Phenomenal read — sucked me in from literally page 1 and I finished it in two days.

To what lengths would you go to protect yourself? What about someone you care about? I feel like our two main characters are in constant “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenarios.

I went into this book blind (other than the synopsis) and I’m really glad I did. Every single page is packed with something to hold your interest and press on to “one more chapter.”

When you are the monster, how can you trust someone will come to save you. I Am Made of Death is the third book set in the world of The Whispering Dark (TWD). It is a stand alone, however a few of the characters from TWD make and appearance and play a role so as a reader you may want to read that first. I haven’t read TWD and was able to follow the story fine, however I think I would have been even more invested if I had read the other story as well. I would describe this as romantic horror-lite.

Thomas needs this job. That is what he reminds himself every time Vivienne cuts him deeply or alternatively makes him want to protect her with everything he is. But, Thomas needs this job and the enormous paycheck that comes with it. He has been most of the sole support for his family since his dad died and his mom has been so sick. So he reminds himself that the girl is just a job. He shouldn’t look at her too long. He shouldn’t get too involved with whatever trouble she is in. And he definitely should under no circumstances kiss the girl that can cut him to the bone with signed word. Thomas knows Vivienne has a secret; she might be in trouble and it looks like Thomas is going to be the fool that risks himself to help a girl he just met and can’t stop thinking about.

Vivienne is a monster, or close enough to one that she might as well be. She hasn’t spoken in years. Bad things happen when she speaks out loud, people plead and beg and die. So she is selectively mute, because she doesn’t want to be a monster, she only ever wanted to be a girl. Vivienne has maybe found a way to get the monster out of her. It is dangerous and she will need some people with very specific skills to help her. She will also need to ditch the Thomas, the interpreter/babysitter her step-father has hired. But, that is getting harder everyday she spends with the boy who looks almost as broken as her in some ways. What if she could just tell him everything, what if he could help her, what if she kills him.

She wondered if he’d weep if she told him what she thought of him, right out loud. Sometimes they did. Weep, that is. They begged. They crawled. They foamed at the mouth and writhed on the floor. All she had to do was scream. She was a piteous Medusa, her mouth full of snakes. A cursed siren, her voice full of venom.

My first Kelly Andrew book was Blood of my Bones and it was such a strange story with a haunting and beautifully written prose I wanted to see what else Kelly Andrew could do with that writing style. I was intrigued by the siren call premise of I Am Made of Death and forbidden love, it seemed like another winner for me. I enjoy the flowery and descriptive writing style that adds to the gothic feels of the book. Vivienne and Thomas both capture my heart with the dual PoVs and struggles the reader experiences through there eyes. Vivienne isn’t a really loveable character, all jagged spikes and harsh actions. But seeing her through Thomas’ eyes, you could see how she was just a girl who wanted someone to be on her side, instead of just thinking of how to use the monster she could be.

Vivienne Farrow wasn’t for loving. She wasn’t warm or sweet or good. Most days, she wasn’t even sure she was human.

The story was captivating and I had a hard time putting it down. It was a good tease of mystery and horror to discover Vivienne’s past and how she became made of death. The resolution went very differently from what I expected, however that is a good thing and I liked the direction the author took with the story. While the horror aspect was interesting I was here for the prose and the romantic interest aspects of the story and they delivered.

Recommended for anyone looking to try out horror as a new genre. The combination of the love story, horror aspects and prose make it an easy entry point.

🎀🩰✨ARC Review✨🩰🎀

I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew🩰🎀

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I ABSOLUTELY LOVEDDDDDD THIS😭

IAMOD is an absolutely masterpiece. AndI am still reeling over this book😭 Kelly has done it once again. I loved the banter between Vivienne and Thomas and I just overall loved their relationship.

I loved the sub-genre of bubblegum horror and this was soooo well written and I can't wait to read whatever comes next from Kelly!

I still haven't read The Whispering Dark yet but I will 100% doing that this year. This book has confirmed that Kelly Andrew is an auto-buy author for me!

