I did not had any expectations for this book (except that it was warmly recommended by a dear friend), so I start reading with the only intend to spend time, vaguely thinking "ho, necromancers, we usually don't hear much from those folks". I grew fond of almost all of the characters: Ree, the daughter of a necromancer and healer who wants to belong while forging her way towards something else that her community envision. Smythe, Third Rank Scholar (basically the biggest nerd in the room) who seek power and validation while being an extremely decent human towards their friends. The writing is so good I even grew attached to a mindless minion who does not have a single line of dialog!

I think this book came at the right moment. It's about romance, belonging and struggling to find our place. It's about wanting to help our community while rejecting part of it. It's about growing love and the utter confusion that comes with it.

I liked that queer characters were basically here; romantic orientations were part of the background, but characters did not struggle to simply exist with it.

I'd like to read more stories with those characters.