Waiting On Wednesday - #42: A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

Following an all-out battle with the walking Dead, the Spirit Hunters have fled Philadelphia, leaving Eleanor alone to cope with the devastating aftermath. But there’s more trouble ahead—the evil necromancer Marcus has returned, and his diabolical advances have Eleanor escaping to Paris to seek the help of Joseph, Jie, and the infuriatingly handsome Daniel once again. 

When she arrives, however, she finds a whole new darkness lurking in this City of Light. As harrowing events unfold, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will mean life or death for everyone.





A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard 
Publication: July 23, 2013 (Harper Teen) 
Add it to your TBR!

Why It's Worth Waiting On: It's NO secret that I fell in love with Something Strange and Deadly - with the characters, and the risks Susan took, and the setting.  I cannot wait to see what the sequel brings.  I mean, PARIS?!  AND more Daniel?!  Yes please!  AND?  Would you look at that gorgeous cover?  Harper Teen has outdone themselves again!




This weekly feature is graciously hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine. You know that feeling you get when you're browsing upcoming books on Goodreads or Amazon and one strikes your fancy?  Maybe you squee.  Maybe you giggle to yourself.  Maybe you bounce in your seat. We all get excited (I do a combination of all three of the previous choices...) about new books, be it a favorite author you're familiar with, or someone whose work you'll be reading for the first time.  Jill's meme gives us the chance to spotlight what we are anxiously awaiting this week.

Review: Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
Pages: 400
Expected publication: July 24, 2012 (Harper Teen)
Source: ARC from the publisher
Rating: Squee-worthy
Add it/Purchase: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Connect with the author: Twitter | Website | Book Website

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The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks 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 their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

My Review

The mark of a good book, for me, is a book that, even after I close it, I think about it - about the characters, the plot, the world-building, and the relationships.  All that and more happened with Something Strange and Deadly, a debut novel that promises, "parasols and zombies," and delivers MUCH more.  Author Susan Dennard takes familiar elements of steam punk novels and adds in her own flair in the form of spirited characters, and a strong, heart-pounding zombie adventure that left me utterly enchanted, and yet also terrified to close my eyes the night I finished this novel.  

I have to talk about the characters, because for me, they were absolutely the most spectacular portion of Something Strange and Deadly.  I almost don't know how to go about choosing a favorite, since Dennard did a fantastic job at crafting each character, no matter how major or minor, to play their role to perfection.  I loved, hated, or feared them, from Eleanor's fussy, uptight mother clinging to what was left of a good name with a lot of debt, to Clarence, Eleanor's would-be suitor, who made me want to shake him one moment, then hug him the next.  I immediately felt for Eleanor, trapped in a world she only halfway fits into, caught between her desire to have her brother home safely, and her mother's suffocating need to force Eleanor into a profitable marriage.  Eleanor Fitt - often addressed as Miss Fitt - feels exactly like her name, and my heart went out to her right away.  We bonded, Eleanor and I, because who HASN'T from time to time felt out of place, and like our wants aren't being considered?  While I do think that Eleanor's mother cared about her, at the same time, I feel like the majority of her actions were selfishly based on what she wanted/needed, rather than consulting Eleanor.  

The wonderful characters continued as we are introduced, shortly after a Dead attack, to the Spirit Hunters, a small group of ghost-hunters (and at this point the Supernatural fangirl in me was absolutely giddy with anticipation and delight) who are tracking a powerful necromancer.  Eleanor meets Joseph, Daniel, and Jie, each who have a great deal to add to Something Strange and Deadly, in terms of backstory and personality, as well as what they can teach Eleanor.  Joseph, every inch the gentleman, is a fantastic leader for the Spirit Hunters, rounded out by free-thinking and courageous Jie, and of course...Daniel.  

Oh, Daniel.  Inventor, mystery, scarred, haunted Daniel.  I fell for him with his first words, as he dubbed Eleanor "Empress," and I fell even harder for him and Eleanor.  What I truly adored about Daniel and Eleanor is that their relationship was rocky from the start, and so it made it THAT much sweeter when we saw the little moments where they learned to trust and grudgingly respect one another.  Daniel and Eleanor tirelessly antagonize one another - and NOT in the tired "new boy at school annoys main character," way of so many books.  They truly didn't get along at all at first, and I ate up every minute of their interaction, as they slowly peeled away one another's layers, becoming reluctant allies before they were anything else.  The blush of romance between them is tempered by the fact that zombies are roaming Philadelphia, and so there's a great deal of potential still between them, as well as a thrumming tension.  

Throughout Something Strange and Deadly are enigmas, twists and turns that will break your heart and leave you wanting more.  Even though it was predictable at times - I figured out the biggest twist long before it was revealed - the end still absolutely took my breath away.  Susan Dennard isn't afraid to take chances, or even do something completely shocking.  She doesn't play it safe, so please, don't expect a safe read.  Expect danger, intrigue, and high-stakes romance.  Expect to laugh, and expect to cry.  Woven in amidst the threat of the Walking Dead is also a great deal of heart, and soul, hidden in the interactions between the Spirit Hunters, between Eleanor and Daniel, between Eleanor and Jie, and so forth.  

