Kelly Andrew has the ability to make horror stories that wrap a glossy, cracking surface over a tense, coiled monster ready to strike when you least expect it. In the case of I Am Made of Death, what we see is a hint of dark academia, along the lines of movies like Cruel Intentions (or any that involve secret societies and rich socialites behaving badly). And when the characters step away from their expected public face, we get to see who they really are when the world is not watching. And what they wish they could be if things had not gone so horribly wrong in the past.

Vivienne is a ballerina with a secret that can kill. Literally. Thomas is looking for a way to keep his family afloat. He answers a posting for an interpreter, and ends up as a de facto driver, intepreter, bodyguard, and punching bag for Vivienne, who has her own plans and does not want Thomas getting in the way of them. But try as she might, Thomas refuses to quit. He digs in further, plucking away at Vivienne's shell and asking questions. He doesn't let her push him away. At the same time, Vivienne is collecting favors, manipulating others to her plans to rid herself of the thing that has taken over her body, consequences be damned.

I loved the atmosphere created, the viscious push and pull between our leads. The entanglements between family and cult and dark power that claims a steep price for being called upon. We know what is happening, but yet we never have all of the pieces at once, to see the final picture until the very end. It is horror wrapped in a pretty pink bow, razor sharp and toxic. But it also gives us moments to see the slivers of humanity that manage to hold on in the cracks, digging in like weeds in an attempt to prevent total destruction for as long as possible. I also love the tenacity we see in both Thomas and Vivienne. They know what they want, and they fight for it at their own peril sometimes.

Kelly Andrew looked at gothic horror, academic rivals, and the concept of death itself and said, let’s make it poetic and devastating.

This book is dark, atmospheric, and absolutely dripping with eerie, bone-deep tension. It follows a protagonist who is literally made of death, navigating a world that fears and desires her in equal measure. The prose is haunting, the romance is slow-burn agony, and the vibes are full-on dark academia meets supernatural gothic.

TL;DR: If you love morally gray heroines, lyrical writing, and books that feel like a fever dream you never want to wake up from, I Am Made of Death is going to consume you.

This one is a tough one for me to review! I liked it, but not as much as Your Blood, My Bones. I'm not a fan of cinnamon roll MMCs, so I think that may be part of the reason I couldn't connect with Thomas or romance as much. I found the pacing a bit slow, too (probably because I wasn't loving the romance or half of the characters!). I was immediately sucked into the plot, but the intrigue didn't last for me. Based on these two criticisms, it feels like a 'me' problem and people who love the author will love this book! The vibes are, as always, on point. Perfect amount of contemporary gothic and paranormal horror-lite. And the sign language and ASL! Loved that.

✨bubblegum ballerina bodyguard romance…
but make it gothic horror✨


If you have read Kelly Andrew’s before, then you already know that she is the queen of lyrical, gothic prose.
Reading her books is a visceral, poetic experience, all “wriggling, grasping horror” and “vivid bursts of awareness ” and “the subdural snap of a bone cleaving in two”.

I Am Made of Death follows a “cute but psycho” ballerina barbie who is equal parts bratty princess and terrifying monster, and a cinnamon roll bodyguard who has the tendency to punch first ask questions later.

The romance is young adult, but the beautiful prose and eerie horror elements keep it from feeling too young.

And then there’s also a creepy demonic presence and two sweet pups and toxic family dynamics and secret societies.

Highly recommend for lovers of horror and ya romance! But definitely read The Whispering Dark first, there is overlap.

Kelly Andrew is the absolute queen of teen gothic paranormal romance. Her plots are so compelling and her characters jump off the page. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

'When you had a cavity, you went to the dentist to have it drilled out. Left unchecked, the rot would move into the bloodstream. The heart.'

Just another therapy bill I’ll need to forward to Kelly Andrew for what she’s done to my heart.
I’m still a broken woman after Your Blood, My Bones and then she offers me this amalgamation of sweet and pretty pinks contrasted by the creeping themes of the same eldritch horrors which haunt every one of her beautiful novels.
At this point the books surely can’t be fully considered stand-alone novels, right? I mean there’s just so much context that you’d never be able to fully understand without at least reading The Whispering Dark. There’s a real part of me that would feel sorry for the reader who stumbled upon this excellent bubblegum horror without being able to catch the myriad easter eggs littered throughout.

