Vial Things
(Resurrectionist #1)
By: Leah Clifford
Publisher: Self-published
Published: Aug. 9, 2016
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating:
When the resurrectionists of Fissure’s Whipp begin disappearing, eighteen-year-old Allie knows someone is after their blood—or, more accurately, the genetic mutation that allows their blood to heal wounds, save lives and even bring back the recently deceased.
Raised by her aunt after her parents’ deaths, Allie knows staying vigilant means staying alive. She’s trained her whole life to protect herself by any means necessary, from self defense classes to extensive weapons training in knives. Now, she’s gone so far as to befriend a homeless boy named Ploy who unknowingly trades a few nights a week on her couch in exchange for being a human tripwire to those hunting her.
But as Allie and Ploy’s feelings for each other grow, Allie realizes this time, she’ll need more than fighting skills and a sharp blade to beat a villain literally out for blood.
Protecting a girl he shouldn’t love, from a threat he understands too well, Ploy must face his past to save his future in Allie’s world—a world where bringing back the dead can cost you your life.
My thoughts…
Allie is a resurrectionist, which mean she can bring people back from the dead with her blood. When fellow resurrectionists start showing up dead Allie knows that their secret has been found out. Someone out there knows who the resurrectionists are and are hunting them. In the hopes of self-preservation, when her friend, a local homeless teen, asks to crash at her apartment she agrees to let him stay with her. She figures whoever is out there hunting resurrectionists will happen upon Ploy first, thus giving her time to escape. What she doesn’t know is that the boy she just invited into her home is in on what’s going on.
“Ploy, whether he knows it or not, trades a shower and a couch for a night served as a hundred and seventy pound faux-hawked alarm system.”
I don’t normally read dark stuff but I had been needing a change from the general fluff I read in romance and this definitely did the trick. While this does have romance in it (something I like), it didn’t overpower the feel of Vial Things, which is a very dark and gruesome world. We go on resurrectionist jobs with Allie, we watch as she brings people back from the dead, we follow her and Ploy while they try to find a way to stop the people behind the attacks, and throughout it all we watch these two characters come closer and rely on each other. However, because the book is a dual POV story, we already know Ploy is in on what’s going on. He has no idea the lengths to which is friend is willing to go but he holds out hope that his friend can be trusted. Meanwhile, he is confused on what to do with Allie. He starts to develop feelings for her and they have had each others backs the entire time, so he can’t really justify bringing her in to his friend.
Allie was a great character. She’s very strong and strong-willed. She doesn’t cower or give up. When someone starts attacking her people and kills her aunt, she takes it upon herself to figure out who it is so that she can stop them. She has a lot of tough calls to make throughout the book and one of them is with Ploy, the boy who she feels like she can trust but all signs point to betrayal. I really enjoyed that Allie was a thinker. She didn’t just react due to emotions, she plotted and planned. She wasn’t some damsel who gets flustered when a problem arises. I really liked how strong she was and the fact that she was able to do what needed to be done when the time came.
“My parents had known from infancy that I carried the resurrectionist gene. Growing up, my free time had been spent on training, both in how to bring back the newly dead and how to protect myself from those after my blood.”
The author did a really great job with this story. She created a world that sucked me in within a handful of pages and kept me glued to my seat until I finished. I’ve never read a book about a resurrectionist and I found Allie’s character and her abilities fascinating. I loved that the author didn’t shy away from the gore. I mean, this is a story about a girl who can bring people back from the dead. So, suffice to say you’re going to get some dead bodies and some pretty gnarly scenes. There was always something going on and there was a layer of suspense throughout the entire book that had you on the edge of your seat. There were just so many elements to this book that I’m not sure if it’s YA paranormal, YA suspense, YA thriller, or Dark YA. Either way it’s a really good book.
Vial Things is a fast-paced, highly suspenseful thriller that will suck you into its pages. I was hooked right up until the last sentence. There’s just so many facets to this novel that it was hard to not be completely drawn to the story. It kind of has a little bit of something for everyone.
Favorite quote…
“It’s sick, but one of those not-so-clever sayings pops to mind. Friends help you move. Real friends help you move a body.”
Not sure if this would be a book for me, as it sounds pretty dark. But it can be nice to switch genres up sometimes. The dual point of view sounds like it worked well here. Allie sounds like a great character and the whole concept of resurrectionist sounds pretty original. Great review!
Wow, this sounds like a great read, Kristin. I’m happy you found such a thrilling read when you were in need of a change. I think the dual POV is brilliant in this case – I mean, I like dual POV anyway but seeing as Ploy knew what was going on… Anyway, I’m adding it to my TBR. 😉