Recalled
Death Escorts Series,#1
by Cambria Hebert
Publisher: Self-Published (Feb 15, 2013)
Genre: Paranormal, YA, New Adult
Format: eBook (306 pages)
Source: Author, for Blog Tour
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
Love or Death? A simple question really. The choice seems obvious. But. What if you never knew love, what if your life was spent just trying to survive? What if you knew your fate before you were fully grown?
And then you died.
And you were given another chance. A better chance.
This new life depended upon one thing: your job. And so you agreed. You thought it would be simple. You thought it would be cut and dry.
It never is.
And now you are left holding the fate of someone else in the palm of your hand and you have to make the ultimate choice.
Love or Death?
At A Glance
A heart-wrenching and interesting concept that kept me reading but a somewhat boring execution.
The Good
Reading the book summary still gives me the chills. Such a great concept, right? This guy who has lived on the streets most of his life dies while saving a girl’s life. But he doesn’t go to hell like he expected. No, he gets offered a job, one where he gets to live the high life: cars, money, a home. But what’s his job? He has to kill people, and if he fails he will live an afterlife worse than hell. And his first target is the girl he saved.
Wow, just wow. Recalled really makes you think. What are you capable of when it comes to your happiness and survival? Is love enough? Dex was in such a predicament. I don’t even know what I would have done in his position. You always hope you are only capable of the doing the right thing, but you never really know until your are put into a position to choose. Dex has had a horrible life of being unwanted, abused, and of savaging to survive. Then he dies for one good deed. How can he refuse being brought back to life for a chance to live a real life? We can see the goodness in Dex right away. He’s not a killer, but he tries. He really does try to kill Piper over and over again, and then saves her life every time. lol. It was actually hilarious. You could see their connection grow after numerous near-death incidences. Watching Dex try to keep his distance while falling in love was both heartbreaking and beautiful.
Piper knows Dex is more than he says. He may be wearing a different body, but he reminds her of the boy who saved her life. And her visions she has had all her life only enforce her suspicions. But no matter how hard she tries to crack him, to get close to him, Dex remains aloof. I loved how much heart Piper had. She felt for the boy who saved her life and wanted to do anything to continue the memory of this stranger from fading. She was very depressed in the beginning of the book, but after meeting Dex, she becomes a beacon of life. You could feel her happiness and hope leaping off the page.
G.R., Dex’s boss, was straight up creepy. I loved him as a bad guy. Sure, I easily guessed who he really was, but I still had fun learning how horrible he could be. And Charming, another Death Escort like Dex, was a perfect nemesis to Dex. I know it’s wrong but I loved reading about them kicking each other’s butts.
I almost put this in the bad section, but after giving it a couple days I have realized that the ending was actually well done. It was bittersweet. Not everything works out, but it isn’t horrible either. I wanted to throw the book and cry like a baby at first, but really, I don’t think this book could have ended any other way. But now I am dying to see what could happen next because this end was a finality if I ever seen one.
The Bad
Something that really bothered me was the inconsistency of time passing. What felt like a couple days would be explained as a couple weeks going by. When Piper is kidnapped, Dex goes to save her, but he has been gone for a couple days (since the kidnapping) and all of a sudden he gets to her in an hour of her getting kidnapped. WTF?
Really, I just kept thinking to myself, “Where is this all going?” I got annoyed sometimes because I wanted something to finally happen. This book is like waiting in line for a Disneyland ride. You are excited about the end result but the wait is tedious boring.
The Snuggly
This is a very YA-ish book when it comes to sexual tension and sex in general. Dex and Piper spend a whole weekend together and don’t kiss once. 🙁 I wanted a little more romance and a little more smooching.
Final Thoughts
After giving it a couple days, I realize I really did like this book. It was hard to take at first because it can get a little depressing but it was still a great concept with great characters. I would love to continue the series, faults and all. Recommended for YA readers.
“That’s the thing about death. It doesn’t care about love. It doesn’t care if you’re not done living. It doesn’t stop….It keeps coming until it claims everything a person has, until there’s nothing left.”
“These bodies were organized. They were hanging—on hangers—and in rows like suits. I had a sudden, vivid image of this man opening his closet every morning and pondering which body to wear.”
“I kissed her harder. I kissed her for the first time, the last time, and all the times in between.”
Author Bio
Author. Blogger. Latte Sipper.
Jaclyn Canada
I have been waiting for your thoughts on this one since I saw it pop up on your right hand side bar. The cover is pretty awesome and that blurb got me interested! I recently read a book that I described almost like this…with the problems of not being able to tell the time passing and being very happy when the ending arrived even if it was incredibly sad. It’s was so hard to rate. I think with what you listed under the good column, this book is definitely worthy of reading. I would love seeing him trying to kill her but saving her each time. It looks pretty good. Thank you for a great review 😀 Jaclyn @ JC’s Book Haven
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, it is worth the read. I guess I just couldn’t get over some things but its appeal is great. I think YA book readers would love it for sure.
The cover is to die for.
kimbacaffeinate
Great review, despite the wait in line I am glad you enjoyed it, I haven’t had much success with reaper YA, and think my daughter would enjoy this more than i would.
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, no amazing reaper YA yet for me either.
Cambria
Thank you very much for having me on your blog as part of the Recalled tour. I really appreciate you taking time to read the book and write an honest review. Also, for putting together such a beautiful looking post. have a nice day!
Jennifer Bielman
Thanks, Cambria, for stopping by. It was my pleasure to review your book.
Brandi Kosiner
The premise does sound good, and glad there is enough to keep you entertained despite not the best execution.
Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog
Jennifer Bielman
I hope you get a chance to read it. I feel like you would like this one.
Melissa (My World...in words and pages)
Hmm, I’ve had a few I liked more a few days after finishing. Sounds good. 🙂 Thank you.
Jennifer Bielman
I always give books a couple days to settling in my mind before I write a review.
Sarah Elizabeth
I enjoyed this one too although I didn’t like it as much as Cambria’s other books. Glad that you liked it enough to read the next one!
I don’t know if there’s omething wrong with your email feed but I haven’t had an email update in days, might be worth checking it out – although I have no idea how!
Jennifer Bielman
Thanks for letting me know. I will check it out.
Ashley
Bummer about the lack of intimacy! 😛 I love YA but sometimes I really want the relationship to go further than it does. Also, this really bothers me: “What felt like a couple days would be explained as a couple weeks going by.” I hate it when that happens!!
But this book sounds so… conflicting. It’s pretty cool. I’m curious to know how it all turns out!
And yeah, I literally just got one e-mail that had about 8 of your recent posts in it. 🙁 Sadface.
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, the whole time passing in odd ways annoyed me. I always go back to see if I missed something.
At least someone can see all the posts they missed. Stupid feedburner has a certain capacity thing and you have to change you original blog URL and add a number limit so it wont go over the data limit. I just looked this all up today. So random.