★ 3.5 stars ★

content warnings:

Spoiler

major character deaths, indentured servitude, threats of violence, violence, blood magic, precanon parent deaths, grief & guilt, past suicide (hanging), "kill yourself" comments, depression, blood cancer, facetious threat of suicide, cannibalism, corporal punishment of a child, child neglect, human sacrifice, description of past suicidal ideation, ableist language

rep:

Spoiler

WLW major characters

I'd heard mostly great things about this series but was hesitant because of some potentially upsetting/ disturbing content. Overall: the narrative was full of action and intrigue, I liked the worldbuilding though I sometimes found more complex than I could keep up with (the appendices helped but, in my opinion, they shouldn't have been necessary), the prose and humor didn't quite work for me, I can't say I agree with all the author's choices — such as

Spoiler

killing off the titular character of the first book in a series

, like holy wow — but I respect them.

This book contains some really interesting juxtapositions that may or may not have been deliberate:

Spoiler

lots of irreversible major character death despite the literal premise being necromancy, the pair of "shitty teens" treated patronizingly despite the running themes of death and dirty jokes and darkness being somewhat stereotypical Teen Aesthetic, the very deliberate linguistics of the naming system and the more scientific presentation of the magic system (theorems)

. But for me it was honestly more engaging on a big-picture, abstract level rather than in terms of plot and characters.

Still, I'm interested enough to pick up the second book and see where it's all going.

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CONVERSION: 9.2 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 7 / 10
Emotional Impact: 5 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 2 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 4 / 5