Three Days To Dead by Kelly Meding

"She's young, deadly, and hunted - with only three days to solve her own murder...

When Evangeline Stone wakes up naked and bruised on a cold slab in the morgue - in a stranger's body, with no memory of who she is and how she got there - her troubles are only just beginning. Before that night she and the other two members of her Triad were star bounty hunters, mercilessly cleansing the city if the murderous creatures living in the shadows, from vampires to shape-shifters to trolls. Then something terrible happened that not only cost all three of them their lives but also convinced the city's other Hunters that Evy was a traitor - and she can't even remember what it was. Now she's a fugitive, piecing together her memory, trying to deal some serious justice - and discovering that she has only three days to solve her own murder before the reincarnation spell wears off. Because in three days Evy will die again - but this time there's no second chance..."

I love the ideas behind the book, but in practise it falls short. Evy says repeatedly that the other two members of her Triad were her family, and yet at the beginning of the book in particular, there is very little from Evy in the way of grief. And there is the potential for a good sub-plot with two personalities in one body, but there isn't nearly enough to make it work. The male leads in the book fall flat too and they're all pretty similar. There just isn't enough to really get your teeth in to personality wise with the characters. And though I wanted Evy to succeed, I wasn't really pushing for her, willing her on like many other protagonists.

There is also far too much going on. There are many, many different species of creature in this book, and it gets a bit tricky trying to keep all the different creatures and their alliances straight. The story jumps from one thing to another with little explanation and trying to keep all of it in order and remember it all isn't easy either. And whilst the world building was pretty good, the overall tone wasn't as dark and gritty as it could have been, leaving a slightly lighter tone than it really needed.

Knowing that there is a time constraint is one thing, but the pressure of it didn't really come across well in this. There were times when you felt Evy had all the time in the world to do whatever it was needed doing. There were a couple decent twists but nothing out of the blue, but the ending was reasonable anyway, even if a few things were left open ended.

However, despite all it's flaws, I liked this book. Yes it's not as good as it could be, but I still think it's a reasonable read and one I'll pass along to friends. Evy has some good moments, and there are points where things are explained enough and the characters show real emotion you can relate to, there's just not enough of it to truly bring the characters to life. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to read a book with a decent storyline and characters you're not going to obsess over ;) 6/10