Don’t you just LOVE it when a book ends up exceeding your expectations? Y’all, I was pumped up for Necromancing The Stone by Lish McBride, because I had loved Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. But, we all know how inflated expectations work, usually the book ends up disappointing. Not so, this time. If you like your books filled to the brim with heart and real, good people and okay, some paranormal creatures, then you need to get on reading these books as soon as possible. The Necromancer books just fill me with the warm fuzzies and also some belly laughs AND JOY.
FYI if you do NOT want to spoiled for HOLD ME CLOSER NECROMANCER, stop reading and click this link instead.
Necromancing The Stone by Lish McBride sees quite a bit of adjustment and growth for the characters. After killing the deranged necromancer Douglas, Sam is adjusting to inheriting Douglas’s house and all of the paranormal creatures who live there. Ramon is adjusting to being a werebear. And Brid totally has to adjust to some brand new SOB SOB SOB responsibilities. After a pretty high profile murder, Sam must prove he’s innocent and that he is also worthy of being on the council. It’s a race against time to find the murderer. It is on, y’all, like Donkey Kong AND I LOVED EVERY SINGLE MINUTE READING. Plus, we get to meet awesome new characters, like Sexy Gary.
Sam is kind of my FAVORITE paranormal male point of view. He just defies cliches you know? First off, he’s a beta male. This basically means he’s not a douche or a total badass. Rather, he is sensitive and caring and actually does not treat his girlfriend Brid like garbage. Like, he’s a nice guy and I love that. He reminds me a lot of my boyfriend Tony, in that he’s basically a very smart and kind guy and lets his ladyfriend wear the pants, the only difference is that Tony is not a necromancer, at least not that I know of. I also like that Sam totally holds it down for his friends, even though they are totally nerdy (or awesome), he doesn’t ditch them now that he’s rich. PLUS he treats James, Douglas’s old servant with decency, even though he could treat James much, much worse. I just really respect that in a character.
I loved that in Necromancing The Stone we got to know Brid much better. As you will recall, she’s an alpha werewolf who is set to lead her pack. In Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, Brid was trapped in a cage with Sam at Douglas’s house. In this sequel, we see Brid in all her alpha female glory AND I IDENTIFY WITH HER SO MUCH, being an alpha female myself. I loved seeing Brid put her family above all else, even when it might be at detriment to her, as a family sort of girl myself. ALSO there is a scene towards the end where Brid shows just how badass she is and I totally fist pumped.
Okay, so a very minor spoiler for Necromancing The Stone, so stop reading at this point and scroll to the next paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled AT ALL. Remember that douchebag, Douglas, from Hold Me Closer, Necromancer? Well, he totally is back in Necromancing The Stone and has point of view chapters. I am kind of about to bow down to Lish McBride’s characterization skills because she made it so I didn’t totally hate Douglas, I actually *GASP* felt bad for him during a few of the chapters. Also? I understand why he is the way that he is. I love that, when an author is able to change my set in stone opinion about a character, usually when they try to change characters that I am set in stone about, I just get annoyed, but not so with this book.
Finally, I just want to touch on the friendships within Necromancing The Stone. I feel like it is very rare to get such strong and solid friendships within a paranormal book. Usually the focus is all romance, especially if it’s narrated from the point of view of a male. I love that Lish McBride bucks this trend and shows characters who genuinely care about each other. I loved that Sam, Ramon, Frank, and Brooke just have each other’s backs through thick and thin. Nothing about their friendships felt forced or ridiculous. I am a huge fan of when friendships feel true to life in books.
If you have yet to read a Lish McBride book, you are missing out. Honestly, if you are tired of paranormal, asshole male characters, simpering female characters and lack of friendships and interests outside of making gooey eyes, you absolutely need to read Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and Necromancing The Stone. Seriously, Lish McBride has a real eye for characterization. Her writing also has humor in spade, plus the pacing is nothing to sneeze at, either. I’m totally a fangirl for these books, and I hope someday you will be too. Also? I’d really just like for someone to fawn over Sam with me.
Disclosure: Received for review
Other reviews of Necromancing The Stone by Lish McBride:
The Midnight Garden – “more tautly plotted, faster, funnier, and full of even more madcap moments than the last time around.”
Young Adult Anonymous – “I’m going to caps lock it: THIS BOOK IS SO MUCH FUN!”
In Bed With Books – “urban fantasy chock-full of wit, heart, and pop culture references”
Books by Lish McBride:
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I’m so glad you liked this one, too! And you’re right, part of the reason Sam is so great is that he is a beta male. We don’t often see those done in a way that is appealing. I’m really excited for the next book, although I’m sad we have to wait so long for it.
And hey, thanks for the linky to my review, too! 🙂
I actually didn’t read your review, because I haven’t read Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, yet. But I plan, too, ASAP. It looks like it is my kind of book. I just borrowed it from the library.
I’m not reading this review because I haven’t read Hold Me Closer Necromancer, but I did want to comment on it because I just need to tell someone this: when I first saw the title of this book on Twitter I really thought it was a joke. Like OMG that’s so hilariously clever! When I found out that she was actually calling her book Necromancing the Stone Lish McBride became my overnight hero. I’m glad you enjoyed this one; I really am excited to read this series mostly because of the titles!
April, I hope Tony is a necromancer! 😛 And HEAR HEAR for beta males! And sequels that exceed expectations!
Great review, Alpha. I hope more people read this book. We need a sequel to the sequel.
This book is coming up in my next 10 reads and I am SO EXCITED because hello the first book was AMAZING.