Whether it’s a curse, or a blessing, or an ability, the fact remains that whenever Roger is injured or in enough pain he crosses over to the land of the dead. Once there, there are rules. Only the newly dead will talk, for example, and nothing will raise the longer dead from their tranquility. There are rules in the land of the living as well, rules which would have Roger hanged for witchcraft if he was ever caught. But refusing to cross over isn’t an option. His uncle depends on Roger to hide under the table in their fairground act, listen to the recently bereaved asking questions of their dear departed, and then cross over to find the answers. It’s a hard way of life, made all the harder as his uncle’s fists usually provide the trigger for Roger to cross over. It’s not the only way of life, though, and when Roger sees a chance to escape he fights for it—little knowing that love, loss, shocking revelations and, ultimately, war lie ahead of him.
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"It was a fun book te read, not too heavy, not too soft. The author almost created two credible worlds. The storyline is a bit thin, but at the end gains some strength. The last pages don't give you the impression that it's a great cliffhanger, but I'm curious about the next part."
— Poofy (4 out of 5 stars)
“An atmospheric depiction of her hero’s journey and freshly imagined vision of the afterlife should resonate with gothic fantasy fans.”
— Publishers Weekly“Kendall’s debut novel is an atmospheric coming-of-age tale that weaves ill-fated courtly love with Roger’s difficult journey to understand the world.”
— Booklist" Hmmm, not sure what I think about this one. It was captivatingly written. I picked it up because of the title, not knowing how the story would unfold. I may read another of her books, just to compare. "
— Just, 10/31/2013" I was not that impressed with this book. I never liked Roger and the story was lacking. "
— Brandee, 10/16/2013" All I can say is that this was a very sad and melancholy book. It lacked any humor or a truly happy ending that would persuade me to ever read it again. I suppose books like these need to be written in order to show how war and greed are not pretty stories to be reveled in, but sad. "
— Victoria, 8/5/2012" Very readable and good worldbuilding. "
— R.F., 8/3/2012" The writing is some of the best quality I've read in YA, but I had some likeability issues with the protagonist. He seemed shallow. That said, I can see the author potentially leading us into a fabulous character arc in a subequent book(s). I would buy a sequel. "
— Aimee, 6/10/2012" When I first read the summary, I thought this book had a lot of potential. It did not live up to my expectations. "
— Mollie, 5/15/2012" The idea behind this book had some promise, but the author felt a need to randomly and unnecessarily make reference to sudden sexual arousal. Totally unnecessary and inappropriate for a YA book. Not sure who the author is writing for.......more for herself than the reader! "
— Heather, 2/25/2012" the cover deceived me, 1.5 stars "
— Jackie(No, 1/28/2012" The writing is some of the best quality I've read in YA, but I had some likeability issues with the protagonist. He seemed shallow. That said, I can see the author potentially leading us into a fabulous character arc in a subequent book(s). I would buy a sequel.<br/> "
— Aimee, 6/26/2011" The idea behind this book had some promise, but the author felt a need to randomly and unnecessarily make reference to sudden sexual arousal. Totally unnecessary and inappropriate for a YA book. Not sure who the author is writing for.......more for herself than the reader! "
— Heather, 6/8/2011" All I can say is that this was a very sad and melancholy book. It lacked any humor or a truly happy ending that would persuade me to ever read it again. I suppose books like these need to be written in order to show how war and greed are not pretty stories to be reveled in, but sad. "
— Victoria, 1/1/2011" When I first read the summary, I thought this book had a lot of potential. It did not live up to my expectations. "
— Mollie, 11/3/2010Anna Kendall was born in Ireland and immigrated with her parents to the United States at age twelve. For several years she taught fourth grade. She lives in Seattle, where she plays a lot of chess.
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.