Regardless, this book has to be my favorite out of all that the beautiful Kelly Andrew has published. It went far easier on my heart than the others and I was ultimately grateful for the tenderness depicted in its pages. I Am Made Of Death is about the selectively mute Vivienne, an heiress, and her newly hired on bodyguard/translator, Thomas. Our FMC is a riot of pretty-in-pink poise and unadulterated, feminine rage and vitriol offset by the MMC who I can liken to a golden retriever until his buttons are pushed – and then he’s more like a vicious animal backed into a corner. Their story is so unique when compared to her other novels and it leaves me wondering how something so jagged and raw can feel equally tender and precious at the same time from beginning to the end.

This was the first time I had actually read a book by Kelly Andrew, having previously only listened to them on Audible. Out of all the other FMCs leading her other novels, Vivienne was definitely the character I felt most like. I think my own voice in my head was suited perfectly to this perspective and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

'Beneath her bones, her heart sat in tatters. Funny, she’d thought she’d left it behind.'

I Am Made of Death - but I am not made of answers!! 😂

This book gripped me start to finish - each of the characters were multi-dimensional and although the romance is a little insta right off the bat, the book really needs it as a plot device - and it works. I dropped a star because so much happens either prior to the book’s main story or “off camera” which I really would like to have seen in the book itself.

Warning - not all things are satisfactorily answered. It’s ok, it remains a satisfying ending, however there needs to be a book 2 please!

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was hard to put down. Eighteen year old Thomas is hired by a wealthy family to be an interpreter for their daughter, Vivienne, who is a selective mute. Vivienne survived a traumatic event when she was four years old and has never willingly spoken a word since, because anyone who hears her speak suffers a terrible death. Vivienne has been desperately searching for a way to regain control of both her voice and her body. Because the face staring out of the mirror isn't hers. It's something with teeth. She has found someone to perform a surgical exorcism. She just needs to find a way to get rid of Thomas first. But Thomas can't afford to walk away, nor is he willing to abandon the mysterious girl he's quickly falling for, no matter what dark powers threaten to swallow them both whole.

After reading the description of this book I knew I HAD to read it. I loved it. It was creepy and wonderful. I'm looking forward to seeing the final draft, because this was definitely in need of some polishing, but the story was there and it was great. Already ordered a copy for the library's collection and will recommend it to teens.

4.5 stars rounded up

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for allowing me to read this early!
This was the perfect mix of creepy, intense and intriguing that had me hooked from page one. The characters have great depth and draw the reader in to want to know more. My only complaint is that I wish I knew this was an interconnected standalone with one of Andrew’s other novels that I haven’t read.

This was the slowest thing I have ever read. I'm not even quite sure what the story was supposed to be. Was it supposed to be horror? Romance? What?
The premise was decent, but this feels like a first draft and not a fully fleshed out novel.

This book left me with more questions than answers. I was captivated by the summary, but sadly, the summary read better and explained more than reading the book. I was left feeling confused, so many things were left unexplained. For such vivid imagery, there were so many gaps. This story worked so hard to be mysterious that it ended up being a mystery.
I'm not sure how I feel about our characters. We have Thomas. A relatable, likable hero. I would've loved to have a little more background into his story versus the scattered breadcrumbs throughout. I see where it helped to make him more mysterious but I feel it would have benefited the story more had we had more of a peek into his "college life," which, let's be honest, is still a mystery! Also, I'm not a huge fan of the insta-love with no real reason behind it. Thomas almost seems like a glutton for punishment in his feelings for Vivienne when she has shown him nothing but stuck-up, entitled disdain.
Which brings us to Vivienne. The monster. The victim. I feel like she was lovable and hatable in equal measure. You felt sorry for her just enough to not completely despise her. She was adequately written and was the monster you loved to hate. The damsel you hated to love.
As for the monster(s). I am still baffled and confused. Viv's monster creeped me out. this was the stuff of nightmares right here. I'm just a bit ticked off that we STILL had no explanation as to exactly what we were dealing with! We learned more about the "house" than the monster we had grown to fear throughout the rest of the book!
Overall, I was not impressed by this book. I had to force myself to keep going. I didn't really find myself invested or anxious to keep reading until the last 25% of the book. This book did not make me want to necessarily read any of this author's other work.
Pros: Excellent imagery. Decent character development. Scary as hell.
Cons: Poorly executed. In an effort to be mysterious, it was still left a mystery. Too many gaps and loose ends. Too many questions left unanswered.