🎀Bubblegum Horror
🩰Sunshine x Grumpy
🎀Dark Family Secrets
🩰"I'd follow you into hell"
🎀Bodyguard x Princess
🩰Surgical Exorcisms
🎀"Hurt Him to Save Him"
🩰Society members with gif complexes
🎀Ballet
🩰Forbidden Summer Romance
🎀Forced to Interpret for Her on Dates

For readers who crave an intoxicating blend of gothic horror, dark romance, and supernatural intrigue, ‘I Am Made of Death’ is an absolute must-read that will give you EXACTLY THAT. Kelley Andrew weaves an eerie, electrifying tale of love, loss, and the fight for control over one’s destiny.

Our MMC Thomas Walsh is a struggling interpreter who takes a high-paying job assisting our FMC Vivienne Farrow, who is a selective mute whose voice is rumored to bring death (pretty intresting). But as he becomes entangled in her mysterious world, filled with strict rules and supernatural terror, he realizes there is much more to Vivienne’s silence than what’s shown. Their journey through dark secrets and chilling revelations makes for a heart-pounding, almost impossible to put down read.

This book was filled with amazing prose, spiraling tension, and a slow-burn romance that is so sizzling, it will have you aching for more. This book is perfect for fans who love works by Rachel Gillig and even a mix of Rebecca Ross. An eerie yet highly romantic atmosphere filled with mysteries and tragic love that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Phenomenal read and highly recommend everyone go pick this up!

Another deliciously dark romance by Kelly Andrews with plenty of horror to boot! I wish it had been marketed as a companion novel to The Whispering Dark because I do feel like that one is necessary to read first to get the full experience. But the characters are delightful and the horror delicious.

Vivienne has it all, beauty, status, and wealth, but deep beneath her surface lies a monster dying to get out. According to her, life really sucks right now, especially when her step-father hires the college dropout to watch her every move. Her own mother is no help at all as she hides behind fake smiles, stylish clothes, and her husband's wealth. Vivienne has plans, and even the perfectly well-mannered Thomas Walsh won't stop her. Death seems to follow her, and she's trying to ride herself of it by any means, even if she has to team up with a local frat specializing in the occult. No matter how hard she tries to resist his charms, Thomas has a way of seeing the real Vivienne even behind the monster. Revelations spark hard truths about events set in motion even before her birth. It's hard to avoid a monster that's been searching for you all your life. If you're rooting for Vivienne or looking for your next book boyfriend in Thomas, then go check out "I Am Made of Death."

I thought the first part was very interesting and sucked me in! I found it creepy in a fun, pretty way. Parts 2 and 3 started to lose me and I felt like the story took a turn I didn't expect, and not in a good way. The book is definitely "bubblegum horror" which is a cool genre on its own. Very unique concept, but ultimately fell a little flat.

I absolutely loved it! I am very terrible at trying to see outside of what is written but for me it felt like this was fantasy with elements of the dark side in mental health (I am not 100% certain that Kelly Andrew was trying to do this but for me it felt like it and since I study Psychology this made me even love the book even more). Will be rereading again so I can properly analyze and find deeper meaning (as I always do this to books I love so I can make sure I connected it all correctly and go through the huge what if's board). The horror, chemistry, just everything was purely chefs kiss!

*Posted on GoodReads, working hard to create proper reviews, future reviews are guaranteed to be improved from the last*

I Am Made of Death intrigued me from the first page. I loved Thomas from the first moment we met him; Vivienne took me longer to like. She is independent to a fault and definitely a survivor, but she is also spoiled and, at times, a brat. There are reasons she is the way is, and once I learned those, while I still thought she could be a brat, she started to make sense to me.

The love was a bit insta, the horror was good but could have gone further, and some things were left unanswered. But as a whole, this story had me invested from the beginning, and I enjoyed my reading journey.
I can't wait to see what this author will come out with next!

