Review: She Smells the Dead + Giveaway!

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 on TV. SHE SMELLS THE DEAD. Yuki is being visited in her dreams and suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. Will Yuki be able to save the spirits and herself?

My Thoughts

First things first I LOVE the cover of this book. The simplicity of it and most of all the mystery behind it. By looking at this cover I would never be able to guess that it was about psychic powers.

Stevens did a marvelous job at developing the characters - Yuki, Calvin, Emma, and Simon. Yuki is the one with the psychic ability to smell the dead. The smell can be anything in this case it is vinegar. Calvin is Yuki's loyal guy friend who is gradually becoming more and more irresistible. Emma is Yuki's vegan and headstrong friend. Simon, is Calvin's trainer and he is a tease. He constantly flirts with Yuki and calls her "love". He also has a serious side that can be frightening sometimes.

The story line was simple, an easy to read and understand. I liked the fact that the writing was like that of a real teen girl. It showed us what she was thinking and how she felt. This story was fun and I loved all the different twists and turns. I cannot wait to read the next in the series Spirit Storm which is available sometime in 2011.

Buy the book

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Winner will receive my *SIGNED* copy of She Smells the Dead along with a bookmark and postcard!

RULES

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ENDS Jan 20, 2011

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Thanks to E.J. Stevens for providing the book to review!

Winner of I Need Your Help Giveaway!

Congrats to...

Theresa @ TheCreativeWell said... 3 Know what I would do? Make a flyer with photos of your diaper cakes and pull off phone numbers/email... take them to the hospital and post them on the bulletin board in the waiting room of the baby ward :)

 Thanks to everyone who entered and for the awesome ideas. Don't forget to check out my She Smells the Dead giveaway that ends Jan 14th. It can be found in my left sidebar at the top under giveaways!

IMUA + Pearl Giveaway Winner!

 The winner of the pearl necklace set (and instructions) can be found at the Pearl Girls blog: http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com

A great Hawaiian saying is "Imua!" which means to move forward with confidence and courage.  It's a great word for the upcoming new year as we explore new opportunities and perhaps face fears.

This week, I put into practice "imua" by facing my fear of ziplining.  Yes, I stepped off a wooden platform to soar across 1800 feet of the world's fifth largest caldera located in Kauai.  Encouraged by my teenage daughters, I faced my fear of not being in control of my destiny and took a leap of faith.



The excellent guides, Mitch and Chris of http://www.outfitterskauai.com/%20">Outfitters Kauai prepared us well for our ultimate "black diamond" zipline adventure.  We did several practice runs on what I thought were "big ziplines" but little did I know what was really awaiting.  The guides constantly reminded us that the most important lesson we all needed to learn to be safe was to "trust our gear."

True wisdom that I needed to hear.  For too long in life, I have "held on tightly" when what I should have done was to "let go and let God."  He provides "the gear" that we need to sustain us through the difficult moments of life as we soar across jungles.

So I guess my advice would be this:  "Face your fear and trust God's gear."  IMUA!!

What fear do you need to face this year?  What have you been holding on too tightly?  What does "imua" mean to you?

Margaret McSweeney is the founder of Pearl Girls (www.pearlgirls.info), the host of Kitchen Chat (http://margaretmcsweeney.com/kitchen-chat/), and an author. Her book, Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace, was published in 2009. Margaret is fast at work on a fiction manuscript (or three) and can be found blogging at From Finance to Fiction (http://fromfinancetofiction.blogspot.com).