The premise of this book was very intriguing. We have Rook, the rare human born with necromancer powers. She's able to not only give life, but also take it away. But that's pretty much all we know. Do everyone's powers work the same? Is the being brought back to life controlled by the necromancer? Apparently not if we consider Bitter Bat... Then we're introduced to the town of Hemlock and the variety of magical beings that reside there. We get a quick glimpse into what is possible, but that's it. There is no real detail about the residents or their world. And the "big reveal" at the end was entirely predictable from the knee scrape kitchen scene.

Overall, this felt like a very basic first draft. There is no character development, the pacing is off, and we were introduced to ideas that never feel fully formed. I think this story has a lot of potential, but in its current state is just bare bones. While it was a very quick read at 230 pages according to goodreads, it felt more like a prequel novella than an actual introduction to a series.