REVIEW: Deja Who by MaryJanice Davidson

In Deja Who (Insighter #1) by MaryJanice Davidson, Being an Insighter means that Leah Nazir spends her days helping her patients discover who they were in their previous lives so they can avoid making the same mistakes in this lifetime. But reincarnation is a tricky thing. She should know, considering she’s been murdered by someone in every single one of her many lives. And she knows it is probably going to happen again. All the self-defense classes and martial arts training in the world won’t keep Leah from being tracked down by her killer. But with her homeless friend Cat and former stalker, private investigator Archer Drake by her side, maybe she’ll be successful at thwarting her would-be murderer for the first time ever. A girl can hope, right?

“I’m tired of feeling him get close but not knowing if today’s the day. And he might not kill me this time. I’m supposed to keep learning, yes? Maybe in this life I have learned enough. Maybe I’ll kill him this time.” Wait. That didn’t sound like the lesson karma was trying to teach her…

Archer knew after taking the P.I. job that he would come to regret it considering he was attracted to Leah from day one. But tracking her also means that he can make sure she’s safe. Although keeping himself safe should have been a concern. When she attacks him, not knowing if he was her future killer or just some weirdo on the street, things obviously change between them. Believe it or not, they find themselves very attracted to each other. Leah is everything he could want in a girlfriend. She’s sexy, wicked smart, truly cares about people–once you get beneath her cool (icy) persona. But Archer isn’t sure he’ll be able to convince her to take a chance on him as they set off to find out who is after her in this life.

“You apologized for one grotesque wound, not both.”
“As I am certain,” she continued, “you are sorry for spying on me and scaring me.”
“Scaring you? No way in hell. An IRS audit wouldn’t scare you. Goddamned Typhoid Mary wouldn’t scare you.” Since Leah had met Mary Mallon just last year, he was correct. “You don’t scare.” A half-second pause, followed by, “Okay, sorryIscaredyoubutyoudidn’thavetostabmetwice.”

Deja Who had all the silliness and wacky fun I’d expect out of a book by MaryJanice Davidson. Plus, it had a complicated, tangled storyline that kept me wondering who the bad guy was until almost the very end.

‘Once upon a time, Insighters were routinely burned alive, thought to be in league with Satan. These days, nobody burned and Insighters were only in league with whatever HMO covered their patient. The meds helped too, of course.’

This was a novel that was a bit difficult to classify as it had elements of fantasy, mystery, romance and of course humor. It’s also hard to explain the whole idea of Leah being an Insighter. She basically was almost psychic in a way, in that she could look at someone and see who they were in past lives, getting glimpses of what they had been through. I almost felt bad for her because she saw some truly horrific things. Most of the clients Leah worked with had been criminals of some type or had been victims. Rarely did she meet someone who had a normal everyday ho-hum existence. So there were some graphic scenes and/or passages that may be a touch too violent for some readers.

Leah was a super smart woman and learning about her previous lives was pretty interesting. It took me probably the first half of the book to really get a grasp on what it was that she did as an Insighter and how reincarnation was the norm, with people who couldn’t remember their past lives being the outcasts. So the book felt a little bit disjointed until I figured it out and then Leah, Cat, and Archer’s interactions and their backgrounds made more sense. I got quite a kick out of Cat and Archer actually. She was the perfect complement to Leah’s frosty personality and brought out the witty side of her. And Archer was like a perpetual twelve-year-old in a man’s body, totally smitten with Leah and tagging along behind her like cute, lovable puppy. I liked that he was so protective of her, even after she did stab him. Twice. (Once by accident.)

Deja Who was a good starting point for a brand new series and totally new spin on psychic-type gifts. It will be interesting to see where MaryJanice Davidson takes this storyline in the future.

Book Info:

Publication: Published September 6th 2016 | by Berkley | Insighter #1

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Undead novels comes a delightfully addictive new series about past lives and bad habits—and one woman paranormally predisposed to getting at the bottom of both. It’s her job.

You couldn’t arrest someone for killing in a past life. You couldn’t bring a civil suit against them, either. They could only be legally penalized for what they did this time around—and what a dark circus the legal system had been before that legislation passed! (It was still a dark circus, but perhaps not as dark.) But you could spot them, and watch them. You could set traps for them.

Leah Nazir is an Insighter. Reincarnation is her business. But while her clients’ pasts are a mess, Leah’s is nothing short of tragedy. She’s been murdered. A lot. If left to that bitch, destiny, it’ll happen again. Leah wants to know who’s been following her through time, and who’s been stalking her in the present…

P.I. Archer Drake has been hired by Leah’s mother to keep an eye on her. But the more time he spends watching, the more he finds himself infatuated. Before long, he even finds himself agreeing to help find the person who wants her dead. Over and over again.

Now going full-on “rewind,” Leah hopes it can stave off the inevitable. After all, she’s grown fond of this life—and even fonder of nerdy Archer. But changing her pattern means finding out who her killer is today. And as Leah fears, that could be anyone she has come to know and trust. Anyone.