Author: Sarah Glenn Marsh
This is a fantasy story of a world where mages exist, their powers determined by the color of their eyes. This particular book focuses mainly on the necromancers, those who bring the dead back to the living world. The Dead must remain completely shrouded ; if even the tiniest bit of their flesh is seen by a living person, they turn into a Shade, a monstrous creature that feeds on both the Dead and the living.
The royal family has been using this method of returning to life for centuries ; in fact, the king himself has been ruling for 200 years. Though he resists change, he is a well-liked king, as is the rest of the royal family.
Our main character is Odessa, nicknamed Sparrow, and she is one of the necromancers. She is very good at what she does, maybe to the point of being a Mary Sue character, although she does have flaws.
All is going well, until one of the necromancers is killed by a Shade. Then someone seems to be making Shades by purposefully pulling the shrouds from the Dead. Sparrow and her friends are tasked with finding out who is behind this.
This is also a story of grief. Sparrow, and the secondary characters, lose someone they are close to, and we see how this affects them. The main focus of the story of grief is on Sparrow and how she copes, or doesn't cope, but we also see some of how affects others as well. The grief consumes Sparrow, leading to a story of addiction. The grief and addiction are an important part of the story, with the grief competing with the fantasy elements to become the main plotline.
This is somewhat a romance story. The romance angles do not take over the story. It is not a typical romance novel, but there are relationships there, both seasoned and budding. This is a story of diversity. There are several LGBTQ relationships in the story. There are gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters that are important to the story, not just minor characters.
There is even more potential for more books. This is the first in a series, and I would guess that the series will continue with Sparrow. However, I could see where the author could pick up with some of the secondary characters, or branch off and explore the other mages. There are weather mages, beast mages, and healers, and Princess Valoria is an inventor, something that hasn't existed in years. I think a book from any of the characters points of view would be interesting.
I thought this was a really good book. I have seen mixed reviews online, but for me, this one held my attention and kept me interested. There was just one flaw. I knew who the "bad guy" was from the moment they were introduced to the story. I just knew they were too good to be true. Maybe it was from coming off another book I read recently with a similar character type, or maybe it really was obvious, I'm not sure. If you're reading this, you should read the book and let me know if you thought it was obvious too!
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