Shallow Graves audiobook

I wasn’t a screaming captive being dragged into the darkness. I wasn’t pleading and begging. If that’s what she expected, she was going to be disappointed. I was here to meet her, one monster to another. 3 1/2 stars, tentatively rounded up. Shallow Graves has a fantastic, creepy atmosphere and I loved the ending, but the second half (minus ending) pretty much necessitates a sequel that I'm not sure is coming.A new paranormal YA novel always instills a mixture of curiosity and apprehension in me. I want it to be good, but I always brace myself for the standard snarky chosen one and at least two hot boys. Despite the familiar premise of a girl having new, supernatural powers, however, Shallow Graves is nothing like that. For the most part, it's a creepy horror story, filled with death and revenge.It has an almost dark horror fairy tale vibe, rather than the lighthearted feel of typical YA urban fantasy. With some genuinely scary parts, this story is told by Breezy, who awoke in her grave one year after her death. She soon discovers that she has the ability to spot murderers - and take their life. But, of course, things are not so simple. This is a dangerous world full of people who would love to get their hands on someone like her. People with dazzling smiles and offers of help. And, behind it all, there is the mysterious creature they call "Mother"... Who is she? Is she a monster? Or is Breezy the real monster of this tale?Yes, this book is full of fear and suspense. You are afraid for Breezy and what will happen to her, a fact that kept me turning pages at lightning speed. On top of that, there is the occasional moment of humour to balance out the darkness, as well as diverse characters, sex-positivism, and a bisexual MC. The ending (well, the bit slightly before the ending, really) is perfect. It is written beautifully, imagining the infinite possibilities of the universe with an important feminist message. I'm sure it will linger long after readers close the book.Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Pinterest

I was fortunate enough to read an ARC of SHALLOW GRAVES by Kali Wallace, and I'm excited to share my honest review. This book was all the things a horror story should be and more. Yes, it was chilling and full of tension, but it also asked hard questions about the nature of life and death and what it means to be human. The character of Breezy is someone you will care about and empathize with. Her voice is authentic, and despite the incredible nature of her situation, I was convinced one hundred percent of its truth. SHALLOW GRAVES unspools question after question, and then reels you in as it slowly unveils the answers. But then, this is a layered story, and not every question and answer it poses is right on the surface. SHALLOW GRAVES is chilling, addictive, and nuanced, and it has made me a true Kali Wallace fan.

There is so much to say about this book.First of all: the writing. It's so elegant and assured and smart but still feels, wholly, like a teenage girl's voice. Breezy Lin is angry, and calculating, and hurt, and a good friend who made some mistakes, and someone who misses her family who she can never see again. She wanted to be an astronaut, and some of the most beautiful passages in this book are about her mother's friend, Karen, a scientist who was Breezy's role model (and a first crush). I loved the smart, melancholy ideas in SHALLOW GRAVES about the universe and our places in it, and how something as seemingly small as a teenage girl's life is so incredibly important.SHALLOW GRAVES is smart, tense, and heartbreaking. It's about rape culture, about power, about real female friendship and about the friends you make when we're backed into a corner. And it's a coming of age story about a girl who finally finds herself once she's already dead. I read this book, start to finish, leaking tears at the end, and I can say that Kali Wallace is an incredible writer and I can't wait to see what she'll do next.

I had the opportunity to read an ARC of SHALLOW GRAVES by Kali Wallace. Wow. Wow, wow, wow! I would classify this book as literary horror, which is not a genre that I typically read. However, Kali Wallace has made me a believer. The book is scary yet hopeful. Full of dread yet beautifully written. And there was such great dark humor throughout. I love books that make me think. This one 100 percent did. I need a book group to talk about it with. So nuanced and smart. And Breezy. Breezy Lin, the main character, was awesome. I plan on getting shirts made that say Team Breezy. I honestly really need a sequel to this book so I can follow along on more of Breezy's adventures (or misadventures or scary things that happen)This world that Kali Wallace has created is amazing. So dimensional. So imaginative. I just kept turning the pages wanting to know what was going to happen next. 100 percent recommend! This was a fantastic book.