i am made of death comes out 3/4/25! 🎀🕷️🩰

iamod is a YA bubblegum horror with bodyguard romance about a girl who went missing for 3 days when she was 4 years old and hasn’t spoken a word since. almost an adult now, something inside of her isn’t supposed to be there, and she’s ready to cut it out—except she’s constantly under the supervision of a boy her father hired to keep an eye on her & translate her sign language. but she knows something monstrous lives inside her, and she won’t let anyone get in the way of removing it, lest it consumes her wholly.

this is my second book by andrew and she consistently has a gorgeous stylistic hold on metaphors & similes and a knack for unassuming horror-adjacent descriptive narration. i found the pace of this book to be far more enrapturing than her previous, your blood, my bones & i really enjoyed the dynamic between thomas & vivienne as well as thomas’s tempestuous attitude. i half expected him to be really subservient & coy but instead he was like aloof & unapologetic. there wasn’t an immediate implication that they would entertain liking one another or being together which is a massive pet peeve of mine in romance books that are meant to have actual opposing characters.

i found the sign language (asl & see) representation so fun!! i’ve had the asl alphabet memorized since i was 8ish when my mom would take me to her pse classes + i took a couple asl classes in uni & it’s been an interest of mine ever since so it was really cool reading a book where the characters converse with signing, especially with the nuance of vivienne not actually knowing asl as a language and more signing with english syntax and finger spelling because she taught herself & that she feels limited & forced to regress by her restricted access to language. i’m disappointed to have to move on to books that don’t have sign, especially with how seamlessly andrew incorporated it into the story, like describing the sign for “stop” in an emotionally charged scene as “her right hand knifed sideways into her open palm in a mercy killing.”

but that brings me to the author’s other books! i read your blood, my bones last year and iamod actually includes characters from her first book, the whispering dark, one of whom is deaf and signs, and after meeting them in this book i immediately bought theirs to read asap so if andrew gets you hooked on deaf/asl rep don’t worry she has multiple books with it 😌 i adore the idea of standalone books that intertwine & all three of andrews’ books do exactly that which is so cool!

back to iamod, i will say part ii & part iii felt a little hasty to me for what they are. getting into the theoretical meat of the book & horror aspects, i was underwhelmed at the two main climactic moments as well as how quickly vivienne & thomas’ relationship solidified into something unmovable. i feel like, even though we get both thomas & vivienne’s povs relatively equally in the book, we didn’t know vivienne that well because all her perspective explored was that she was unhappy & scared of herself & annoyed at thomas’ presence in her life. there was little to go on for her character wise, making me doubt the romance because there was so little for thomas to fall in love with & yet he does anyway—even to the point he’d willingly die to protect her knowing he has a dying mom & little sister at home whom he loves.

i also wish we got to see more of vivienne as a dancer. it was described to be her only respite & something that made her feel like herself only for her to never revisit it again in the book. we also know scarcely anything about her experience doing [redacted] because her pov during & after was sacrificed for the sake of the reveal later. i get it, but i wish it had been explored more eventually.

my favorite parts of the book were in pt i where vivienne & thomas were at odds & learning about each other day by day. i wish we got more of thomas working for vivienne & vivienne establishing what life is like for her & why she’s so desperate to do what she does.

all that being said i think this is a fun eccentric afternoon read & once again i’m so grateful to netgalley & to scholastic & tessa for the finished copy which is so gorgeous!!

I'm not typical into horror, but this book is an interesting perspective on possession.

Thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic Press for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for an ARC of this book!

I fell in love with Kelly Andrew’s writing after inhaling Your Blood, My Bones not long after its release. Needless to say, IAMOD was HIGH on my anticipated reads so I was thrilled to receive an e-arc copy!

If you’re looking for a little bit of body horror, romance, dark family secrets, and exorcisms (‼️), I Am Made of Death is a wonderful little book that will satisfy these cravings and more with Kelly’s beautiful writing and haunting narrative.

Even with the promos and fan art I’ve seen, I didn’t fully understand what I was getting into with this book, so I loved how unexpected Vivienne’s journey was. The thing with Kelly’s writing is that some of it is vague and possibly up to interpretation, which I honestly don’t mind. While I wish there was a bit more explanation of Vivi’s situation and lore about the demon, at the same time I feel like that’s a trend with Kelly’s novels which hopefullyyyyy (hehe) wil lead to more stories in the future involving her characters.

(Also, am I correct in my assumption that the two dogs Judd and Molly are a little nod to Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson? 👀)

I also loveddddd how Thomas’s and Vivi’s relationship was built. I loved Thomas and how determined he was to help Vivienne, not caring about what may dwell inside of her… I always find myself craving the relationships Kelly’s writes and left with withdrawals when I’m done reading.

