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clarabooksit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Chronic illness, Body horror, Child abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Torture, Mental illness, Classism, Kidnapping, and Animal death
harperphillips96's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
My dad spent months begging me to read this, with the caveat that the first 35% is an oppressive slog but then it’s a great found family story. This is very funny, because I liked the first half of the story a lot, lost some interest between 50-75%, and then mostly longed to be put out of my misery for the last 25%. Everyone’s different, I guess!
The beginning was certainly dark, establishing the traumatic history you’re dealing with in these characters, but it also rang emotionally true in a way I think got lost as the book progressed. The choices made in the first half of the book made SENSE to me.
But then… Lanie just kind of turns out to be stupid? I cannot stand incompetent characters and she makes constant, predictable, inexcusable “mistakes” and everything gets really tedious. There’s ZERO sense of urgency, ever, even in VERY URGENT situations. The Bad Guys also have this weird absence of agita and do you know how hard it is to get into a book where no one seems to think any of the stuff going on is high stakes?
And the last chunk… well. There’s a scene around the 75% mark that was supposed to be an exciting, fast paced, emotional action scene and… I think it literally took 2 hours to listen to on the audiobook?? I was literally lying in bed bellowing “GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY” because the scene just WOULD. NOT. WRAP. UP. The same thing happens again at the 85% mark! I was so done and bored and it dragged endlessly.
Anyway, to sum up, Cooney needs a new editor. Bad. This book was a solid 25% longer than it should have been and the tone was wildly inconsistent and in all, I simply wasn’t especially compelled by any of it. It couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty and Vomit
minervacerridwen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
How to start reviewing the ride I've just been on?
From the opening letter, I was hooked by the story. Events immediately took off, and meeting Nita, the tension between the sisters was immediately palpable, even as a lot of information about the characters was being shared. The pacing was inconsistent - suddenly it skipped seven years, and I had to recover from the time jump as if it had been my first ride in a TARDIS. Only to be dragged along with just as much enthusiasm into the next part, and the next, never knowing what the destination might be, but fully absorbed in the journey.
I adore so many different aspects of this book. The writing style! The footnotes (and the way the typesetting was somehow so cleverly done that reading them never made me get lost in the original sentence)! The cover! The poetry! The worldbuilding! And most of all: the main character, Lanie! It's such a breath of fresh air to have such a positive main character, without it ever feeling fake. Every other emotion is welcomed and even explored, but the way Lanie looks around herself in the world and LOVES made me want to read about her forever.Also, the slow-burn relationship between her and Canon Lir is described so beautifully courteously that even I, aromantic ace as I am, swooned.
There was a lot of description and background information, but to me it stayed just on this side of balanced, enriching the worldbuilding. At many times Saint Death's Daughter felt like the book equivalent of a pastry, or a whole bag of them. Sweet, layered, with a hidden core of sharp citrus tartness every now and then. Covered with a suspiciously blood red mirror glaze and sprinkled with crushed skeleton flakes. (As you may notice, it is also one of those books that makes me confirm my love for language and stories and books in general, and renews my inspiration and will to write.)
I marked a lot of content warnings (and possibly even missed some), as this is a story of someone born in a family of assassins and torturers, in a world with a history of war and hate against neighbouring nations - but much more importantly, I do want to mention that in spite of all that, an incredible amount of kindness is shown throughout the story. It's about death, but it's also bright and colourful, inspiring and hopeful. I look forward to the sequel.
From the opening letter, I was hooked by the story. Events immediately took off, and meeting Nita, the tension between the sisters was immediately palpable, even as a lot of information about the characters was being shared. The pacing was inconsistent - suddenly it skipped seven years, and I had to recover from the time jump as if it had been my first ride in a TARDIS. Only to be dragged along with just as much enthusiasm into the next part, and the next, never knowing what the destination might be, but fully absorbed in the journey.
