Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Graveminder by Melissa Marr
"Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you."

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place--and the man--she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D--a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk."- summary from Amazon

I love Marr's YA series and was really excited to read her adult debut that's out of the faerie world. The concept sounded really good and was something I hadn't really seen before. Learning the tweaked folklore in the story was interesting and I liked how she presented it.

Her characters are also wonderful and really fleshed out. The story bounces around from character to character in third person omniscient which is fun but can be a bit confusing at times. Most of the action though is focused on Rebekkah and Byron, both of whom I really liked. I loved seeing them together and the ending was really sweet (and a little bit funny). My favorite characters though were probably Amity and Alicia, both of whom don't have too much screen time but I really liked them nonetheless.

The world-building too is great as usual. Claysville is pretty much its own character and Marr did a good job with the town history and really making it feel like its own world, which it kinda is - blocked off from the rest of the world.

I know this'll sound weird though after all the praise I gave it but I didn't find the book compelling enough, not like I do with Marr's YA. I gave away my ARC while at BEA to my new UK blogger friend Lynsey midway through reading and actually considered not finishing the book ever. It's not a bad book by any means- everything is great- but there just wasn't that feeling of excitement I get when reading a vast majority of books that keeps me coming back or not want to put it down. I don't know if that makes sense. Everything was great but for me, there was just something missing.

Overall though, it is a good book and if you're a fan of Marr already, definitely check it out.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher (then gave ARC midway through reading it to Lynsey and got replacement ARC from Susan). Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.