Published synopsis:
She Smells the Dead is the first book in the YA Paranormal Spirit Guide series by E.J. Stevens.It's the beginning of senior year and Yuki's psychic awareness of ghostly spirits is threatening to ruin her life. Her ability to sense spirits of the dead isn't glamorous like the ghost hunting on television.
SHE SMELLS THE DEAD.
The smell impressions are becoming stronger. Yuki is being visited in her dreams, and she suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. To make matters worse her crush on Garrett is going unrequited, Yuki's friend Emma is on a rampage against bee oppression, and annoying Calvin Miller mysteriously disappears. Will Yuki be able to focus her powers in time to save the lost soul who is haunting her? Meanwhile, who will save Yuki from following the spirits into the light?
Review:
Yuki is just beginning her senior year and as if high school wasn’t difficult enough, she has to deal with smelling the dead while paying attention in class. E. J. Stevens has brought a new and fun element to YA paranormal fiction. Yuki doesn’t smell corpses; she smells something that is associated with the human life of the spirit trying to make contact. She then needs to use her yet limited, but developing, detective skills to try to figure out who the spirit was and why it’s contacting her with only her sense of smell as a guide.I truly enjoyed this book. I am a fan of dream imagery and E. J. Stevens weaves this into the story nicely. The characters are charming, quirky and interesting and they each seem to blossom as the book progresses. Yuki may be somewhat awkward in the beginning but she takes on the challenge of dealing with her ability with strength and courage. While dealing with all of this, she also discovers that her feelings for her good friend, Calvin, are stronger than friendship. But she knows that Calvin is keeping something from her, something important and she’s determined to discover what it is even if it could mean the end of their burgeoning relationship. Yuki’s vegan friend Emma seems to take it all in stride as she battles her own demons such as cruelty of animals by meat eaters and the oppression of bees by beekeepers. The more I read, the harder it was to put the book down.
The one thing I thought the book was missing was back story.There is no clear explanation of how Yuki discovers that the overwhelming smells that bombard her are those of dead spirits. Were there others in her family history that may have had the ability or is this something that happens only to random individuals? Did she have dreams that helped her believe that she indeed smelled the dead? Yuki’s friends are supportive throughout the book and believe in her ability but did they believe her at first? It would be interesting to know how she told them and convinced them that this power of hers was real. I would love to read maybe a novelette prequel to She Smells the Dead that answers these questions.
She Smells the Dead is a fun read that makes you eager to discover where the spirits are going to take Yuki and Calvin next. I will definitely be reading the second book in this series!
I give this book 4/5 stars
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