Twice Dead, by Caitlin Seal | {ARC} Book Review #406

**Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way impacted my review.**

Twice Dead is the first (1st) book in the Necromancer’s Song series by Caitlin Seal.

In this imaginative debut perfect for fans of character-driven fantasies like Graceling and Daughter of Smoke and Bone, seventeen-year-old Naya Garth becomes one of the undead and an unlikely spy for her country.

Naya, the daughter of a sea merchant captain, nervously undertakes her first solo trading mission in the necromancer-friendly country bordering her homeland of Talmir. Unfortunately, she never even makes it to the meeting. She’s struck down in the streets of Ceramor. Murdered.

But death is not the end for Naya. She awakens to realize she’s become an abomination–a wraith, a ghostly creature bound by runes to the bones of her former corpse. She’s been resurrected in order to become a spy for her country. Reluctantly, she assumes the face and persona of a servant girl named Blue.

She never intended to become embroiled in political plots, kidnapping, and murder. Or to fall in love with the young man and former necromancer she is destined to betray.

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Publication Date: September 18, 2018.

What caught my eye about Twice Dead was that the synopsis tells us that there’s some sort of necromancy that goes on in the story. I’ve read a book series in the past where there was major necromancy involved before, and I really enjoyed it. So I was particularly looking forward to reading Twice Dead to see what would happen.

I went into reading Twice Dead not expecting anything—-rather, I just wanted to sit back and let the story happen as it did. And I’m glad I did!

Admittedly there were a couple of moments I had while reading Twice Dead where I wanted the story to be over. Thankfully though, the rest of the story was one heck of a show! Which kept me entertained to the very end. Needless to say, Twice Dead was a very interesting read.

By the half way mark I really liked where the plot seemed to be heading. The flow of Twice Dead is well put together. The pace of the story was just right where there were highs and lows in the story. The lows, you could imagine, are where I wanted the story to be over. Yet the low moments for me, passed over quickly.

Getting to know Naya as she is a Wraith is great to read too. At the beginning of Twice Dead we see Naya be disgusted by what she was, and then we see Naya accept her situation. And then we see Naya grow into who she’s become and to be frank with you, I really enjoyed reading about that. So to see Naya hate herself and then grow to accept her life as it is by the end of Twice Dead was charming to read. And to see Naya’s capabilities was fascinating, and to see the truth unfold about Naya was especially appealing

What I actually genuinely liked about this story was the different approach to necromancy Seal wrote about. Seriously, Twice Dead is the first book I’ve read where there were different levels to necromancy. And for that, Twice Dead will stand out in my mind for a long while.

While there’s a bit of romance in Twice Dead, it’s not a major plot movement. Which I enjoyed! The story isn’t powered by romance. Actually, the romance aspect of this novel was non existent to the point of when Naya confesses I myself was shocked by it.

In the second book I already know that there’s going to be one heck of an adventure! With many, many risks to be had.

Twice Dead turned out to be exceptionally different than what I had imagined this story would be, I am happy to say that Twice Dead is a story that I really enjoyed reading.

I give Twice Dead, 4 stars!

Happy Reading!
— Adele