Scan barcode
A review by teastime
The Necromancer's Light by Tavia Lark
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Shaesarenna Nightven, called Shae, needs protection as he travels up country to banish the demon that gave him the necromancer magic he possess. But to properly do so he needs protection, which is where Author Davorin, a paladin on a year long exile, comes in.
I originally got this book for free, about a year or so ago from one of the Stuff Your Kindle days that goes on, and I'm slightly disappointed in myself that it took so long to get to reading this with how much I enjoyed it. The world building was much better then I originally thought a fantasy that is under 300 pages could be. I was under the impression, especially before the cover change, that this would be another mindless romantasy that the only way to fully enjoy would be to turn your brain off. Instead I was greeted with a world with several gods, a magic system that I'm interested in knowing more about, enjoyable characters, and a relationship that I enjoyed very much.
I saw a few other reviews, walking about how this read like a fanfiction and mean it negatively, but I would say that this read like fanfiction in the best way there can be and I thoroughly enjoyed myself when reading. Though I think we should stop using the fact that something reads like fanfic negatively, but that's a chat for another day.
This could have definitely been longer, maybe a few more scenes growing closer with the few named side characters so whatever happened to them could have a bit more of an impact (iykyk) or a few more domestic traveling scenes between Shae and Arthur without it immediately jumping into action (no pun intended) but at least we got some more domestic scenes after whatever fight or side quest they got dragged into. They definitely had at least some insta-attraction so if slow burn is what you're looking for this is not it, but I didn't mind it at all with how it played out.
I have always been a sucker for the whole black cat x golden retriever type of relationship, and there were some moments that I didn't even know I needed until now. I found myself smiling like a fool at the moments where Arthur just needed Shae to look at him, which ended up with Arthur guiding Shae by the jaw or chin and uhhg it was so good. And I loved the whole thing with Shae needing the touch of other people to continue going on and the fact that Arthur had the warmest, the one that made him feel the most sense. And it was nice that it had an actual reason other then some 'oh they're meant to be together' BS.
Never have I been one to enjoy the whole storyline/trope of "I have these powers that I hate and now I'm going on a seemingly impossible quest to get rid of them" In fact, it's one of the common storylines in fantasy that I can properly say that I hate. I always find it overdone and a bit ridiculous. But even though this was a storyline prevalent in the book I didn't at all mind where it ended up. Or how it started either, with the emphasis on how Shae's magic affected him physically, not just mentally.
I can 100% see myself reaching for the next book, especially considering I read the synopsis and now know who it's about...
Either way, super solid read and I enjoyed myself very much throughout this whole thing. The romance and the actual plot did not fight for dominance like I see in a lot of other romance heavy books, and they actually went along fairly hand in hand for the most part. This is a very fast pace read, which again I see others complaining about in the reviews, and I did notice that after around 50% things were moving very fast. Again, I do wish this were at least a little bit longer to balance that out but everything in the book is really enjoyable and I can almost ignore that fact completely.
If you are sensitive to self harm in any way, I would recommend taking a step back and not picking this up as a large part of the necromancy magic that Tavia Lark envisioned deals with a lot of blood sacrifice. Also loss of parents does come up a lot more in the later chapters, so I would be weary of that as well if that's a sensitive spot.
I originally got this book for free, about a year or so ago from one of the Stuff Your Kindle days that goes on, and I'm slightly disappointed in myself that it took so long to get to reading this with how much I enjoyed it. The world building was much better then I originally thought a fantasy that is under 300 pages could be. I was under the impression, especially before the cover change, that this would be another mindless romantasy that the only way to fully enjoy would be to turn your brain off. Instead I was greeted with a world with several gods, a magic system that I'm interested in knowing more about, enjoyable characters, and a relationship that I enjoyed very much.
I saw a few other reviews, walking about how this read like a fanfiction and mean it negatively, but I would say that this read like fanfiction in the best way there can be and I thoroughly enjoyed myself when reading. Though I think we should stop using the fact that something reads like fanfic negatively, but that's a chat for another day.
This could have definitely been longer, maybe a few more scenes growing closer with the few named side characters so whatever happened to them could have a bit more of an impact (iykyk) or a few more domestic traveling scenes between Shae and Arthur without it immediately jumping into action (no pun intended) but at least we got some more domestic scenes after whatever fight or side quest they got dragged into. They definitely had at least some insta-attraction so if slow burn is what you're looking for this is not it, but I didn't mind it at all with how it played out.
I have always been a sucker for the whole black cat x golden retriever type of relationship, and there were some moments that I didn't even know I needed until now. I found myself smiling like a fool at the moments where Arthur just needed Shae to look at him, which ended up with Arthur guiding Shae by the jaw or chin and uhhg it was so good. And I loved the whole thing with Shae needing the touch of other people to continue going on and the fact that Arthur had the warmest, the one that made him feel the most sense. And it was nice that it had an actual reason other then some 'oh they're meant to be together' BS.
Never have I been one to enjoy the whole storyline/trope of "I have these powers that I hate and now I'm going on a seemingly impossible quest to get rid of them" In fact, it's one of the common storylines in fantasy that I can properly say that I hate. I always find it overdone and a bit ridiculous. But even though this was a storyline prevalent in the book I didn't at all mind where it ended up. Or how it started either, with the emphasis on how Shae's magic affected him physically, not just mentally.
I can 100% see myself reaching for the next book, especially considering I read the synopsis and now know who it's about...
Either way, super solid read and I enjoyed myself very much throughout this whole thing. The romance and the actual plot did not fight for dominance like I see in a lot of other romance heavy books, and they actually went along fairly hand in hand for the most part. This is a very fast pace read, which again I see others complaining about in the reviews, and I did notice that after around 50% things were moving very fast. Again, I do wish this were at least a little bit longer to balance that out but everything in the book is really enjoyable and I can almost ignore that fact completely.
If you are sensitive to self harm in any way, I would recommend taking a step back and not picking this up as a large part of the necromancy magic that Tavia Lark envisioned deals with a lot of blood sacrifice. Also loss of parents does come up a lot more in the later chapters, so I would be weary of that as well if that's a sensitive spot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Grief, and Death of parent