Kelly knows how to write ya horror so so so so well, and I had such high expectations for IAMOD. Needless to say, I loved every second of it, and can’t wait to read more of Kelly Andrew’s works! 5 stars for I Am Made of Death 🩷

I would have loved this during my own teen years.

I am decidedly not the target audience for this, but I still found it highly enjoyable; this pulled me right in and kept me turning the pages.

*great MC’s
*pining
*bodyguard romance
*atmospheric
*kept me on the edge of my seat
*twisty

I was really impressed with Kelly Andrew’s writing - it’s gorgeous and the characters she has crafted come across so realistically, the romance is ❤️, and the creepiness was excellent. I really liked this one.

This was my first time reading the author. Am I planning on reading her previous books? Do you really need to ask 😊?



Thank you to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for the DRC

I loved how this book hit head-on the myth that someone can be too monstrous to be loved. It was well-crafted, with well-developed characters and a lot of feeling. I definitely enjoyed it.

4⭐/5 - Fantastic & Creepy YA Horror

I have recently been on a horror kick, so I thought it only fitting to read Kelly Andrew's new YA Horror, I Am Made of Death. Thank you, NetGalley, Scholastic Press, and author Kelly Andrew, for providing this e-arc for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Newly dropped out college student and CoDA, Thomas Walsh is hired on as an ASL interpretor for selective-mute Vivienne Farrow. After something traumatizing happened to Vivienne on a family vacation thirteen years prior, it has been dangerous to be in Vivienne's orbit, as Thomas soon finds out. The story is a wild ride with mysterious deaths, a cultish underground, and witnessing horrifying possession. I would have given five stars; however, I felt there were some areas where the background of some of the characters' motivations, especially Vivienne's stepfather, Phillip Farrow, could have been explained better and wrapped up some little holes here and there. Overall a very enjoyable read - I highly recommend it.

Who answers when we call for help at the end of our ropes? And can being saved become a punishment worse than death?

When four-year-old Vivienne wanders away from her stepfather in a vast and unfamiliar desert, she tumbles into a ravine. Injured, frightened, and alone, Vivienne screams herself hoarse to alert help. But all that answers is the dark--a slithering entity that takes up residence inside of the child and turns her very voice into poison.

Years later, as a young adult, Vivienne has been weaponized by her stepfather and emotionally abandoned by her mother. Desperate, she seeks salvation in the form of a dangerous experimental exorcism performed by a medical student who only theoretically thinks such a procedure might succeed.

Thomas is hired to interpret for Vivienne, who does not speak. She resents the handsome stranger who--she knows--has been hired to shadow and spy on her every move. But something about him is different and strong enough to plant the smallest seed of hope in her heart. For his part, Thomas can't quite figure out all of the pieces that make up the puzzling Vivienne. But he knows something has her running scared, blindly careening towards disaster.

I AM MADE OF DEATH is a dark and captivating mystery. Author Kelly Andrew spins a fresh story of possession amid young love and romance. The story is slightly unevenly paced, sometimes lagging before quickly accelerating to and through the action-packed resolution. It's an engaging book that easily held my attention and kept me awake until late at night.

I came across the author marketing this on Instagram as Bubblegum Horror and Dark Romance and immediately knew I needed to read it. Thankfully, I was approved for the NG Arc and I was set! I finished this right before bed and was obsessed. I was blushing and squealing and kicking my feet the entire novel.
In I Am Made Of Death, We follow two main characters, Thomas, a hot-headed college student trying to keep his family's head above water, who is hired to be Vivienne's ASL Translator. Vivienne is our resident rich girl, and while she is originally kind of super rough, she does grow on you. Vivienne is a ballerina and is voluntarily mute, When her stepfather offers Thomas more money than he's seen in his entire life to follow her around he couldn't refuse essentially.
There's a lot more to Vivienne and her family than meets the eye though, and once bodies start piling up in gruesome ways, Thomas realizes that he's thrown in the middle of a huge conspiracy. The romance was perfect, and even though I considered this YA, I feel like the Dark Romance of it was not lost in translation. The action scenes were great and it was a bit gruesome. It's not inherently disgusting, but didn't shy away from the gross factor.

Kelly Andrew has only made two (now three) books (that I know about…) and all of them are some of my favorites ever. She really knows how to write such beautiful and devastating characters and prose. I love the way she represents folks with disabilities, and as a special bonus.. she writes about areas I not only know about, but grew up in. I am Made of Death was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and it did not disappoint. Thank you so much to Netgally and Scholastic for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review!