Even though I knew Something Strange and Deadly had to end, I still didn't want to admit it was over.  At around 400 pages, which might be too long for some stories, Dennard still clearly has plenty of adventures in store, since there is a sequel - A Darkness Strange and Lovely - due out next year.  (Oh, why must I wait SO long?!) With truly memorable characters and breath-taking danger, you'll want to pick up YOUR copy of Something Strange and Deadly when it hits shelves.  I guarantee you, you'll be thinking, like me, about this story long after you read the final page. 

Author Interview & Giveaway: Something Strange and Deadly

Please welcome Susan Dennard to the blog today!  She's here to give us a few insights into two of the main characters from her upcoming zombie steampunk YA novel, SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY.  If you haven't heard about her novel, be sure to add it to your Goodreads to-be-read after reading this character interview with Eleanor and Daniel, and then enter the giveaway below to win my lovingly read ARC of SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY - a spine-tingling debut that I absolutely fell in love with.  Susan is a sweetheart and I've really enjoyed squee'ing over her characters and watching them fight zombies and necromancers, and fight their attraction to each other!  Both Eleanor Fitt and Daniel Sheridan are such incredibly strong, feisty characters that I simply HAD to interview them. 

I’m a 28-year-old reader, writer, lover of animals, and eater of cookies. I used to be a marine biologist, but now I write novels. And not novels about fish either, but novels about kick-butt heroines and swoon-worthy rogues (I really like swoon-worthy rogues).

Connect with Susan online: Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Eleanor, you live in terrifying times.  What do you think of the Dead roaming Philadelphia?

Well, I can't say that I gave it much thought until that corpse shambled into the train depot. Afterall, it's not as if the Dead have never risen before--why else would we have casket bells in our coffins? Or iron bars around our cemeteries? But now that I've seen enough rotting bodies and skeletons to fill the entire Centennial Exhibition, I think it's something the city ought to be a bit more careful with.

Honestly, why hire the Spirit-Hunters to "save you" if you won't actually give them any money or help? The mayor really oughtn't have acted so surprised when the Dead overran the city--he could have been better prepared, you know.

 Eleanor and Daniel, what did you each think of the other when you first met?  How have your opinions changed now?

Eleanor: He ought to invest in gloves--and a tie. All that exposed flesh around his forearms and neck is appaling. Not to mention his incredibly crude behavior. Blazes, what a ruffian.

While I still think a pair of gloves won't hurt...he isn't as rough as I once thought. There is a softer--even kind--side to him. Of course, it's nigh impossible to get that side to show itself.

Daniel: "I'm Eleanor Fitt of the Philadelphia Fitts"--was she jokin'? Saying it like she's the Queen of Sheba? Why, there's nothin' I hate more than a gal concerned with money and society. It didn't help either that she ruined my experiment.

'Course...she ain't as concerned with all that as I once thought. It's not just any girl who'll put on trousers and blow up a dynamite factory. And it's not just any girl who'd risk her neck for mine...

 If there was one thing you both could change about your life, what would it be?

Eleanor: I...I'm not sure I can answer that. I'd wish for so many things--for my father's death and downfall to never have happened, for more money in the bank, for a society that didn't care who I was or what I wore. I suppose, if I were forced to choose one thing, I'd wish that my older brother, Elijah, had never gone abroad all those years ago. If he had only stayed home, then maybe none of this would have ever happened.

Daniel: That's easy. There's a black spot on my conscious--black as ancient, crusted blood--and I'd do anything to make that disappear.

What are the three words you would use to describe one another?

Eleanor: He's a scalawag, for one. An incredibly dashing scalawag. An incredibly dashing and infuriating scalawag.

Daniel: She's a snooty empress...but she's got a lot of grit. I can't deny that. I guess I'd call her a stupidly brave, overly curious empress. Wait--this won't get back to her, will it? I can just imagine her eyes flashin' if she heard what I'd said.

Eleanor, what are your hopes for your future?  (Once this problem with the Dead is over…)

I don't know. I honestly can't say I've thought far ahead. I always thought Elijah would be here to help me plan my life--to help keep our mother in line. I know Mama would like nothing more than to marry me off to some eligible bachelor, but I can't say I see myself as anyone's biddable wife.

Who knows? Perhaps I'll travel the world next--I'd like that very much, I think.

Why do you think that the two of you infuriate one another so much?

Eleanor: He always assumes he knows best, but does he? Most certainly not. It doesn't help that he's constantly scowling. A few smiles never hurt anyone, you know.

Daniel: Because she never thinks! She just acts, and then I'm left cleaning up the mess--or rescuin' her from the Dead for the hundredth time.


Thank you very much for Eleanor and Daniel (*sighs* I love those two) and to Susan for spending some time with me today!





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