This book was super unique and disturbing in all the best ways, an engrossing and humanizing ghost story.

A young girl walks along a desolate highway, thumbing a ride. She's in danger, right?No. She is the danger.I had high expectations for this book as soon as I heard the premise, because I'm a fan of horror in general, and literary or feminist horror in particular. It met those expectations and then some.Though I'm calling it "horror," Shallow Graves doesn't fit any standard genre plot templates. Its heroine explores a shadow world of "monsters," magicians, and monster hunters, but it doesn't feel like an urban fantasy. The strangeness and loneliness of all these people (and the monsters ARE people, if not human) remain front and center. There's no overarching battle between good and evil in this universe, no metaphysical dimension — just various beings struggling with their own violent impulses, and sometimes losing.So it's a genre novel, but also — in the themes and crisp, eloquent writing — a literary one. It reminded me of two of my favorite books from 2015, Bone Gap and The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, both of which use Grimm fairy tale motifs to tell coming-of-age stories with a strong feminist twist. Like the heroines of those books, Breezy experiences horrendous violence, but victimhood never defines her. I loved her funny, matter-of-fact voice and the use of flashbacks to convey all the anger and grief she can't let herself experience directly.Of course, if you're a horror fan, you're thinking, "That's nice and all, but is it SCARY?" I have a high tolerance for fear-based entertainment, but there was one extended scene in this book that creeped me out and will stay with me for a while. (You know that story arc on Supernatural with Eve, the Mother of All Monsters who had to be summoned from the depths of Purgatory? You know how disappointing Eve was when she appeared? Well, imagine she wasn't disappointing. Imagine she was everything your fearful imagination could conjure and more. That's a vague hint of what to expect from this scene.)I'm so glad I had a chance to read a copy of Shallow Graves as part of an ARC tour. I'd love to see more books set in this world (there's so much more to explore, and I adored the road-trip/Americana aspects). But for now I'll settle for telling all my fellow fans of thoughtful creepiness about this one.

**To view the original post click here!**Book cover: If there ever was a book whose title and cover were a match-made-in-heaven, it would be Shallow Graves. Pair the title with a darkened sky and some circling birds, and you get an overall sense of unrest and foreboding that really ignites the imagination.But the best part has to be the 'shallow grave' with the rose trapped amongst the tangled roots a.k.a the place where the roses from The Bachelor got to die. The symbolism is beautiful and a nice subtle touch, giving the cover a unique focal point.Anybody else getting shivers?! The tagline is completely captivating and paired with that forlorn looking rose...magic!Thoughts: You know an author's writing is good when you feel the uncontrollable urge to bookmark every second page. Which I totally did - after all, I have a weakness for creative wording and Shallow Graves is filled to the brim with magical phrases and word choices.Here are a few of my favourites:'The rain broke over us with shattering noise.''I didn’t tell him one true thing about myself. It was easier that way. I was a patchwork person, stolen scraps stitched together with the frailest threads. If he cared at all, he would have seen the lies for what they were.' 'The ghost had no face. It drifted in the breeze, like a tattered flag on a pole, but it gave no sign that it had heard me.''The awareness was overwhelming. In the darkness, surrounded by distant stars, there had been no time, but now I was counting the seconds with every breath and every heartbeat.'But it was the final pages of this book that convinced me of Kali Wallace's story-writing magic. The only way I can describe them is this: it was like walking down a busy street and having someone's arm brush up against yours for a split second. You feel that contact - there's a mix of emotions and thoughts fly through your head - but when you turn to see who it was they're already disappeared into the crowd. You feel yourself drawn in one direction whilst your mystery arm-brusher is clearly headed in another.Our protagonist walked with us on her journey through Shallow Graves, standing by our side and being our constant companion. But as the story draws to a close, you feel her shift - you feel her heading in a different direction as she puts the events of the book behind her to move forward. The feeling is bittersweet I totally teared up and needed to take a much-needed chocolate and tissues break! but I wouldn't change it for the world.It was a unique and refreshing end to a spectacular book.