I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew is a young adult book that is told from the perspective of two different characters. It opens with Thomas Walsh taking a job as an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter for a mute girl named Vivienne who hasn't spoken since a family vacation gone wrong. Vivi must be accompanied at all times and isn't allowed out after dark. She has decided to take matters into her own hands and have a medically questionable surgery to fix her issue.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew for free in exchange for my honest review. This is a book that I wished for, and my wish was granted. To say I was excited is an understatement.

The character development for both Thomas and Vivienne was exceptionally good, especially for a YA book. We learn their backstory continuously throughout the storyline, so the development is slow. As for the writing, it was well written and drew me in and kept me engaged until the very end. There were parts that reminded me of Desperation and It by Stephen King, which is both good and bad since I loved one and thought the other was depressing. At other points, it reminded me of another book, but I can't think of the title or author of that book now. Something that gave me pause was seeing the name of my high school band director being used as a character's name who had a completely different job than my teacher.

There aren't many negatives for me when it comes to this novel. One of those negatives for me is when the author used words that I've never heard of in my life when the common word would have sufficed and made the story flow better. I am all for learning new words, but having to stop to look up words definitely took me out of the story. There is a romance element that seemed to come out of nowhere, and I thought it could have been done a little better. The only other negative for me was the ending, which seemed rushed and left me somewhat confused.

Four stars out of five stars is what I gave I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew. Although this novel is categorized as sci-fi, fantasy, and romance, I personally would put it in the horror genre. I definitely recommend this book for tweens and teens who love horror and adults who love Stephen King.

4/5 Stars
Hauntingly beautiful!

Whispering Dark was one of my favorite debut books, and I Am Made of Death is a worthy follow-up. It is worth mentioning that to fully enjoy the book, it is advised (but not necessary) to start with The Whispering Dark, as it better introduces the lore of the universe. Now, onwards to I Am Made of Death.

Do you know that feeling when you can tell you’ll love a book just by looking at it? I knew I was going to love this ever since I first saw the cover, and the entire aesthetic of the book (bubblegum horror is now my new favourite thing!) did nothing to stifle my obsession.

The atmosphere pulled me right in from the start, and the horror was the perfect level of disturbing. Vivienne and Thomas are compelling characters, which made their romance endearing, even if it leaned a bit into insta-love territory.
That said, the pacing may have dragged at times just a tiny, tiny bit, which made this a slower read than the previous two books. Still, Kelly Andrew’s writing makes this a standout read and my favorite of her books so far.

i really thought i was going to like this one more! i think i might’ve gone into it thinking it was something it wasn’t, and that definitely didn’t help the rating.

i thought the romance was very quick and whirlwind, and didn’t really have any build up at all. i also felt like sometimes some of the plot points didn’t really fit together and i wasn’t always really sure why things were happening.

i just read in another review that apparently this was an interconnected standalone, and i wish i knew that before i read it. i had so many issues with the world building and understanding what was going on, so reading the other books probably would’ve helped.

overall, it wasn’t bad, and i think i might’ve enjoyed it better if i knew more of what it was going in.

thank you to netgalley and scholastic press for the arc

I Am Made of Death is the first book I’ve read by Kelly Andrew. It also happens to be a blending a genres I don’t see together often enough, horror and romance. Vivienne was an instantly fascinating/engaging character. She’s a mute. Not born that way but rather by choice because she can’t risk the tragic implications of others hearing her voice. But she has a plan to ‘cure’ herself. But she can’t do that with Thomas, the new sign ‘translator’/‘babysitter’ her parents around. Of course it also doesn’t help that they’re beginning to develop feelings. While I felt a few of the storylines were more convoluted than they needed to be, overall this was a satisfying and engaging story and I’ll definitely be looking into Ms. Andrew’s other books. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me access to an ARC of I Am Made of Death.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-am-made-of-death-kelly-andrew/1145527408?ean=9781546104483&bvnotificationId=05f5646e-f951-11ef-b3cc-0affd2241acd&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/339480320

I struggled HARD with this book. I thought the horror elements were really intriguing and enjoyed the take on exorcism. However, I felt emotionally distant from the horror, as in I wasn't scared. Shouldn't I be scared? Shouldn't I feel haunted? Instead my enjoyment came from a literary analysis standpoint and that was a bummer.

