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  • She Smells the Dead See large image

    She Smells the Dead (Paperback) By (author) E J Stevens

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    Short Description for She Smells the DeadIt'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.
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  • A Thrilling YA Paranormal Series Debut5

    Mauie Hernando The first in a quickly-addicting (or addictive) series, She Smells the Dead introduces us to Yuki, a high-school girl who can, well, smell the dead. She is a spirit guide - one born with the unique ability and responsibility to bring the spirits of the dead into the light. Together with her best friends, the New Age-enthusiast Calvin Miller, and the staunch animal rights activist (and vegan at that) Emma, Yuki solves mystery cases and unfinished business involving dead spirits with only smell impressions as her main clues.

    Yuki has a self-deprecating humor that anyone can relate to. She is honest, fiercely loyal and she's just laugh-out-loud funny sometimes. Plus, her emo appeal (fashion-wise) adds a charm to her already colorful character. Calvin is also someone I would like to read more about. He balances Yuki's personality with his stability and candidness (and when the author revealed just what he really is, now that was a splendid moment, albeit predictable). And the situations they find themselves in? Ah, so made for TV. Fun and funny are words one would not normally describe paranormal stories but She Smells the Dead tops my list for the most entertaining books I've read this year (slight competition there with Stevens' Spirit Storm and Stephanie Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss).

    But a lovely book would always have its share of flaws. While I got kilig (Tagalog word for "feeling mushy over something") over Yuki and Calvin hooking up (anybody who grew up watching Dawson's Creek could totally relate to what I mean), I felt it was a bit rushed. It would have helped strengthen the validity of their feelings if some leading scenes were inserted before Yuki realized that she was falling in love with her bestfriend. My other nitpick would have to be about the sparseness of the mystery cases that Yuki had to solve. Would have loved to see her "smelling prowess" in action in a few more occasions or cases. But other than that, everything else flowed smoothly.

    My verdict: I didn't expect myself to become fully engaged in this book. While I had high hopes of being entertained, I didn't put so much stock on it thinking it was yet another run-of-the-mill YA paranormal. And boy, was I ever wrong. E.J. Stevens has created a solid series backed by a strong plot and believable characters. Reading the book through Yuki's point of view was a fascinating experience, one I'd like to continue well into the third book and the next ones after that (yes, I eagerly devoured the second book, Spirit Storm, when I got a hold of it). E.J. Stevens' tale delivered a punch with a crisp saucy voice; no senseless mumblings from her. I like that. And I know you also would. So try reading the Spirit Guide Series (Books 2 & 3, Spirit Storm and Legend of the Witchtrot Road, respectively, are out now) if you're up for a more than average teen paranormal story.

    This review also appears on:
    http://thetravelingreader.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/book-review-she-smells-the-dead/ by Mauie Hernando

  • Cute, Quirky and Original: Love It!5

    The Book Addicted Girl 4½ Out of 5
    Yuki's more-or-less your average girl: she has great friend Emma, she has a crush - who doesn't crush back on her - and awesome boots. Except Yuki can smell the dead. Yeah, that's right. It's not glamorous, and it makes it a lot harder to figure out what the spirit haunting you actually wants. Now it's senior year, and Yuki is being haunted by someone who smells like vinegar. But that's not the worst part. She's suddenly got strange feelings for Calvin Miller, her other friend and is having prophetic dreams at night. And she knows - knows - that something odd is going on with Calvin... Can Yuki save Vinegar Man? Before she loses herself?
    I loved this book! It had action, romance, humour, dead-smelling: everything a girl wants in a paranormal book. And - more importantly - it was wonderfully written with great characters and plot. Thanks E.J.!
    Yuki (her real name's Vanessa, but she changed it because of some unfortunate nicknames) was just a character I instantly liked. I liked her habit of exaggerating, her sarcasm, her brilliantly mad fashion sense: everything. Especially that her spirit animal is a dung beetle. I laughed so much at that one. All her strange, unique little sayings made me laugh, too. How can you not at things like: "son of a dung beetle", "holy heck", or "this sucks eggs"? She was just awesome, from the way she dealt with her gift - in a great, sometimes-funny and always relatable way - to the way she always called Cal by his full name to the habit she had of saying things like: "crow dude" or "doctor man". I loved her! (Did she remind anyone else of Abby from NCIS? Abby is my favourite TV character ever!)
    Calvin Miller was sort of New Agey, into mystical, um, stuff... He was just adorable: strong, cute, forgiving. I loved him! He really made me laugh. Although, his big secret was kinda obvious. To me, anyway.
    Emma was the best! She was a vegan and always laid into Calvin for eating meat. As a vegetarian myself, I loved her: "Can you taste its fear?" comments. She was really into human rights for everyone - people in the dark ages, bees. Also into the whole herbal remedies, she was practical, cute, and funny. She was awesome!
    And Calvin and Yuki were really cute. Their relationship was easy, natural, and oh-so sweet. They constantly teased one another, and had funny conversations with words like "Smellavision" and "Technosmellor" in them. However, their friendship changed lately. Suddenly Calvin was flirting and interrupting Yuki's daydreams about the studded, Emo-ish guy she was crushing on. That's what I liked most about this couple: the fact that they were friends first. It wasn't a love-at-first-sight connection, instead being a sweet and one-hundred-per cent believable romance. Plus there's the whole adorable: "Beetle Princess" and other nicknames as well. I can't wait to see where this couple goes!
    I have to mention E.J.'s writing once again: it was amazing. Easy and funny, I completely felt like it was Yuki talking, not an author writing as her, if that makes any sense. It sounded like a teenager speaking, without having to try too hard by using irritating words such as too many "like"s or "totally"s. It was believable and completely addictive.
    Now, I have to admit something. Before I read this book, I just assumed it would be a ghost haunting a girl, who would give him peace and everyone would be peachy. I was wrong. Yes, there was murder mystery, but it was so much more than that. There was a whole other side, one that was so new and so amazing: a brilliant new take on many popular folklores. I adored She Smells the Dead, and have only one major fault: it was too short! And it had a terrible cliff-hanger. I'm over the moon that I have the rest of the series so I can get my ghostly fix and find out what will happen next! by The Book Addicted Girl

  • Top review

    Delightful YA read5

    tam A few weeks ago, I finished reading the second installment of E.J. Stevens thrilling YA mystery/romance entitled Spirit Storm. This past week, I picked up the beginning of the Spirit Guide series. Again, I was struck by the fascinating manner in which Ms. Stevens writes, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book!

    Our heroine, Yuki, is introduced in She Smells the Dead. For anyone that remembers, being a teenager is filled with angst, drama, and a weirdness that defies logic. Adults will never understand a teenager, don't ask me why. We've all been there, but the world of those budding adults is confusing. Perhaps, more so, it's a memory we wish to suppress.

    Yuki's teenage world is far more dramatic than most adults or teens would ever imagine. Unlike most people who have the 'vision' (where they see the spirits of the undead), Yuki smells the undead as they flit about the shadowed realms of the world. Employing the assistance of her friends, who have secrets of their own to hide, she's on a mission to solve the spirits untimely human demise.

    Ms. Stevens writes a thrilling novel filled with the paranormal, adventure, mystery, and the unknown. The Spirit Guide series is a spell binding YA read, brimming over and reminding me of all those fantastic adventure and fantasy books I read as a teen. Readers will sit, enraptured by the author's skill in creating characters that explode from the pages.

    I loved She Smells the Dead and highly recommend it and Spirit Storm to anyone that has a weakness for well-written YA novels. by tam

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