I adore so many different aspects of this book. The writing style! The footnotes (and the way the typesetting was somehow so cleverly done that reading them never made me get lost in the original sentence)! The cover! The poetry! The worldbuilding! And most of all: the main character, Lanie! It's such a breath of fresh air to have such a positive main character, without it ever feeling fake. Every other emotion is welcomed and even explored, but the way Lanie looks around herself in the world and LOVES made me want to read about her forever.
There was a lot of description and background information, but to me it stayed just on this side of balanced, enriching the worldbuilding. At many times Saint Death's Daughter felt like the book equivalent of a pastry, or a whole bag of them. Sweet, layered, with a hidden core of sharp citrus tartness every now and then. Covered with a suspiciously blood red mirror glaze and sprinkled with crushed skeleton flakes. (As you may notice, it is also one of those books that makes me confirm my love for language and stories and books in general, and renews my inspiration and will to write.)
I marked a lot of content warnings (and possibly even missed some), as this is a story of someone born in a family of assassins and torturers, in a world with a history of war and hate against neighbouring nations - but much more importantly, I do want to mention that in spite of all that, an incredible amount of kindness is shown throughout the story. It's about death, but it's also bright and colourful, inspiring and hopeful. I look forward to the sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, War, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting
smileyblue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Within twenty pages, I fell in love with Miscellaneous ("Lanie") Stones and was entranced by the world that CSE Cooney had crafted. In sharp contrast with gothic, edgy tone adopted by other books with necromancer main characters, the energy of Saint Death's Daughter was bright, loving, and hopeful. The author's prose, reminiscent of parlor room period novels, held down the wondering tone throughout.
I was impressed by how deeply character-driven the plot was given that "new" magical properties are introduced at intervals. Despite some involvement of the world's twelve gods, at no point did it ever feel nauseatingly deus-ex-machina. Character deaths, too, felt in line with the story, not chosen to pluck at the reader's heartstrings.For example, after being so horrible to Lanie, Nita's gruesome death struck me as cathartic in a Roald Dahl sort of way.
All this praise aside, I found myself hungering for more of the first part of the book. In some ways, it felt like the heart of the story was with fifteen-year-old Lanie. Cooney's voice truly sparkled off the page when working with young Lanie's voice, reminding me of the whimsy of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Perhaps this glittering nostalgia helped underpin the pain and nostalgia of the later portions of the book, but I wished to have had a bit more.
I was impressed by how deeply character-driven the plot was given that "new" magical properties are introduced at intervals. Despite some involvement of the world's twelve gods, at no point did it ever feel nauseatingly deus-ex-machina. Character deaths, too, felt in line with the story, not chosen to pluck at the reader's heartstrings.
All this praise aside, I found myself hungering for more of the first part of the book. In some ways, it felt like the heart of the story was with fifteen-year-old Lanie. Cooney's voice truly sparkled off the page when working with young Lanie's voice, reminding me of the whimsy of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Perhaps this glittering nostalgia helped underpin the pain and nostalgia of the later portions of the book, but I wished to have had a bit more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Death, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
hybridhavoc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Overall I think this is a pretty good book. The structure gave me some pause part-way through, but only really because I'm so used to books that do the "Part 1/2/3" structure but are just delineating the three acts of their story. This book doesn't do that, and the parts are more akin to episodes of a mini-series.
I was also initially a little thrown off by wildly different tones in the book, but it turned out that there were pretty decent in-world reasons for this.On surge days the entire tone shifts into a sort of animated Disney movie sort of feel. Otherwise, outside of the surge days, this book's vibe reminds me a lot of Nettle & Bone.
That actually makes sense. Saint Death's Daughter and Nettle & Bone are both firmly fantastical fantasy. Nettle & Bone was likened to a modern fairy tale and I would agree with that. Saint Death's Daughter feels like it's walking a similar path to me.
If you're a fan of epic fantasy or Sanderson fantasy and you come into this book with that expectation, you may be disappointed.
My only issues with the book are:
I was also initially a little thrown off by wildly different tones in the book, but it turned out that there were pretty decent in-world reasons for this.
That actually makes sense. Saint Death's Daughter and Nettle & Bone are both firmly fantastical fantasy. Nettle & Bone was likened to a modern fairy tale and I would agree with that. Saint Death's Daughter feels like it's walking a similar path to me.