The romance was also a bit difficult for me to buy into.

This story hooked me from the very beginning. Chilling, enthralling, and heartfelt. Bubblegum horror is now a staple genre for me! The representation of ASL and selective mutism was incredibly well done and one of my favorite aspects of the story. Thomas and Vivienne are incredibly compelling main characters. Their arcs flourish as their relationship does, crafting a delicious tension alongside the inevitable horror they are barreling towards. I hope to see more of this world, which I now know is related to Andrew’s other novels. The prose is also incredibly evocative, a feature that only made me fall more in love with this story. Thank you to Scholastic and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest feedback.

I am made of death has somehow dethroned Whispering Dark in my Kelly Andrew loving heart. It’s both creepy and raw while being written with such beautiful prose you tend to forget your knees deep in a horror novel. Our FMC is the witty smart girl with a wealth of talent all of us who grew up in dance classes wished we were…and our MMC? Just as swoon worthy as all of Kelly’s love interests. I would prefer all of my in real life love interests were written by Kelly *sigh*
Thank you so much to Kelly and Netgalley for this early reader. I absolutely adored this book and I know any one looking for romance in their horror(who isn’t honestly) will too.

I wanted to love this, but I think that the prose and I just didn't mesh. I was really looking for more straightforward language, but the prose did pull me out of the story a little bit. I can appreciate, though, that the horror elements did remain pretty firmly in the foreground of the story, and though it was a bit instalovey, the romance wasn't terrible. I think the pacing, for me, was just a little too slow. It could have been that I was just really not vibing with the prose, which made it a bit of a slog for me, but yeah it just took me forever to get through it.

3.5 stars

I was intrigued at the start, and lost a little interest along the way. I wanted a bit more dance and horror. It started to feel a touch too dramatic prose for what was going down. It does end with some unanswered questions. The vibes seemed Flatliners mixed with a monster Rumplestiltskin fairytale. If that is something that interests you, I would check it out.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy to form opinions from.

4.5/5
I love Kelly Andrew's paranormal horror. I was surprised by how much this is a mesh up from her first book The Whispering Dark. It reads more as an interconnecting stand alone than just a standalone with plots pulling from the original book as well as characters.
I do love the sassiness of Vivienne and the protectiveness of Thomas. This is a great body guard style romance (even though he's the interpreter). The representation of ASL users is prominent in the store which I absolutely love as well. The chaotic style of Thomas with the manipulative Vivienne is amazing. I absolutely loved this story I just wish there was more about the demons in this book because I don't remember much from her first book since I read it when it came out. Amazing as always and she's becoming an instant buy author for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Scholastic Press for the opportunity to read this book!

Hello I am back again screaming, crying, throwing up over a Kelly Andrew book! This book makes me feel like I’m my own demonic reflection in the mirror! In the best way possible!

Come for the bubblegum horror and immaculate vibes. Stay for the story about female rage, strangling patriarchal societal and familial structures, questions of who exactly the true monsters are and the I Will Always Come For You kind of romance.

When Vivienne Farrow (socialite) (ballerina) (possessed) has Thomas Walsh foisted on her by her controlling stepfather to be her translator (bodyguard) (babysitter) (parental spy), she is resolved to do everything she can to get him to quit. Thomas on the other hand, is in dire need of the paycheck and the ensuing war of wills is incredible. Vivienne is a ruthless girl, desperate to rid herself of what lurks inside her. Thomas is at loose ends, trying to support is family and find his place.

I loved Vivienne’s ruthlessness. Thomas’s steadfastness. The call backs and crossovers and old friends and found family. I loved every minute of this book even as I screamed into my pillow.

I recommend having read The Whispering Dark and Your Blood, My Bones before diving into I Am Made of Death - both because they’re excellent and you should just read them and also For Reasons.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for this e-arc!