#book-tour – Mahkjchi's Not-So-Secret Books

Hello! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Smoke and Key by Kelsey Sutton. This tour is being hosted by Fantastic Fantasy Book Club. I am excited to share my review and favorite quotes today!

by Kelsey Sutton
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: April 2, 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Paranormal, Magic, Horror

Synopsis:

A sound awakens her. There’s darkness all around. And then she’s falling…

She has no idea who or where she is. Or why she’s dead. The only clue to her identity hangs around her neck: a single rusted key. This is how she and the others receive their names—from whatever belongings they had when they fell out of their graves. Under is a place of dirt and secrets, and Key is determined to discover the truth of her past in order to escape it.

She needs help, but who can she trust? Ribbon seems content in Under, uninterested in finding answers. Doll’s silence hints at deep sorrow, which could be why she doesn’t utter a word. There’s Smoke, the boy with a fierceness that rivals even the living. And Journal, who stays apart from everyone else. Key’s instincts tell her there is something remarkable about each of them, even if she can’t remember why.

Then the murders start; bodies that are burnt to a crisp. After being burned, the dead stay dead. Key is running out of time to discover who she was—and what secret someone is willing to kill to keep hidden—before she becomes the next victim…

Find It: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Book Depository, Kobo, Google Books

Review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The book is about a young girl that had passed away and had fallen from grave to a world named Under. She does not her name or who she was in her past life and how she came to be decreased. The only thing that she had in possession when she fell was a key so she was named Key. Key met a young man named Smoke when she had fallen who help her around Under. She was introduce to other dead people in Under, whose names were possession that they had been buried with and fallen with. Their names were Journal, Ribbon, Doll, and Tintype and there were other dead who resided in Under. Majority of the dead were in some form decomposed states but Key was oddly preserved. Everyone who was there had no recollection of who they were before they had died.

Upon Key arrival, there started to be a series of murders among the dead. Yes, the dead can be killed via fire. When the first murdered happen, Key started to get memories back from her past life and she started to recognize some of the people who were in Under. This cause her dead life in jeopardy.

I found that I really enjoy the character of Key, she was portrayed really well and it was interesting to see how she reacted to the memories that she experiencing. It was nice to see how Smoke and Journal were connected to Key’s past and to be able to experience her relationship with Smoke. He was another character that was intriguing, I was left with wanting to know more about him.

The best part about this book is how the tension and mystery of the story was built throughout the book. I love books that have mystery and eeriness to them because I could imagine all of the characters in the book like I was watching a movie.

However, the one thing that I would have like to read more about was the magic that was mention. I felt like there wasn’t a backstory to how the magic really plan in the story, I would have like to have known more about it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and love how unique the story was. I am big fan of dark fantasy and this book really gave me what I needed to get out of my reading slump. I am looking forward to reading more from Kelsey Sutton.

Favorite Quotes

“I’m drawn to him like stars to sky.”

“Just remember. You can’t kill what’s already dead.”

“I need not be full to be significant. I need not be whole to be beautiful.”

“No bits about how I was enchanted by the sound of your laugh or the secrets in your eyes. All I know is that I saw you and I had to know you.”

About the Author

Kelsey Sutton is a young adult and middle grade author. She lives in Minnesota, where she received a dual bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Bemidji State University. She will soon have a master’s degree from Hamline University. Her work has received an Independent Publisher Book Award, an IndieFab Award, and was selected as a Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013. When not writing, Kelsey can be found watching too much Netflix, ordering a mocha at the nearest coffee shop, napping with her rescue dogs, or browsing a bookstore. You can visit her online at www.kelseysuttonbooks.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

Reach her at: Website, Goodreads, Twitter, FacebookT