A story involving murder, revenge, and monsters..yes, please! Kali Wallace has indeed made a lasting impression on me with Shallow Graves. It is a completely atmospheric, tension-laced, chilling novel that I just could not put down. I needed to know how Breezy died and what happened to her. Not to mention, what is going to happen to her? “The first time I killed a man it was an accident.” What an opening line! I mean..seriously. You’re left immediately wondering how many times have you killed then? Has it ever not been an accident? What is with this chick? This is just the start of everything. Breezy Lin has been dead for a year and wakes up in a shallow grave (5 ft long, 18 inches deep) with no memory of her death or how she got there. But somehow she is different than she was before. Other than the fact that she is dead, I mean. Breezy can tell when someone has killed. It doesn’t matter if they were never caught for the murder, feel bad about it, didn’t mean to do it, or anything. Breezy knows. She can also heal herself and cannot die again. Breezy just wants to know how she got this way, but that only leads her down a path in a world she apparently never really knew.There are all sorts of places the novel goes that I wasn’t quite expecting, but enjoyed more than I expected. There are numerous murderers, plenty of monsters, a creepy cult that hunts monsters, and some fantastic horror scenes where you least expect it. The horror-buff in me was psyched. With a gorgeous cover like that, you might not expect the story to be as dark as it is, but I still think those who don’t typically read horror could still enjoy this book. The writing, characters, and world building are enough to make it worth the read.Every turn this novel made, I would get that much more excited. There is a whole world of monsters that I found just as interesting as Breezy did. I want to know if the creatures I’ve heard of are real too. Even with this story concluding nicely as a standalone, I would love it if the author wrote another set in this world. There is much more to be explored.If you are a fan of horror, urban fantasy, magical realism, or the tv show Supernatural, I highly recommend you read Shallow Graves. You’re in for a treat!I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review via edelweiss.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.Horror will always have a home in my heart. So when this ARC was up for grabs, I jumped at the chance to read it. It was going to be my very first YA horror. That being said, I went into this thinking it was going to be scary, sure. But that kind of scary that you tell around campfires--spooky, but safe, just enough to get a quick scream and then a laugh before everyone goes to their tents and dreams of S'mores and mosquitoes.That was the kind of scary I was expecting.The gentle kind.But oh my God.I was so wrong.To make this as clear as possible, let me list the things that are scary, but not as scary as Kali Wallace's book.1) Getting stuck in a crawl space.2) Hearing a door close in your house, then remembering that you're home alone.3) Spiders.4) Seeing your pet growl at a completely empty corner of the room.5) Walking down a sidewalk at night and always hearing footsteps right behind you.6) Glancing in the rear-view mirror and seeing a stranger staring at you from the back seat.7) Every Silent Hill game combined.8) Grabbing the car door handle and feeling something furry move under your fingers.9) The old dude from Poltergeist II.10) Thinking you have leftover pizza, but remembering you ate it all.All of things things are scary. They're so frightening that they're giving me chills just thinking about them. Yet they're still not as scary as Shallow Graves. So if you want a book that will suck you in, chew on your nerve endings, and not let go even after you close it...read this one. If you want a book with a voice that you'll immediately connect with...read this one. If you want a book that seamlessly blends issues of tolerance, fanaticism, and revenge with bone-tingling spookiness...read this one.Just remember to thank the author for all the nightmares you'll have. :)