If you're a fan of epic fantasy or Sanderson fantasy and you come into this book with that expectation, you may be disappointed.
My only issues with the book are:
- The structure thing I've already mentioned, which stopped being a real issue once I reoriented.
- Action and tension are often paused for exploring a character's feelings/thoughts or touching moments.
- The ending felt a bit unsatisfactory.
Yes, Miscellaneous saved the day but granting mercy and being banished just wasn't what I wanted there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Animal death, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Torture, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Death, Cursing, and Murder
nini23's review against another edition
4.75
A treat for logophiles and the very original tale about necromancy outstanding. Goody is my fav character but the dynamics of the relationships between the characters was also a treat.
Amal El-Mohtar's (she blurbed the front cover) recs have never steered me wrong.
Amal El-Mohtar's (she blurbed the front cover) recs have never steered me wrong.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, and Torture
I like everything about this creative book especially the luscious vocabulary except forcloodnook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Blood
skywhales's review
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.5
almost got a 5 from me but if carter can still be occupying my brain today but couldn't make it to a perfect 5 than this can't either, sorry </3
but good god the WORLDBUILDING. FUCK. we've got a pantheon of unique gods, an intricately designed magic system and possibly the most interesting take on necromancy i've seen to this day, a calendar and dates system, multiple cultures and languages and Rituals and Holidays and ohhhhhmygod i wish EVERY book had this much going on in its world. made my own little glossary of terms i thought i'd need to keep track of (learned from baru) but didn't end up needing it all that much and that was nice. quadic being in iambic pentameter was incredibly delightful. i actually wish we'd learned more about the different kinds of magic. like i know each one is tied to a god but if the parliament of rooks has 24 wizards with different abilities in it which gods have domain over multiple abilities? which goes with which? especially if they usually don't have necromancers/fire wizards. so 10 gods and 24 strains of magic. also are the parliament of rooks' bird patterns literally fused to their skin? unrelated. god i love a richly detailed world.
the prose was at times really good, at times a tad grating. there were some things that probably could have done with less description. and also--and i am aware that in this instance this is solely personal preference--i'm usually not a fan of "quirky" humor and there were certain things that just made me roll my eyes or cringe. loved most of the dark humor associated with the stones and their fucked up bloody legacy though. exactly my kind of thing. something that i don't know was intentional or not was just how little time was spent on certain things that to me felt like Big Revelations but to lanie i guess were just. whatever? or she already knew but didn't state?mostly i am talking about goody being quick fantastic stones and canon lir being errolirrolin <- had to go back to the book to spell that name. to me those were HUH. OH MY GOD moments but maybe we were expected to have figured them out??? wish we coulda sat with those for a minute. i mean they made Sense but still.
it took me a while to come around on most of the characters--longer than some books would have, but then in other books i may never have come around at all so really it all balances out i suppose. lanie was cute--there was an air of Super Special Unique Awesomeness about her that annoyed me at first but i love how she loves her creations. mak was okay, not like an all time favorite or someone i could see myself getting mentally ill about but he was a solid, well-rounded and likable character. datu was fun. i like morbid children. havoc and the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo whose names i have sadly Already Forgotten were...fine. havoc was the source of a lot of the quirky humor that annoyed me (i like her name though), and while i liked the other two more they were all introduced too late in the story for me to really feel completely attached to them. the story of the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo forming their bond was very sweet though. goody was one of my favorite characters and i definitely think her relationship with lanie was the most powerful in the book for me. nita was...conflicting. i just strongly dislike the idea of any character being quintessentially "born bad" and the story seemed insistent on telling me that that's what nita was like. i also strongly disliked the back cover's use of "psychotic" to refer to her when that's a real mental illness that doesn't automatically equate to an evil or dangerous person. i would have appreciated her role in the story a lot more if she wasn't portrayed as unrepentantly evil even as a child and rather as someone working to live up to the legacy of the stoneses and gradually losing more and more of her humanity along the way, until her hubristic downfall. also i think i would have really liked unnatural stones if he was. an actual character. the blackbird bride was a pretty good villain even if i wish i could've seen more of her motivation. i mean i know her Obvious motivation but i want to know more about her feelings. the feelings of the rest of the parliament. yknow. also unless i misread something she married her cousin which EWWWWW. i fucking hate reading about incest no matter the justification. it automatically makes my reading experience at least 15% more unpleasant. sorry if that makes me a prude or whatever. i don't care.
