Review ~ A STIFF KISS

Who knew kissing a corpse would change everything? Death always hits Xylia Morana too close to home, but she likes it that way. She hangs out with the terminally ill, attends random funerals, and every so often, when the weather is right, she sleeps in open graves. But after Landon Phoenix, the high school hottie, dies in Xylia's arms, she sneaks into the morgue to say goodbye. How could she know stealing a kiss from his corpse would wake him up? With Landon returned to the living and suddenly interested in Xylia, life has new meaning. But what Xylia doesn't realize is that by kissing Landon back to life, she's thrown Life and Death off balance. The underworld demands a body, and it might just have to be Xylia's this time. ~From GoodReads

Xylia Morana is a unique girl, to say the least. Since her mother died, she has been fascinated by all aspects of death. She wonders the cemeteries, tries to sneak into morgues, works around those who are close to death. When her high school crush suddenly dies, Xylia decides to pay him one last visit in the morgue. But when she kisses him goodbye, she brings him to life, upsetting the balance between life and death.

So...I just didn't love A STIFF KISS. I thought the premise was cool, it reminded me of the show PUSHING DAISIES. It had a similar premise and a great, weird vibe. Xylia was funny and sarcastic. She was quirky and definitely odd. Landon was a likable guy. He's basically the high school athlete/popular guy that dominates much of the YA genre.

I found, though, that I had a hard time getting fully "into" the story. It just didn't pull me in and captivate me like I'd hoped it would. I found the first half to be a little slow going. After Xylia gives Landon the kiss of life, the story sort of stalled. It seemed that the characters were just in their head. I guess that should be understandable, given what had transpired with the kiss. I wanted them to get on with working through what came next. But I will add, that the last portion of the story did move much quicker. And A STIFF KISS had a nice resolution.

A STIFF KISS is a nice read for fans of paranormal young adult. More so for those who are looking for something a bit out of the norm. And although it didn't resonate strongly with me, I think there is definitely a lot of readers who would enjoy it.


Favorite Quote:

"But how can I ignore what happened? How can I pretend as though I had nothing to do with Landon coming back to life? Was I supposed to force myself to believe I hadn't been there, hadn't seen his dead body, and hadn't watched that body come back to life after I'd kissed him?" (ebook, 31%)


For an alternate point of view, here is a very positive review I found on GoodReads.

Published February 12th 2012 by Crescent Moon Press

You can purchase A STIFF KISS at:
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Source: Received from author in exchange for an honest review.