Book Review: Possession by Annie Oldham

Possession (Song and Shadow, #1) by Annie Oldham
Genre: Young Adult (Paranormal)
Date Published: October 31, 2014
Publisher: Self

Constance Jerome wants nothing more than to make it through her senior year of high school without being noticed. But when her mother drops the world's biggest bombshell, flying under the radar just isn't in the cards. It turns out Constance is a necromancer—one of the few who can travel the realms of the dead. Apparently it runs in the family. And now there's a threat coming: another necromancer with plans to disturb the living and the dead, and Constance and her mother are the only ones who can stop him. If only they knew who he was. Or what exactly he was up to. A quiet senior year isn't an option, and Constance must race to stop a high school apocalypse before the balance between the living and the dead is overturned.

Possession is the first book in the Song and Shadow series by Annie Oldham. I never really knew what a necromancer was before reading this book. I'd heard the term, but never gave it much thought. I always assumed they were some kind of witch that deals with the dead or something along those lines. As a general rule, I'm not a fan of witches, so I didn't know if I'd like the book or not, but I do like other books by this author so I wanted to give it a try. First of all, I learned that necromancers aren't really witches. So, I was glad for that. Second, the story is so well told that after the first few pages, I was already pulled too far into the life of Constance to turn back. The writing is very visual, without being overly descriptive which I love. Each character had depth, even if you don't realize it right away. I think this was a great start to what seems to me to be a unique and entertaining new series.

Possession by Annie Oldham was kindly provided to me by the author for review. The opinions are my own.

Her mother had the habit of putting on a certain facial expression whenever she and Constance reached a point in conversation when Constance was forced to admit that she was young and clueless and her mother was older and wiser; the look involved her mother barely raising her eyebrows and the left corner of her mouth turning up. It was the look she was currently wearing.

Constance dropped her plate in the sink a little louder than she had intended. “Just because I can admit to his physical beauty doesn’t mean he isn’t basically a toad on the inside.”

“Point taken. But you should at least give him a chance.”

“He’s had a chance. He looked like he threw up a little in his mouth when Mr. Mason asked me to tutor him.”

The knife her mother was holding hovered over the green chiles on the cutting board. She turned around. “He really looked like he threw up a little?”

Constance nodded.

“Yes, a toad on the inside then. Be careful, hon.” Then the knife resumed tap, tap, tapping across the cutting board.

Constance smiled. Her mother might burn awful candles and be a smidge overprotective about their old decorations, but she was pretty cool as far as moms went.

Check out my reviews of other books by this author!

Annie Oldham grew up with an insatiable desire to read and came away with the insatiable desire to write. Away from her writing, she's the mother of the three most adorable girls in the world, has the best husband in the world, and lives in the hottest place in the world (not really, but Phoenix sure feels like it).

To read more about the author and her books, visit Annie Oldham's website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter.

Also, don't miss my interview with Annie Oldham!