A Dream Within A Dream: Where Dead Bodies Lie Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Where Dead Bodies Lie! Today I'm sharing my review of the book - and don't forget to enter the giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.

Where Dead Bodies Lie (Body Dowser #1)

Author: Kat Cazanav

Release Date: December 16, 2014

Description:

For as long as I can remember, I have been told to follow three important rules:

1. Always guard my ability
2. Never share my secret
3. And pretend to be normal.

However, those three little rules don’t make my life easier. I still find dead people and deal with strange visions. Not to mention, an attraction to a boy who doesn’t exist. Whenever we cross path’s he mists away like smoke on a mirror. He drives me crazy, that Kaff Cooper.

As a flock of dead crows fall from the blackened sky, Kaff becomes the only one who can see the truth straight to the dark underbelly of who I actually am.

My hands feel the pull to extract the forsaken, the lost, the forgotten. It comes as naturally as breathing and there is no stopping it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23557133-where-dead-bodies-lie?ac=1

Where Dead Bodies Lie is the enthralling first book in a new young adult paranormal series. It follows our heroine, Stella, as she tries to learn and control her growing dowsing abilities. Coming from a long line of dowsers, Stella knows what to expect and how to use her dowsing powers. But then her abilities spread to different areas - specifically the ability to find dead people - as well as getting psychic visions. Trying to act normal when your weird psychic abilities are growing stronger is next to impossible. Add in the fact that Stella has an attraction to a cute guy that just turns to mist and melts away every time they meet - and you've got a mixture for trouble just waiting to happen. Things keep getting weirder and darker - and Stella has no control over any of it. Just how far do her abilities go? What powers does she possess? Will she ever be able to control them - or will they consume her and ruin everything?

As soon as I read the description of this book, I was immediately intrigued. I've never read a book about these types of psychic or paranormal concepts and I knew I had to read this book. I have to admit that I had high hopes and expectations for it before I even read a word of the story. Dowsing, psychic abilities, strange guys that turn into mist, and the ability to find dead people? It sounded like pure awesomeness to me and I really hoped that it would live up to my hopes. Luckily for me, it didn't just live up to my hopes and expectations - it blew right past them and kept going. I absolutely loved every single part of this book! Stella is a fantastic main character. She's a regular teenage girl except for the fact that she can dowse and has even stronger (and stranger) abilities manifesting. The story is told from Stella's point of view, so the reader gets to know her character on a much deeper level than usual. Since the writing style was done in first person, the narrative felt more conversational and intimate - making it incredibly easy to slip right into the world the author created alongside Stella, who is very easy to identify with. I liked her right away - from her inner dialogues and her conversations with others, to her personality, attitude, and wit. She's the perfect heroine for the book.

I personally love paranormal novels, so when I read that this one had a mixture of paranormal elements - I knew it would be perfect for me. I'm so glad I was right. The world that Stella lives in is just like ours - except for the whole paranormal and psychic aspects. Making the setting believable and easy to put yourself into, and then introducing the strange abilities and occurrences made it easier to accept as realistic or possible than if it was written in some future world or on a different planet. Every part of the book was intricately designed to fit together and to create one of the most thrilling and fascinating books I've read. I think that the genre has gone a little stale, with a lot of the books out there having similar plots and themes. This gem breathes a huge breath of fresh air into the genre - giving it the boost that was desperately needed. I'm so happy that this is just the first book in a series, because it left me wanting more - right after I finished it. I can't wait for the next book to release so I can see where things will go next. I can't recommend this book enough to fans of YA paranormal fiction along with readers who enjoy fantasy and something wholly original.