Grave Memory—Kalayna Price

"Yeah, a test. And about forty hours of classes, which, as the teacher wouldn't be able to see you, you would be hard-pressed to prove you attended."
"That's discrimination."
"Well, you could gather a bunch of ghosts and protest discrimination against the corporeally challenged. Unfortunately, no one would notice." (97)

Thoughts on Grave Witch, Alex Craft #1

Thoughts on Grave Dance, Alex Craft #2

Following the capture of the rogue soul collector and his lover at the end of Grave Dance, Alex is struggling with the further development of her powers, her increasing inability to hide her fae side, the pressure to choose with which fae court she's going to align herself. Not to mention the whole love triangle thing. But once again, business gets in the way of her personal life. Having installed herself in a brand new office for Tongues for the Dead with her recently rediscovered friend Rianna, the girls are walking when they witness a very public suicide. Something about it feels off to Alex, and when she raises the shade, it has no memory of the three days before its death. In the course of the investigation, Alex discovers a disturbing number of other very public suicides, and aims to uncover the entity that is invading people's bodies and ending their lives.

I appreciate that Alex is not a Mary Sue. She's not perfect. One of the best examples of this is the problems with her eyesight after she uses her powers. So often these badass, snarky ladies are basically all things to all people all the time. It gets wearisome.

The development and tidbits of information that we get about Alex's magic in each book is done so well, especially with Alex's powers changing and evolving. As soon as a question you've been contemplating is answered, another one appears. Like when Alex's dad alluded to her having been glamoured before. What?! You can't just drop info like that and then take off! Or when he was like, "Casey?...She is none of mine. She and Bradley are simply backups of your mother's genetic line." (274) What is wrong with you, sir?! But I think that's exactly the way it should be done. It certainly keeps me coming back for more.

Death is so freaking mysterious. Are we ever going to find out what his name is? Are we going to find out more about collecting? Even though we found out so much during this book, I still have so many questions, in the best way. The switching of the essences with her and Death...I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit more inclined to root for Death than I am for Falin. Maybe it's because he's so mysterious? He was more the focus of this than Falin because of the nature of the big bad, but it's unquestionable that Falin is going to feature heavily in the next book, since the last thing we see is him being ordered by the Winter Queen to move in with Alex. Dun dun dun.

Why is the next one not out yet?!