Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Title: Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)
Author: Susan Dennard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: July 24th, 2012
Rating: 5 Stars

There's something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia...

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family as fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walkers by. But this is nothing compared to what she's just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor... from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she'll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel, the situation becomes dire. An now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance. -Summary from Goodreads

           First off, let me say that Zombies and Steampunk normally aren’t very high on my list of to-reads. Actually, zombies almost never make the list but after seeing all the hype for when the third book came out I decided to give this a shot… I LOVED IT!!!!

“Dead!” a woman screamed. “It’s the dead!”

            Something Strange and Deadly is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. Susan Dennard gives us a story filled with action, parasols, and well developed characters! Everything felt real and natural; the historical setting, the romance, and yes, even the zombies.

I loved Eleanor, she is an amazing heroine who doesn’t mind smacking a zombie with her parasol, but still finds it improper to go out with a man to the opera unchaperoned. She is your average girl who is terrified of the dead but willing to step up and do what’s right. 

“Miss Fitt, you know curiosity gets men killed." 

I grinned. "Then I daresay it's good I'm a woman.”

This book has a great cast of character who are not all black and white, good and bad, making it a very interesting read. The Spirit-Hunters were not really what I would have expected given the summery. I thought it would be like another secret society whose members had been doing this since birth ect. But it was nothing like that at all. They are a mixture of scientists, fighters, and a magic user… and there are only three of them. That being said I loved the Spirit-Hunters. They are trying to fight off the dead and protect the people of the Philadelphia without getting hardly any support from the its leaders. Joseph and Jie are awesome and Daniel is the perfect scalawag.

            I found the slow burn romance quite refreshing. Eleanor didn’t spend every moment fawning over the men in her life and was able to stay focus on the matter at hand. Yes, there were more than one man, but I can’t really say that there was a love triangle because while there was interest it was more like a few sweet moments mixed in with the story instead of the other way around.

“I brandished my parasol at him like a rapier. "You, sir, are an abominable scalawag of a man, and I'll be damned if I let you threaten me.”

Something Strange and Deadly is a five star book with an incredibly gorgeous cover extremely high on my wishlist. It’s a must read!

  
           -Sarah