Guardian of the Dead (2010) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“This reminded me a lot of the first “Twilight” novel, but Ellie is smarter and more competent than Bella Swan.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I liked that it was set in New Zealand and was about Maori legends”

• Rated 4 stars

“LibraryCin said: 4 stars

17-year old Ellie grew up on the North Island of New Zealand, but has been sent to a boarding school on the South Island. When she accidentally runs into the quiet, mysterious, cute boy Mark, she suddenly feels ill and her world is about to change forever.

I really enjoyed this. I enjoyed the relationships of Ellie and her friends before her world was turned upside-down and it moved quite quickly through most of the rest of the book. Healey has fictionalized Maori mythology into a fun YA novel. I did find the ending a little odd, but overall, I really enjoyed it.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Not the best book in the world, in fact it's a little over the top but it was decent enough to where I could get enjoyment out of it.”

• Rated 4 stars

“17-year old Ellie grew up on the North Island of New Zealand, but has been sent to a boarding school on the South Island. When she accidentally runs into the quiet, mysterious, cute boy Mark, she suddenly feels ill and her world is about to change forever.

I really enjoyed this. I enjoyed the relationships of Ellie and her friends before her world was turned upside-down and it moved quite quickly through most of the rest of the book. Healey has fictionalized Maori mythology into a fun YA novel. I did find the ending a little odd, but overall, I really enjoyed it.”

• Rated 4 stars

“A great look into a diverse and magical New Zealand. There's definitely some stretching and tweaking of myths and tales to fit the story but it is woven together wonderfully. I enjoyed the characters and their self discovery and where we are led, as readers, by the end. Bonus points for a fat main character who doesn't spend the book trying to attain weight loss mecca, having a secondary character with a unique sexuality and opening readers to the cultural vista which abounds in this area!”

• Rated 3 stars

“Interesting blend of Maori myths and friendship drama”

• Rated 2 stars

“Well, this is more of a stub, since I couldn't finish reading the book. It had a quite annoying style, similar to that found in the author's other book, 'The Shattering'. In 'The Shattering', you get a big dollop of action at the beginning, then all the characters spin their wheels for a hundred pages or so. In this book, you get dribbles of interesting bits, but every single time for at least the first hundred pages or so, the interesting tidbit is interupted by something. Its interesting the first time, annoying the second time, and every time after that is just lame. I'm not going to bother finishing... I'm sure there are some interesting parts later, but its not worth it to me.”

• Rated 5 stars

“This was a fantastic book! Not only was it creative and original, but I loved the mythology that was inserted into it, even if I didn't understand or know the mythology! Either way, It was extremely interesting. I enjoyed how the main character wasn't a Mary Sue, where she's thin and beautiful, oh, and she's also a prodigy. (Which is not how she was at all!) I think that this character was well constructed, and that the ending was realistic in the way that everything doesn't turn out perfect, but it turned out better off than it would have. I also think the way that the mask was incorporated into the story was cool, but scary too. I got the chills reading this!

I would add this to my favorites, but it's not a book that I LOVED LOVED. I did love it, just not as much as I love the Hunger Games, etc, and I personally think that the books that I LOVE LOVE LOVE deserve to be on my favorites, although this still is definitely a book that I love. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“I thought it was very...different. Not different in a bad way. But if you enjoy fantasy, legends, and all that mythical stuff this is for you :3 It was unique and cute~ ”