Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace (Epub)

Description

For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters—human and otherwise—lurk at the fringes.

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight, and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Tense, complex, and wholly engaging, Shallow Graves is a stunning first novel from Kali Wallace.

User’s Reviews

From School Library Journal Gr 7 Up—This title will initially grab readers with the mystery of Breezy’s death and her new undead identity, but many will be left dissatisfied. Breezy Lin doesn’t remember her death, but she does remember waking up in a shallow grave a year later, clawing her way to the surface, and killing with just one touch the man who woke her. Now she’s wandering, testing the limits of what her body can handle (because she definitely can’t die again) and taking out murderers, whom she can sense by the shadows surrounding them. But when she’s directed to a church with a ministry for runaway youth, she realizes the secret of her past. Wallace experiments with narrative structure, unveiling Breezy’s personality via flashbacks, memories, and her philosophical musings, but her treatment of the present is less compelling. Breezy is directionless until she finds herself running for her life, but even then she’s not committed to anything in particular (learning more about her new nature, understanding the world she’s discovered, avenging herself, hunting down murderers) for very long. Except for a stilted conversation in which Breezy asks a new companion which kinds of seemingly fictional creatures (ghosts, unicorns, vampires, and so on) are real, very little of the paranormal world is revealed. This peculiar lack of curiosity about the world Wallace has created spoils what might otherwise have been an intriguing paranormal mystery. VERDICT Too shallow a world and too aimless a protagonist.—Gretchen Kolderup, New York Public Library –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review “A fast-paced story with an interesting hook, and a thoughtful look at what it means to be human versus what it means to be a monster. The end result is a superbly crafted debut bound to entrance.” — Booklist (starred review)“Kali Wallace has created a world that’s both natural and unsettling …and reminds us with Breezy’s story that true terror is not a monster, but what lurks in the dark corners of human nature.” — Madeleine Roux, New York Times bestselling author of the Asylum series.“Shallow Graves is a stunner. Gripping, gory, and insightful.” — Kendare Blake, author of Anna Dressed in Blood and Antigoddess“Constantly entertaining, intriguing, and suspenseful.” — Kirkus Reviews“A fast-paced ride through a dark, imaginative world.” — Mindy McGinnis, author of Not a Drop to Drink and A Madness So Discreet“A phenomenally written, spine-chilling story…sure to keep you up all night.” — Kimberly Derting, author of the Body Finder series“Writing in Breezy’s pragmatic and engaging voice, Wallace weaves an unsettling tale that explores Breezy’s strange existence, while also thoughtfully examining a life cut short…her struggle to reconcile what she has become with the human she used to be forms the heart of this bittersweet story.” — Publishers Weekly –This text refers to the paperback edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace was a dark and eerie story that held me captivated for the past two days as I read it! While it wasn’t the horror story I was looking for, I still found myself held riveted by the words and story and there was still enough creepiness and mystery to have me turning the pages faster than I thought!Breezy wakes to find herself crawling out of a shallow grave and a dead man at her feet. Though, now having finished the book I wonder more about this creepy dude, as we only really get a glimpse of him through a flashback or two. Breezy died a year ago, well, sort of. She died but now she’s alive-ish, but not. She can’t really eat food anymore without getting sick, her heart beats on occasion and now she can see the shadows around people to see what kind of person they are. She’s drawn to the ones with dark shadows, signs that they have killed.Breezy isn’t sure what she is. She survives somehow by killing murderers, with a touch she knows their sins and can steal their very life essence from them and leaving them a dead shell. She’s really just been going about life the past year now moving across the country killing killers, not really having any purpose. Then she finds herself at a church house, one that claims to help the helpless and can save one’s eternal soul. She’s not so sure about that mumbo jumbo, but she wanted a nice hot shower. What she quickly discovers is that the church is basically filled with monster hunters, finding monsters, and gifting them to a mysterious Her. And naturally, Breezy has become their next target. Breezy is determined to escape her captors with the help of their other captive, a mysterious girl named Rain.This book was honestly just filled with mystery! Not the whodunit kind, but one where you’re trying to puzzle things out. Like what Breezy is, learning about the other “monsters” in the world. The mysterious Her the main priest at the church seems to worship. So many mysteries, so little answers at times.Breezy doesn’t really have one mission in mind. After learning about who her captors were, she’s curious to know who they were serving and what was happening to the other “monsters” that never came back from the church. That itself was pretty terrifying as were the end results.Throughout the book we get flashbacks of Breezy’s life from before she was killed. Sometimes a few years and other times in the weeks before. We do eventually get to see the flashback where she was killed and whodunit. That was honestly a little more shocking than I expected, but I suppose the clues were there. I did enjoy how Breezy handled things after she “came back.” It’s not quite what you would expect, but pretty satisfying in some sense too.This review was a little hard to write as there’s no real driven plot. It’s more of an aimlessly wandering kind of story where Breezy is encountering different “people” and not all ones she can or should trust. She does seem to make good friends with a ghoul named Zeke and his brother, Jake. So it was nice to see Breezy adjusting to her new way of life in that sense.In some ways this was a book where not much happened, but a lot happens at the same time. It’s a standalone so you know everything is complete at the end and things are mostly resolved. It’s kind of an open-ended ending too. It’s part terrifying, part hopeful in that sense.While I struggle to really say much about this book, it’s not because I didn’t enjoy it. I rather did enjoy it! It’s just hard to put into words Breezy’s journey without getting too deep into it and revealing too much. Needless to say this is a book about a girl who died, came back, and has to adjust to her new undead(ish) life and learning about the hidden world that was always around her. It’s a story about love, hope, revenge, death, and more. Shallow Graves was an intriguing and mysterious story that will hold you riveted and chill you down deep. It proves that humans can be monsters and monsters can be humane.Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars

⭐ Read this book. I can’t believe this is considered a YA book. I guess because the main character is 17. There is no romance or sex or the use of four letter words. It is the work of incredible imagination and talent.Breezy Lin has one ambition in life: to become an astronaut with first Mars manned exploration. She has planned her entire life out but doesn’t anticipate one thing, being murdered at the end of her junior year of high school. She also doesn’t plan on being resurrected a year later with the addition of a deadly and strange new power. She can now sense if people are killers and she can kill them. The downside (and there is always a downside) is that she retains the killer’s memories.Level headed and mature, Breezy finds there are others in the world who are not human. Unfortunately there are humans who are more evil and frightening than non-humans and she unwittingly falls into their hands. After rescuing herself, she acquires new friends and finds an ancient, terrifying evil.I would classify this book as urban fantasy/horror and say it appropriate for kids in middle school and older. It is an engaging read for adults so don’t pass it by because of its YA label. I high recommend this entertaining read.,

⭐ This book delivers the premise that even monsters have existential crises and search for meaning in their lives.Breezy Lin is a seventeen year old girl who was murdered. A year later, she wakes up a zombie with the supernatural ability to kill. However, she limits it to just murderers who deserve it as she hitchhikes across the country and searches for how and why she was brought back from the dead.Along the way, she runs across a fanatic cultist who wants to “cure” monsters by feeding them to an even worse monster in an old mine. She also befriends a pair of brothers who happen to be ghouls. It asks the questions: who is worse, humans or monsters? Do monsters deserve to die simply for being monsters? Are humans who kill justified?There are no innocent characters here, but that’s the point, I think.The book is well-written and asks serious questions about life and death and those who are different. But it’s not boring in the least. It takes all these serious ideas and incorporates them into a great, fast-paced story that keeps your on the edge of your seat. The ending, when Breezy confronts the monster in the mine…….very scary.I love the fact that none of the questions are neatly wrapped up with a sappy bow-tied answer. Just like real life, nobody understands why they’re here, or comes to terms with the unfairness of it all. Faith and hope are lightly brushed upon, but quickly pushed aside as irrelevant. That, more than anything else in the story, filled me with deep sadness.On the surface, it’s a great monster story that any horror or paranormal fan will love.But it’s so much more than that as well. Highly recommended.

⭐ This is a good clean ” Goose Bumps ” style of writing that I would definitely recommend for Junior High school readers. As far as I can tell, the language is nothing more than what most children hear at home and the context would surely be a PG rating if made into a movie.But if your over sixteen, don’t waste your money. Shallow Graves is the first book I’ve read by Kali Wallace and I must say, if this is her style of writing, it will be my last. That’s the problem with Kindle reviews. So often the reviews ramble on about the story itself, which I can’t understand because you can get all that stuff from summary the author’s put on the jacket instead of supplying information about the book other readers might find useful. Like if your an adult, take a pass.

