in the area, Douglas, (and Douglas means business-- he killed Sam's friend and sent her talking head to him which he now keeps in a bowling bag) he seeks answers to a lot of questions he has, including why this secret has been kept from him. He learns about his mother's past (as well as her unique talents) and is in a time crunch to find and meet some family members. Toward the middle of the book, Sam is kidnapped by Douglas and held captive in a cage with a hot, naked fairy-were that he bonds with. Douglas starts to train Sam on how to use his powers, but things get out of control and soon Sam and his new powers are truly put to the test.
The author's writing style is fun and witty, and very light considering some of the deaths that occur. I have to admit, I was confused by what seemed to be a parallel story plot at the beginning of the book. I hate it when books and movies do that: you're following a story line and are really invested in it when all of a sudden new characters and a completely different plot are introduced. Then you have to wait, wait, wait until the two plots are somehow going to become linked together later because they always are. In the meantime, it's so frustrating as you wonder how much this other plot really matters and how closely you should be paying attention to names and details. By the time the connection is revealed, you feel like you need to go back and reread a good portion of the beginning because you're like, "Damn, I should've paid more more attention to [whatever you didn't play attention to because you were mad the author did this]!" SO FRUSTRATING!
I did think the pacing of the book was at times uneven, as it slowed down a little in the middle, and then a major action scene toward the end was over in a flash.
I will, however, compliment the author's creativity in coming up with all these different characters and finding a way to wind them together-- witches, werewolves, fairies, necromancers, and other creatures. Most of the characters were strong and unique, which made their interactions interesting.
I'm not so sure my high school population that requests books about werewolves would actually go for this one, as it's kind of long and a lot different from something like Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. It is, however, amusing if you can set aside your confusion enough to get to where the two plots converge. I feel a sequel coming, too. (I probably won't read it though. I mean, the zombie panda finally died and I was really depressed about that...)
Themes: identity, good vs. evil
Would interest: boys and girls, grades 9-12, motivated readers who like realistic books mixed with some fantasy
Good for: a fun read
My grade: B
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