I can't stop thinking about this book!Breezy Lin wakes up buried underground a year after she's been murdered. Alive-ish again, she can see and sense murderers, and when she touches them, she has a compulsion to use a new found power to end their lives.Breezy can't go home because she's dead, so instead she begins to travel around the country, looking for answers, finding murderers everywhere and learning about what really makes someone a monster.Shallow Graves starts off with a magical realism feel, which I love. Then about 1/3 of the way through there's a bit of a twist (not a twist in regards to plot, but in regards to world building, etc) At first I was unsure about this twist. I was really, really enjoying the sort of ambiguous magical realism vibe, but a little bit later I was completely over that. The twist was a amazing and wonderful and made me love the book even more, if that was even possible (also, it introduced my absolute two favorite characters, Jake and Zeke! I would read a book just about those brothers)This book has a wonderful creepy vibe and feel that continues throughout the whole story. Breezy is creepy, her world is creepy, and she meets creepy people, some who are monsters on the outside and some who are monsters on the inside. And along the way Breezy finds answers, and more questions, and grieves and grows and moves on, perhaps in the only way a girl who is dead, can.I was lucky enough to read this book as an arc in return for a fair review and I cannot wait to get my own copy so I can read this book again.Highly recommend for fans of Nova Ren Suma or other magical realism, or fans of horror or dark urban fantasy like Brenna Yovanoff.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Check out the full review on Such a Novel Idea“All of us, she said, all of us and all of everything that had ever existed and ever would exist, it was all made up of matter that formed in the very first moments of the universe, and it would all last until the very end.”This book reminded me so much of The Lonely Bones that I knew there was no way I was going to pass it up. I first read the synopsis when Epic Reads released the cover and I was in definite covet mode. As soon as it was posted on Edelweiss, I was reading it. MONTHS ago (i.e. August), because I just had to dig in and get this under my skin.“I didn’t tell him one true thing about myself. It was easier that way. I was a patchwork person, stolen scraps stitched together with the frailest threads.”This book actually made me cry — by the end I had chill bumps and I was just kind of in awe of what had just communed. Breezy is a young girl full of life and ambition — who wakes up after being dead for a year in a (you guessed it) shallow grave. You don’t get the entire story in one meal, but rather the author gives you everything one bite at a time. The allusive being that Breezy has become as someone undead is full of masks and shadows. She’s reluctant to share her true self with anyone, even the reader. So we get to see her journey in the present, bifurcated with her past. You know that she was a girl going places… and you know that something terrible happened to cut her life short. But, you must work to get her story, just as it is in real life.“I was so fucking tired of men deciding whether or not I got to go on existing for another day.”Like I said before, I immediately drew connections to The Lovely Bones. So imagine my surprise when the author took this book in a direction I wouldn’t have guessed. There’s a magical realism quality to this book that turns into another genre altogether. When we find out who (or what) Breezy is, I found myself saying, “OOOOOOH!” I even highlighted it, because… it just was such an interesting twist in the story.Breezy is a fascinating person; both the before and after. I loved seeing her piece the two parts into something pretty amazing. She’s strong, and seeing her overcome the things that happened to her was such an empowering thing to read.“I felt a pang of sadness that Harry Potter had been lying to me all along.”This book is recommended for fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma. I usually hate these comparisons, because EXPECTATIONS, but in this instance, it really worked for me. The haunting overture, the slow meander through the story, and the infinitesimal thoughts reminded me of the nuanced writing of Nova Ren Suma. I can see some people not enjoying this book. It meanders, twists, and winds… but eventually, it gets there. It all sort of comes together; these seemingly random pieces, to form something spectacular. The point isn’t the plot, the point is the discoveries that Breezy makes about her life before and after her death. And the beautiful words just make it all the more worth it.“Every astronaut, every cosmonaut, all the women and men who have gone into space, they all say the same thing: they went up expecting to be awed by the moon and the sun and the stars, but what astonished them most was the earth.”“All of us, she said, all of us and all of everything that had ever existed and ever would exist, it was all made up of matter that formed in the very first moments of the universe, and it would all last until the very end.”This book reminded me so much of The Lonely Bones that I knew there was no way I was going to pass it up. I first read the synopsis when Epic Reads released the cover and I was in definite covet mode. As soon as it was posted on Edelweiss, I was reading it. MONTHS ago (i.e. August), because I just had to dig in and get this under my skin.“I didn’t tell him one true thing about myself. It was easier that way. I was a patchwork person, stolen scraps stitched together with the frailest threads.”This book actually made me cry — by the end I had chill bumps and I was just kind of in awe of what had just communed. Breezy is a young girl full of life and ambition — who wakes up after being dead for a year in a (you guessed it) shallow grave. You don’t get the entire story in one meal, but rather the author gives you everything one bite at a time. The allusive being that Breezy has become as someone undead is full of masks and shadows. She’s reluctant to share her true self with anyone, even the reader. So we get to see her journey in the present, bifurcated with her past. You know that she was a girl going places… and you know that something terrible happened to cut her life short. But, you must work to get her story, just as it is in real life.“I was so fucking tired of men deciding whether or not I got to go on existing for another day.”Like I said before, I immediately drew connections to The Lovely Bones. So imagine my surprise when the author took this book in a direction I wouldn’t have guessed. There’s a magical realism quality to this book that turns into another genre altogether. When we find out who (or what) Breezy is, I found myself saying, “OOOOOOH!” I even highlighted it, because… it just was such an interesting twist in the story.Breezy is a fascinating person; both the before and after. I loved seeing her piece the two parts into something pretty amazing. She’s strong, and seeing her overcome the things that happened to her was such an empowering thing to read.“I felt a pang of sadness that Harry Potter had been lying to me all along.”This book is recommended for fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma. I usually hate these comparisons, because EXPECTATIONS, but in this instance, it really worked for me. The haunting overture, the slow meander through the story, and the infinitesimal thoughts reminded me of the nuanced writing of Nova Ren Suma. I can see some people not enjoying this book. It meanders, twists, and winds… but eventually, it gets there. It all sort of comes together; these seemingly random pieces, to form something spectacular. The point isn’t the plot, the point is the discoveries that Breezy makes about her life before and after her death. And the beautiful words just make it all the more worth it.“Every astronaut, every cosmonaut, all the women and men who have gone into space, they all say the same thing: they went up expecting to be awed by the moon and the sun and the stars, but what astonished them most was the earth.”-------------------Original Thoughts:I'm literally shedding tears because of how good this book was.

