Once Dead, Twice Shy (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Madison Avery: A new girl to town who after being killed, is stuck on earth with an impression of a body to fool the humans and a lot of questions about this new world of reapers and angels she is now a part of.
• Josh Daniels: All American high school guy who becomes friends with Madison, and gets dragged into her world.
• Chronos: aka Ron. He is the light timekeeper. He gives the reapers their instructions on which human souls to save from dying early.
• Barnabas: The reaper who was supposed to save Madison from dying, he is now assigned to help her through this new world she is part of.
• Grace: A guardian angel assigned to protect Madison from the dark reapers who want to finish killing Madison.
• Nakita: A beautiful dark reaper, she is assigned to kill Madison by the Dark Timekeeper- Kairos.
• Susan: A girl at summer camp
• Bill: A boy at summer camp who encourages Madison and Barnabas to go boating.
• Amy: Nasty classmate of Madison's who takes every chance to insult her
• Wendy: Madison's best friend in Florida
• Kairos: The Dark Timekeeper who is determined to keep his job and eliminate Madison.

Quotes edit see section history

• “"oh, so great, now i'm dead and stupid"”

  Madison

• “Stupid guardian angel. What the devil was wrong with it?”

  Madison

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• “Breaking rules isn’t bad when what you’re doing is more important than the rule itself.”

  Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers

• “There once was a girl with blond hair, whose tresses were short like a mare,” G.R.A.C.E.S. one-seventy-six sang, hovering by my ear. “She brushed and she preened, like she was a queen, till I laced her shampoo with some Nair.”

  Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers

• “There once was a girl who wore Keds, who told everyone she was dead. Till they said she was hazy and labeled her crazy, and put her on all sorts of meds.”

  Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers

• There once was a girl with a bike, who thought she’d go off on a hike. She headed off west, ’cause she thought it was best, but ran into someone she liked.”

  Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers

• “Light is for human choice, easily seen. Dark is for hidden seraph fate, no choice to glean.”

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

• “There once was a boy full of class,” the light sang, “who always skipped his Sunday mass. He almost hit death, but missed Kairos Seth. He’ll never know who saved his ass.”

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• They slowly shift color with experience, light reapers going down through the spectrum from green, to yellow, to orange, and finally a red so deep it’s almost black. Dark reapers go the other way, up through the blues and purples to violet.

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• “There once was a girl from Lake Powell, whose mouth was something quite foul. The crap she did spew, like an overfull loo, till I smacked her right into a wall.”

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Florida: Where Madison used to live with her divorced Mom.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Dark Reapers: Reapers who Kairos sends to kill people when the probable future shows they are going tomake decisions contrary to the grand schemes of fate.
• Light Reapers: Reapers who Ron (Chronos) sends to save those people from an untimely death, to ensure humanity's right of free will.
• Timekeepers: Both the light and the dark reapers have their own timekeeper. Each one is responsible for watching the strands of time to determine when a person needs to scythed or saved.
• Amulet: A stonelike necklace that makes it possible to communicate beyond the earth's sphere. Each amulet has its own aura r song that matches with its owner.
• Black Wings: Creatures that feed on the souls of those killed by dark reapers, typically appearing right before the scything takes place. Most of the time they go unnoticed by the living , but they can resemble crows when a soul is in danger.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Destiny vs. Free Will: Are angels and heaven supposed to intervene on earth when a human is making a choice that will alter destiny and harm mankind? Or are humans supposed to excercise complete free will and be allowed to make any choice, even those that will bring about pain and destruction?

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Prom Nights From Hell, and followed by Early to Death, Early to Rise.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Kim Harrison (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PZ7.H2526 On 2009
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Teens › Series
• Books › Teens › Social Issues › Being a Teen
• Books › Teens › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Kim Harrison: Author's Website
• Kim Harrison's Drama Box: Author's Blog

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