Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Finished the night before Election Day 2020, so there's a non-zero chance that my raging anxiety affected my ability to concentrate on and enjoy this book.

This book was originally serialized on Ms Harper's Facebook group page, and it reads that way. There are several peaks and valleys, instead of having the plot build up to a major conflict/resolution. I didn't fall in love with the MCs, but it was a promising enough start that I will read the sequel to learn more about this particular world of magic and talking familiars. Harper always endows her characters with warmth and humanity (even when they aren't quite human), and she knows how to use humor in a natural, not-too-snarky way (I'm thinking of getting a tattoo that says “snark is not character development”).

Honestly, I'm not sure I would five-star Great Expectations right now, but this was a nice way to pass a few hours.

Really smart, fun urban fantasy! Great characters and has a unique feel to it–very droll and funny but not at the expense of character development or plot.

I was surprised by “Hold Me Closer, Necromancer”. Quite frankly, going in, my expectations weren't high. In fact, this book had been teetering mid-way through the stack of TBRs for a while.

When I finally picked it up, I nearly set it down again permenantly when I realized Sam's (main character) full name was Samhain. I sneered in disgust. The author hadn't even done their research. As any good Gael will tell you Samhain is not pronounced “sam-hane”, more along the lines of “sah-win”.

Sorry to be such a pronunciation snob, but that sort of crap bugs me.

Fortunately, before I could throw the book across the room the author redeemed themselves with a plausible explanation in the next paragraph. At that point I gave up the struggle and let myself become completely engrossed.

Sam is a loveable slacker - a skateboarding college dropout working the fast-food career track. That is, until he has a run in with the local necromancer at which point Sam's entire life goes from meh to worse in the space of 48 hours.

One of the other reviewers said they pictured Sam looking like Llyod Dobler from the 80s movie Say Anything, and now I can't get the visual out of my head. Slap a hoody on him, give him a skateboard, put him in Seattle, and pit him against an evil-dead-raising SOB, and you have Sam LaCoix.

I'm looking forward to reading more about Sam and crew. If the first book is anything to judge by, it's going to be an interesting ride.