This was the slowest thing I have ever read. I'm not even quite sure what the story was supposed to be. Was it supposed to be horror? Romance? What?
The premise was decent, but this feels like a first draft and not a fully fleshed out novel.

This book left me with more questions than answers. I was captivated by the summary, but sadly, the summary read better and explained more than reading the book. I was left feeling confused, so many things were left unexplained. For such vivid imagery, there were so many gaps. This story worked so hard to be mysterious that it ended up being a mystery.
I'm not sure how I feel about our characters. We have Thomas. A relatable, likable hero. I would've loved to have a little more background into his story versus the scattered breadcrumbs throughout. I see where it helped to make him more mysterious but I feel it would have benefited the story more had we had more of a peek into his "college life," which, let's be honest, is still a mystery! Also, I'm not a huge fan of the insta-love with no real reason behind it. Thomas almost seems like a glutton for punishment in his feelings for Vivienne when she has shown him nothing but stuck-up, entitled disdain.
Which brings us to Vivienne. The monster. The victim. I feel like she was lovable and hatable in equal measure. You felt sorry for her just enough to not completely despise her. She was adequately written and was the monster you loved to hate. The damsel you hated to love.
As for the monster(s). I am still baffled and confused. Viv's monster creeped me out. this was the stuff of nightmares right here. I'm just a bit ticked off that we STILL had no explanation as to exactly what we were dealing with! We learned more about the "house" than the monster we had grown to fear throughout the rest of the book!
Overall, I was not impressed by this book. I had to force myself to keep going. I didn't really find myself invested or anxious to keep reading until the last 25% of the book. This book did not make me want to necessarily read any of this author's other work.
Pros: Excellent imagery. Decent character development. Scary as hell.
Cons: Poorly executed. In an effort to be mysterious, it was still left a mystery. Too many gaps and loose ends. Too many questions left unanswered.

i am made of death comes out 3/4/25! 🎀🕷️🩰

iamod is a YA bubblegum horror with bodyguard romance about a girl who went missing for 3 days when she was 4 years old and hasn’t spoken a word since. almost an adult now, something inside of her isn’t supposed to be there, and she’s ready to cut it out—except she’s constantly under the supervision of a boy her father hired to keep an eye on her & translate her sign language. but she knows something monstrous lives inside her, and she won’t let anyone get in the way of removing it, lest it consumes her wholly.

this is my second book by andrew and she consistently has a gorgeous stylistic hold on metaphors & similes and a knack for unassuming horror-adjacent descriptive narration. i found the pace of this book to be far more enrapturing than her previous, your blood, my bones & i really enjoyed the dynamic between thomas & vivienne as well as thomas’s tempestuous attitude. i half expected him to be really subservient & coy but instead he was like aloof & unapologetic. there wasn’t an immediate implication that they would entertain liking one another or being together which is a massive pet peeve of mine in romance books that are meant to have actual opposing characters.

i found the sign language (asl & see) representation so fun!! i’ve had the asl alphabet memorized since i was 8ish when my mom would take me to her pse classes + i took a couple asl classes in uni & it’s been an interest of mine ever since so it was really cool reading a book where the characters converse with signing, especially with the nuance of vivienne not actually knowing asl as a language and more signing with english syntax and finger spelling because she taught herself & that she feels limited & forced to regress by her restricted access to language. i’m disappointed to have to move on to books that don’t have sign, especially with how seamlessly andrew incorporated it into the story, like describing the sign for “stop” in an emotionally charged scene as “her right hand knifed sideways into her open palm in a mercy killing.”

but that brings me to the author’s other books! i read your blood, my bones last year and iamod actually includes characters from her first book, the whispering dark, one of whom is deaf and signs, and after meeting them in this book i immediately bought theirs to read asap so if andrew gets you hooked on deaf/asl rep don’t worry she has multiple books with it 😌 i adore the idea of standalone books that intertwine & all three of andrews’ books do exactly that which is so cool!

back to iamod, i will say part ii & part iii felt a little hasty to me for what they are. getting into the theoretical meat of the book & horror aspects, i was underwhelmed at the two main climactic moments as well as how quickly vivienne & thomas’ relationship solidified into something unmovable. i feel like, even though we get both thomas & vivienne’s povs relatively equally in the book, we didn’t know vivienne that well because all her perspective explored was that she was unhappy & scared of herself & annoyed at thomas’ presence in her life. there was little to go on for her character wise, making me doubt the romance because there was so little for thomas to fall in love with & yet he does anyway—even to the point he’d willingly die to protect her knowing he has a dying mom & little sister at home whom he loves.

i also wish we got to see more of vivienne as a dancer. it was described to be her only respite & something that made her feel like herself only for her to never revisit it again in the book. we also know scarcely anything about her experience doing [redacted] because her pov during & after was sacrificed for the sake of the reveal later. i get it, but i wish it had been explored more eventually.

my favorite parts of the book were in pt i where vivienne & thomas were at odds & learning about each other day by day. i wish we got more of thomas working for vivienne & vivienne establishing what life is like for her & why she’s so desperate to do what she does.

all that being said i think this is a fun eccentric afternoon read & once again i’m so grateful to netgalley & to scholastic & tessa for the finished copy which is so gorgeous!!

I'm not typical into horror, but this book is an interesting perspective on possession.

Thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic Press for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for an ARC of this book!

I fell in love with Kelly Andrew’s writing after inhaling Your Blood, My Bones not long after its release. Needless to say, IAMOD was HIGH on my anticipated reads so I was thrilled to receive an e-arc copy!

If you’re looking for a little bit of body horror, romance, dark family secrets, and exorcisms (‼️), I Am Made of Death is a wonderful little book that will satisfy these cravings and more with Kelly’s beautiful writing and haunting narrative.

Even with the promos and fan art I’ve seen, I didn’t fully understand what I was getting into with this book, so I loved how unexpected Vivienne’s journey was. The thing with Kelly’s writing is that some of it is vague and possibly up to interpretation, which I honestly don’t mind. While I wish there was a bit more explanation of Vivi’s situation and lore about the demon, at the same time I feel like that’s a trend with Kelly’s novels which hopefullyyyyy (hehe) wil lead to more stories in the future involving her characters.

(Also, am I correct in my assumption that the two dogs Judd and Molly are a little nod to Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson? 👀)

I also loveddddd how Thomas’s and Vivi’s relationship was built. I loved Thomas and how determined he was to help Vivienne, not caring about what may dwell inside of her… I always find myself craving the relationships Kelly’s writes and left with withdrawals when I’m done reading.

Kelly knows how to write ya horror so so so so well, and I had such high expectations for IAMOD. Needless to say, I loved every second of it, and can’t wait to read more of Kelly Andrew’s works! 5 stars for I Am Made of Death 🩷

I would have loved this during my own teen years.

I am decidedly not the target audience for this, but I still found it highly enjoyable; this pulled me right in and kept me turning the pages.

*great MC’s
*pining
*bodyguard romance
*atmospheric
*kept me on the edge of my seat
*twisty

I was really impressed with Kelly Andrew’s writing - it’s gorgeous and the characters she has crafted come across so realistically, the romance is ❤️, and the creepiness was excellent. I really liked this one.

This was my first time reading the author. Am I planning on reading her previous books? Do you really need to ask 😊?



Thank you to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for the DRC

I loved how this book hit head-on the myth that someone can be too monstrous to be loved. It was well-crafted, with well-developed characters and a lot of feeling. I definitely enjoyed it.

4⭐/5 - Fantastic & Creepy YA Horror

I have recently been on a horror kick, so I thought it only fitting to read Kelly Andrew's new YA Horror, I Am Made of Death. Thank you, NetGalley, Scholastic Press, and author Kelly Andrew, for providing this e-arc for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Newly dropped out college student and CoDA, Thomas Walsh is hired on as an ASL interpretor for selective-mute Vivienne Farrow. After something traumatizing happened to Vivienne on a family vacation thirteen years prior, it has been dangerous to be in Vivienne's orbit, as Thomas soon finds out. The story is a wild ride with mysterious deaths, a cultish underground, and witnessing horrifying possession. I would have given five stars; however, I felt there were some areas where the background of some of the characters' motivations, especially Vivienne's stepfather, Phillip Farrow, could have been explained better and wrapped up some little holes here and there. Overall a very enjoyable read - I highly recommend it.

Who answers when we call for help at the end of our ropes? And can being saved become a punishment worse than death?

When four-year-old Vivienne wanders away from her stepfather in a vast and unfamiliar desert, she tumbles into a ravine. Injured, frightened, and alone, Vivienne screams herself hoarse to alert help. But all that answers is the dark--a slithering entity that takes up residence inside of the child and turns her very voice into poison.

Years later, as a young adult, Vivienne has been weaponized by her stepfather and emotionally abandoned by her mother. Desperate, she seeks salvation in the form of a dangerous experimental exorcism performed by a medical student who only theoretically thinks such a procedure might succeed.

Thomas is hired to interpret for Vivienne, who does not speak. She resents the handsome stranger who--she knows--has been hired to shadow and spy on her every move. But something about him is different and strong enough to plant the smallest seed of hope in her heart. For his part, Thomas can't quite figure out all of the pieces that make up the puzzling Vivienne. But he knows something has her running scared, blindly careening towards disaster.

I AM MADE OF DEATH is a dark and captivating mystery. Author Kelly Andrew spins a fresh story of possession amid young love and romance. The story is slightly unevenly paced, sometimes lagging before quickly accelerating to and through the action-packed resolution. It's an engaging book that easily held my attention and kept me awake until late at night.