Wowza. This book is delightfully creepy! Amazing imagination, fascinating characters, and good ole page-turning suspense. Legit. I stayed up super late reading this one.Let me just say that I NEVER read horror, not since fourth grade when I traumatized myself with a book about an evil doll. So the fact that I devoured this book, and loved every minute of it places it securely in my "beyond rad" category. I LOVED how surprising the plot was. I could not guess my way through it and every time I thought I figured something out, there was a new twist. And the writing is beauteous, smart and clear and thoroughly enjoyable. Kali Wallace has a life-long fan in me. Just, awesome.

What a fun little interesting mystery. Half parts fantasy, half parts mystery - this story had a unique twist that I think makes it stand out in the sea of other fantasy/paranormal genre. I hope this becomes a Book 1 and we get another one. I would love to visit this interesting world again and see where next road takes us.

Dark, creepy, so scary. And the writing...unbelievably gorgeous! The scenes and descriptions were beautiful and terrifyingly real, painted with such rich, almost cinematic detail I could have kept on reading this book forever. I was hooked from the first page to the very last. The story was so complex, multilayered, and engaging that I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief in reanimated corpses, ghouls, and all otherworldly creatures in order to become fully immersed in Breezy's frightening, twisted new world. It's a story that balances revenge with redemption, and ultimately, finds light in the face of the dark shadows that we all harbor. SHALLOW GRAVES is a brilliant debut from Kali Wallace (and one that I can only hope will be followed by a sequel). Highly recommended!I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.