The Not-So Dead

The Dead Series, Book 1

By: Isaiyan Morrison

Narrated by: Samantha Turret

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

All Faye wants is another chance at being normal: hanging out with friends, playing video games, or reading the latest manga. As a wraith, her craving for a normal existence seems forever out of reach.

When she makes the move to the small town of Hueman, Texas, with her not-so dead nomadic family, she prays this fresh start will be the one that sticks.Until, one of her kind is murdered by a mysterious man in a black mask.

With only Carter, an unlucky human witness, by her side, Faye must find a way to prevent the body count from rising and protect her family’s secret identity. 

As the man in the black mask lurks in the shadows waiting to strike again, her choice becomes a matter of life and death. 

In the face of true evil, being normal is overrated.

©2020 Isaiyan Morrison (P)2020 Isaiyan Morrison

A well-written story from a very good author

The Not-So Dead (The Dead Series, #1), my first read from author Isaiyan Morrison. I was gifted an Audible copy of this book a year ago and just lost track of it until now. Well-written with memorable characters that make you want to read more about them. December seemed to be my month for new authors, January & February & then March continued the trend, and now April, so good I went out & bought book 2, The So-So Dead while listening to it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

So. Much. Fun.

This was such a fun read. Definitely YA, but it certainly crosses over to a light fantasy read for adults. I enjoyed it immensely and could not put it down. The characters were interesting, and the plot was well thought out. The language was clean, and there was nothing too graphic. I would find this age appropriate for middle graders on up, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre and is young at heart.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Loved it!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This was so different from most fantasy books that I have listened to. Usually it is - vampires, werewolves, fey- that is written about. Wraiths are a completely different species and topic altogether.

I really liked the plot and the idea of a young wraith trying to come to terms with who and what she is while trying to find someone who has topics in common with her. I liked all of the characters and was very happy with this book.

The narration was not fantastic but was okay. I feel that another narrator would have done better with the different characters and voices. Overall, it was a pretty good book and I will be looking into getting number 2 in the series

pretty good but starts off rocky.

First thing is there is a section in chapter one that repeats it's like it skips back 7 minutes. it was kind of weird. Second there is a throw away character in the first couple chapters that her dialogue just feels super awkward, fortunately after she dies the rest of the book picks up a bit.

For the most part the dialogue stays a bit awkward but the overarching story is passably good the background and premise are interesting.

On the surface it looks like a pretty standard vampire and vampire hunter romantic snafu, but there are some clever variations here.

I dig the asain inspired mythology, and can forgive certain flaws for an authors first book. It shows a lot of promise and I'll be interested in the authors next work.

I received a free review copy of this book at my request.

I Liked the Story

Title:The Not-So Dead
Author: Isaiyan Morrison
Format: Audio
Narrator: Samantha Turret
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal (Wraith), Suspense
Standalone: Not really, The last chapter leads into the next book
Part of a Series: Book 1 of The Dead Series
POV: Faye and Carter
Steam Level: Clean, some kissing
4/5

The Not-So Dead is a great start to The Dead Series. I don't think I've ever read a book about wraiths (or if I have it's been a while). I liked the mystery surrounding the person trying to kill Faye and Carter tenacity to find out the real creature behind his parent's deaths. I also liked the different characters in Faye's family.

What I didn't like was the narration. The voices were a bit over the top but were definitely... unique. The part of the narration that bugged me the most though, the narrator's consistent muddling of the "T"'s in the middle of words. "Button-up shirt" sounded like "buddon-up shirt," "battle" vs "baddle", etc. It became distracting, detracting from an otherwise pretty fun story.

I received this audiobook for free from StoryOrigin. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Different, Interesting, Wonderful, Flowing

Different. Unique. Interesting. Entertaining. Uncommon. Wonderful characters. Drawing story. Fast paced. Flowing audio. Creative imagery.

Narrator Samantha gave depth to a story that was already intriguing with her voice and levels of tone, pitch, and emotion.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Isaiyan Morrison. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

quick fun paranormal story

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Isaiyan Morrison. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.


The Not So Dead is about a "not so dead" teenager, going through the angsty transition to not being quite human anymore. In fact, she is a wraith and is living with her new wraith family. If you're wondering what a wraith is, it's a being that feeds off human's, but not their blood - their essence. It is a lot like the Succubus in Lost Girl, feeding off people's Chi.

I enjoyed this being the book creature since I haven't read a story about wraiths before. And I like unique creatures!

The main plot follows Faye, who is just a gamer teen and who just wants to be a regular gamer teen. She meets this human and is really into him. This human, Carter, is on his own mission. He is searching to uncover what kind of creature killed his parents. This creature with red eyes. And wraiths have red eyes.

There's some interesting plot development, introducing a creature hunter, of a sort. And an interesting tool/weapon/artifact that can be used to hurt these creatures of darkness.

The book was short, a fun taste of a paranormal story. I would have enjoyed more character development and a lot more detail about the artifact. But I feel this is to going to build on in further books in the series. The romance between our main characters could definitely use more development. It was a bit funny that a secondary character even commented something like "oh you've kissed and now you're in love."

The audio narration was good, lots of different voices being done by the narrator. Some of the voices I liked more than others, but overall it was enjoyable.

Overall a quick, fun paranormal story. 3.5 stars.

exciting story and interesting characters

The blurb of this book caught my interest and it was easy to sink in this story. It starts with Faye and her not-so dead family on their way to start a new life in a new town.
Faye and the others are wraith – a special kind of (not-so dead) supernatural beings. Even they need humans to survive they all trey to stay away from them as much as possible. But soon Faye’s family is hunted and Faye starts to ask questions. Carter a young human man believes in supernatural beings and got his own reason to search for answers.
The story switches between Faye and Carter and I enjoyed both sides. Both have to face danger and the protective behaviour of Fayes family. Between Faye and Carter is a tension and some sparks – but I couldn’t feel the emotions.
The story is breathtaking and full of dangerous situations and I enjoyed it a lot. The epilogue makes me looking forward to the next book in this series.
The audiobook is narrated by Samantha Turret. Her voice got a youthful sound and I think it fits quite well with the story.

Great start to the series

Faye is a teenager and ends up not-so dead, a wraith, which before this book I had not heard of, apparently they are very similar to vampires but don’t suck on blood, instead going for human essence.
She is the youngest in the group of wraiths and when one is killed they have to find out who did it.
This book has it all, paranormal, mystery, a love interest and kept me interested with the different elements. I am not going to go into real detail as that would spoil it for those wanting to listen or read it. But it was well thought out, the world and character detail was great and the author did a wonderful job describing it.

The narrator made this flow so well, her voice was pleasant to listen to.

Ending on a cliffhanger leaving you eager for the next installment.

It was a great start to a series.