⭐ To explain why I fell in love with the story of a Breezy Lin, a teenage revenant (not “zombie,” please, our protagonist is neither mindless nor is she into eating brains), I have to ask? How do teens begin to recover from this kind of intense trauma? That question is at the heart of SHALLOW GRAVES. The more I thought about the novel, the more I realized that — like the best science fiction and fantasy books — the story serves as a metaphor for difficult things that we confront in real life.A year after she is murdered, seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow back-yard grave. The circumstances of her revival are mysterious, magical, and as violent as her initial death. Although she wants nothing more than to return, alive, to her life as it was, Breezy is fundamentally a different person because of the trauma she has experienced. She can’t go back to her family or be her old self. Instead, she has to let go of the labels with which she once defined herself (future astronaut – that’s not going to happen) and find new, more complex ways of understanding who she is. METAPHOR.Breezy’s quest to find out what she is and how she came to be undead takes her to some truly frightening places. Along the way, Breezy is forced to learn how to tell the difference between those who want to help her and those who want to hurt her (a great cast of religious fanatics, ghouls, and one ancient creature so evil, your skin will crawl), a skill she did not have when she was alive.Breezy is courageous in her willingness to confront the truth. Underneath this tale of imagined monsters is a real road map for survivors. Because the paranormal elements are a metaphor, a lens for looking at real human experience, the reader follows along as Breezy copes with trauma, recognizes that it has changed her forever, and begins the process of being comfortable with who she is now.

⭐ I happened across this book by accident and I am so glad I did. Its a unique, twisting story that always had me guessing. Breezy, the main character, is so very likable. She tells her supernatural story is such a way that it seems completely believable.I loved how we don’t learn the entire story of Breezy’s death all at once. Instead it is slowly revealed piece by piece. It was done so naturally, as though we were remembering the events right along with her.The side characters were well developed. I especially loved Zeke and Jake, two brothers who are ghouls, and the only people who seem to want to help Breezy and not demand something in return.The ending was pretty open. I can see a future sequel being a possibility but I won’t feel let down if there is not one either. I really love every aspect of this story though, so if there is a sequel to be had I will certainly be checking it out.

⭐ Interesting concept and beautiful writing, but that’s pretty much all its got going for it. Could’ve been so much better if it was more structured and the concept more fleshed out and expounded on. Was really bothered that you never find out what the protagonist is, and the big baddie was a huge disapointment in so many aspects. I was also really disappointed by the ending or lack thereof. No resolution or closure whatsoever. Definitely something that should’ve been borrowed in my opinion. Don’t ever need to read it again.

⭐ I could not put this book down! It was entertaining from the first page to the last. The premise is so intriguing. From the first sentence, I was hooked by the story questions—and they emerged into more and more interesting questions as the story unfolded. I was immediately drawn in by the fantastic writing. Kali Wallace is an artful storyteller, and the queen of metaphors! But that is just icing on the cake of this enthralling tale. Wallace builds a whole world of re-imagined creatures, with their own characteristics and mythos—all woven together with the over-arching mystery of the main character, Breezy. She is a well-drawn, witty and sympathetic character that I liked immediately—and loved by the end. The author writes such fantastic dialogue! I looked forward to the exchanges Breezy shared with a most interesting cast of characters.I highly recommend this book—especially to fans of shows like Supernatural, Grimm, and anyone who enjoys suspense, mystery, and a bit of horror.

⭐ I don’t usually read these types of books, but I took a gamble on this as a kindle first read. It was well written and kept me interested. It’s sort of a meeting of worlds, a little crime, a little thriller, a little magic and fantasy. Over all I enjoyed it and it was a unique and interesting read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries or fantasy.

⭐ i.had hopes for.this book starting outi thought it was about a girl who was murdered who came back w a mission to find murderers and get revengethen she gets caught up in a cult and became very disturbing and weirdyet draggy at times, too much info at once i kinda liked it until i started the third cd

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