Review: Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1) by Susan Dennard

Something Strange and Deadly

(Something Strange and Deadly #1)

by Susan Dennard

July 24, 2012

388 pages

Goodreads  Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
There's something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia. . . .

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about.

Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she's just read in the newspaper:

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor . . . from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she'll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

Review

As a big historical paranormal fiction fan, this book was everything I wanted. I liked Something Strange and Deadly a lot. It had a similar storyline to the The Infernal Devices books by Cassandra Clare which is my all-time favourite trilogy. With the similarities came the predictability but that's arguably not a bad thing.

 

In Something Strange and Deadly we find corpses walking among the living. I found it mildly surprising to see the society so accepting of the supernatural but I guess it's hard not to acknowledge what's in front of your eyes. As the Spirit-Hunters try to contain the walking dead situation, Miss Eleanor Fitt barges into their lab. She ends up finding more truths than she bargained for all the while experiencing thoughts she's not had before meeting Daniel, one of the Spirit-Hunters. Their slow burn relationship was pretty damn good.

Eleanor- she's my favourite thing about this book. In the face of her overbearing mother and their crumbling financial situation, she gives it her all to find her missing brother who is also her best friend. Even when she was put into the most dreadful and dire circumstances she aimed to do right by the people she loves. A proper lady running around trying to save her brother and her town (God forbid!)? She's a heroine I absolutely want to stand by.

The Spirit-Hunters made a good team. Despite the limitations they had, they fought hard until the very end. I loved seeing the diversity and how every one brought their own skill set into the group. I was a tinsy bit annoyed with Jie's numerous "yeah?" in her speech. Chinese people really don't say that a lot, yeah? Daniel's inventions are neat so I hope to see him create more gadgets.

The predictability of the story didn't take away any of my enjoyment of the book. Sure the reveals weren't as shocking as they're probably meant to be but the progression of the storyline and the build up to the climaxes were worth every minute. I was greedy for more.

Something Strange and Deadly is a total treat for historical fiction lovers. I want to hit myself for not reading it sooner. On the bright side, I can now binge-read the rest of the books and I cannot wait!