the romance was a little saccharine at times and not entirely my favorite thing but at least canon lir was a pretty interesting character and the twist at the end was sufficiently OH SHIT! i just wish there had been more substance to it than "childhood friends endlessly fawning over each other." btw this book seems to (but to be fair this is conjecture) operate on an "everyone is bi" mindset, or at least all of the main characters are (probably), which isn't my faaaavorite kind of lgbt+ fantasy world? just because i think there should also be a place for people who have fought to have their identity recognized as not having anything to do with men/women. but, like, it's leagues better than an "everyone is straight except for a few weirdos" world. and nita might have been straight. but that doesn't really mean anything.
the climax of this book was So Stinking Cool. the kinda thing that makes the thirteen year old boy part of me go a little bit apeshit. i love awesome climaxes i love awesome worldbuilding that was soooooo fucking epic.
of all the books i've read this would be the one i'd recommend most decisively to locked tomb fans. it's got the necromancy yeah but it's also got the casual genderfuckery and the deep intense bond between a warrior/caster duo that isn't necessarily romantic. and cringy dialogue. sorry locked tomb fans.
will be reading the sequel when it comes out but after i've made a substantial dent in my tbr because i need time to let the whole thing sink into my head and i kinda rushed through this one because i'm going back to boston in a few weeks and need to limit the amount of books i bring.
but good god the WORLDBUILDING. FUCK. we've got a pantheon of unique gods, an intricately designed magic system and possibly the most interesting take on necromancy i've seen to this day, a calendar and dates system, multiple cultures and languages and Rituals and Holidays and ohhhhhmygod i wish EVERY book had this much going on in its world. made my own little glossary of terms i thought i'd need to keep track of (learned from baru) but didn't end up needing it all that much and that was nice. quadic being in iambic pentameter was incredibly delightful. i actually wish we'd learned more about the different kinds of magic. like i know each one is tied to a god but if the parliament of rooks has 24 wizards with different abilities in it which gods have domain over multiple abilities? which goes with which? especially if they usually don't have necromancers/fire wizards. so 10 gods and 24 strains of magic. also are the parliament of rooks' bird patterns literally fused to their skin? unrelated. god i love a richly detailed world.
the prose was at times really good, at times a tad grating. there were some things that probably could have done with less description. and also--and i am aware that in this instance this is solely personal preference--i'm usually not a fan of "quirky" humor and there were certain things that just made me roll my eyes or cringe. loved most of the dark humor associated with the stones and their fucked up bloody legacy though. exactly my kind of thing. something that i don't know was intentional or not was just how little time was spent on certain things that to me felt like Big Revelations but to lanie i guess were just. whatever? or she already knew but didn't state?
it took me a while to come around on most of the characters--longer than some books would have, but then in other books i may never have come around at all so really it all balances out i suppose. lanie was cute--there was an air of Super Special Unique Awesomeness about her that annoyed me at first but i love how she loves her creations. mak was okay, not like an all time favorite or someone i could see myself getting mentally ill about but he was a solid, well-rounded and likable character. datu was fun. i like morbid children. havoc and the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo whose names i have sadly Already Forgotten were...fine. havoc was the source of a lot of the quirky humor that annoyed me (i like her name though), and while i liked the other two more they were all introduced too late in the story for me to really feel completely attached to them. the story of the gyrgardu/gyrlady duo forming their bond was very sweet though. goody was one of my favorite characters and i definitely think her relationship with lanie was the most powerful in the book for me. nita was...conflicting. i just strongly dislike the idea of any character being quintessentially "born bad" and the story seemed insistent on telling me that that's what nita was like. i also strongly disliked the back cover's use of "psychotic" to refer to her when that's a real mental illness that doesn't automatically equate to an evil or dangerous person. i would have appreciated her role in the story a lot more if she wasn't portrayed as unrepentantly evil even as a child and rather as someone working to live up to the legacy of the stoneses and gradually losing more and more of her humanity along the way, until her hubristic downfall. also i think i would have really liked unnatural stones if he was. an actual character. the blackbird bride was a pretty good villain even if i wish i could've seen more of her motivation. i mean i know her Obvious motivation but i want to know more about her feelings. the feelings of the rest of the parliament. yknow. also unless i misread something she married her cousin which EWWWWW. i fucking hate reading about incest no matter the justification. it automatically makes my reading experience at least 15% more unpleasant. sorry if that makes me a prude or whatever. i don't care.
