Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite

Waking the Dead by D.B. Sieders is the story of Vivian Bedford, starting with the strangest day of her life, a day when she miraculously survives a car crash, but only to witness the death of a man. Vivian's life isn't an easy one. Her parents died six months ago, leaving her as the only one to care for her disabled sister. When the dead man, Zeke, appears in her house, she thinks she's going insane until she realizes he's a guardian, there to watch over and protect her. Now she and her sister are in the middle of a longtime feud between sides, with Reaper Lazarus Darkmore vying for her's and her sister's souls. Her new found ability to channel energy from the living may be her only chance to save herself and her sister.

D.B. Sieders has a charming way with language, bordering on zany, sarcastic, and gritty. Vivian is in a dark place, stressed and alone, but this isn't a story about that. Waking the Dead is Vivian's journey to hope, redemption, and light. The pop culture references ground the otherworldly characters and show them in a more human fashion. Waking the Dead is realistic, unique, honest, humorous, bittersweet, a little flirty, and a dark journey of hope. Vivian is a headstrong, opinionated, stubborn, and a very flawed person, but she's real. Sieders has a lot of wonderful and catchy lines throughout, but one of the lines that I related to so much that I had to write down was: “A southern girl was, at heart, a born hostess, and she couldn't abide having an uncomfortable guest.” Waking the Dead is an addictive must-read!