I came across the author marketing this on Instagram as Bubblegum Horror and Dark Romance and immediately knew I needed to read it. Thankfully, I was approved for the NG Arc and I was set! I finished this right before bed and was obsessed. I was blushing and squealing and kicking my feet the entire novel.
In I Am Made Of Death, We follow two main characters, Thomas, a hot-headed college student trying to keep his family's head above water, who is hired to be Vivienne's ASL Translator. Vivienne is our resident rich girl, and while she is originally kind of super rough, she does grow on you. Vivienne is a ballerina and is voluntarily mute, When her stepfather offers Thomas more money than he's seen in his entire life to follow her around he couldn't refuse essentially.
There's a lot more to Vivienne and her family than meets the eye though, and once bodies start piling up in gruesome ways, Thomas realizes that he's thrown in the middle of a huge conspiracy. The romance was perfect, and even though I considered this YA, I feel like the Dark Romance of it was not lost in translation. The action scenes were great and it was a bit gruesome. It's not inherently disgusting, but didn't shy away from the gross factor.

Kelly Andrew has only made two (now three) books (that I know about…) and all of them are some of my favorites ever. She really knows how to write such beautiful and devastating characters and prose. I love the way she represents folks with disabilities, and as a special bonus.. she writes about areas I not only know about, but grew up in. I am Made of Death was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and it did not disappoint. Thank you so much to Netgally and Scholastic for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review!

very mixed feelings about this one. after the first 50% i would have never envisioned I'd say that, but as the story progressed, the story progression got more and more entangled and not in a good and complex way, but in a very awkward and unexplained way. things happen in the last 40% and it has no proper structure to it.

but that's the only complaint I've got. vivenne and thomas keep me hooked to their dynamic and the way they were written. Ironically, vivenne is perhaps the most healthy representation of a mute character I've ever come across and the author is mute too and I've heard she has more books with mute characters so I'll definitely be checking them out. the horror element is one of the most solid points of this book, like it really means it when it's classified as bubblegum horror. the creepiness crawling over your skin at the description kelly provides us with was delightful! would definitely recommend!

YA Horror is not my usual genre, but this book was awesome. It was a super fast and fun read. I absolutely loved how the author framed this story in the Foreward of the book. Vivienne is a complex FMC that is doing the best in her bad situation, and I fell in love with her!! I never saw the final twist or "cause" coming. A great story with a nice HEA! I'm glad I took a chance and went outside my usual genre!

Once again Kelly wrote a masterpiece of a book and I'm obsessed. I Am Made of Death had me completely captivated...and honestly a bit freaked out lol
But it was utterly fantastic in the same way all her books are and it's always a treat to read one of her books.

I've read all three novels written by Andrew now, and as it stands I think this might actually be the one I like the least, which is funny, because it seems to be the one that has the highest ratings so far. Now, I don't mean that it's bad, it's not bad, it's a very enjoyable book with a unique story fantastic horror elements, I just think it was missing something that the previous two books had, although I'm not entirely sure I can put my finger on what. I will say that the thing that stood out to me the most was that for me, the writing wasn't as lyrical. It was still very good, mind you, but her previous two novels seemed to have an almost poetic feel to them at some points, and I felt like that was missing here. I think my other issue was the romance felt slightly lacking as well. This is billed as a horrormance (a horror romance) but I'm not sure there was enough character development and interaction to justify the strong feelings that were being conveyed here. They knew each other for maybe 3 months total, and while I know they're teenagers and they're in some unique circumstances I still don't think it explains why our MMC was willing to die for our FMC considering they spent most of their time being mean to each other or not "speaking" at all. I did love seeing characters from the previous two novels pop up again, and Andrew really knows how to write a unique story. She is also great at disturbing imagery. While I didn't love this one as much as her other two I think it's a great entry point into her work for newcomers, and it seems others are already enjoying this one more, so hopefully her books will start to pick up popularity. I honestly think that Andrew should be more well known, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Unique and attention grabbing. I was hooked from the first chapter. The story is well paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what is next.

This is one of the best books I've ever read and I'm ki kicking myself for not reading Kelly Andrew sooner. It's atmospheric and the voice is ugh. I love it.

Kelly Andrew is an underrated horror genius. Not with just the physical but the terrifying reality of emotions as well. I Am Made of Death continues her track record of wonderfully written ,prose filled spooky good times.

No one does horror or devastating romances like Kelly Andrew. You'll probably spend a few days checking under your bed and avoiding mirrors once you finish I Am Made of Death but it's worth it.

My jaw is on the floor. Vivienne, the selectively-mute step-daughter to a wealthy lawyer, requires an interpreter/bodyguard, as her voice kills and she exclusively signs. Needing the money, Thomas applies, thought Vivienne’s step-father wants him to spy on her and Vivienne wants Thomas to quit. Something darker is going on, but Thomas doesn’t know what.
There are a lot of emotions in this book. So cute how Thomas became Tommy to Vivienne, especially when she needed him. Kinda confused about the extent of Vivienne’s powers, though. Excitement when I found out one of the side characters actually has a book of his own, The Whispering Dark. Overall, I really loved IAMOD, I’m just puzzled. It was so twisty. It was everything it promised, a dangerous girl, a sunshine boy, bubblegum horror, in signature Kelly Andrew style. A lot of reviews suggest reading The Whispering Dark before IAMOD but I somehow missed that memo so I will be reading The Whispering Dark now.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.