the romance was a little saccharine at times and not entirely my favorite thing but at least canon lir was a pretty interesting character and the twist at the end was sufficiently OH SHIT! i just wish there had been more substance to it than "childhood friends endlessly fawning over each other." btw this book seems to (but to be fair this is conjecture) operate on an "everyone is bi" mindset, or at least all of the main characters are (probably), which isn't my faaaavorite kind of lgbt+ fantasy world? just because i think there should also be a place for people who have fought to have their identity recognized as not having anything to do with men/women. but, like, it's leagues better than an "everyone is straight except for a few weirdos" world. and nita might have been straight. but that doesn't really mean anything.
the climax of this book was So Stinking Cool. the kinda thing that makes the thirteen year old boy part of me go a little bit apeshit. i love awesome climaxes i love awesome worldbuilding that was soooooo fucking epic.
of all the books i've read this would be the one i'd recommend most decisively to locked tomb fans. it's got the necromancy yeah but it's also got the casual genderfuckery and the deep intense bond between a warrior/caster duo that isn't necessarily romantic. and cringy dialogue. sorry locked tomb fans.
will be reading the sequel when it comes out but after i've made a substantial dent in my tbr because i need time to let the whole thing sink into my head and i kinda rushed through this one because i'm going back to boston in a few weeks and need to limit the amount of books i bring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Blood and Child abuse
Minor: Incest
thoughtsontomes's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
If you like spooky bone magic, this is for you. This is more whimsical gothic than other weird necromancy books I’ve read, which was a delight. There’s some pretty heavy worldbuilding at times and not everything is wrapped up nicely (I originally didn’t realize it was a series) but knowing there’s more books to come leaves me interested.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Blood, and Torture
Moderate: Self harm and Chronic illness
teri_b's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a sprawling, turbulent, gruesome, fascinating and very entertaining story that starts in a manor with the Stoneses family that is rather dysfunctional to put it mildly.
From there we see Miscellaneous "Lanie" Stones, the youngest daughter of the house, necromancer in hiding and allergic to violence of all sorts, emerge from the manor and find a hiding/living place in the city, as her family has life debts to pay.
As the story unfolds we get to learn more about her ancestral family and the many splendid, eccentric or cumbersome characters it bore.
We also see her making new friends in the city as she carves out a living for herself, and the family that has accompanied her from the Manor House, amongst them her niece, one of the best written child characters I have so far encountered in adult fantasy.
At times the story gets dark, gory, bloody and deadly, to then again focus on lighter matters. It is a celebration of life in the face of death quite literally. I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
From there we see Miscellaneous "Lanie" Stones, the youngest daughter of the house, necromancer in hiding and allergic to violence of all sorts, emerge from the manor and find a hiding/living place in the city, as her family has life debts to pay.
As the story unfolds we get to learn more about her ancestral family and the many splendid, eccentric or cumbersome characters it bore.
We also see her making new friends in the city as she carves out a living for herself, and the family that has accompanied her from the Manor House, amongst them her niece, one of the best written child characters I have so far encountered in adult fantasy.
At times the story gets dark, gory, bloody and deadly, to then again focus on lighter matters. It is a celebration of life in the face of death quite literally. I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore