Shiloh Briar

“To everyone out there who is still waiting to get better. healing is hard. but not healing is hard too and honestly if it’s going to suck either way you might as well get something out of it. I’m rooting for you.” – The dedication from Shiloh Briar

Sikras ‘Catseye’ Nikabod had his whole life change Four years ago. Since then he’s been holding up in his mansion on the outskirts of the territory. He has no family , no friends, no one left. Well, aside from his brother-in-law, a undead walking and talking skeleton. And to top it off he’s wanted for tax evasion,

Helspira arrives at the doorstep of the queens necromancer, speech ready, hoping to convince him to come back to the castle to speak with the queen. Lucky for her, Skiras hates a speech and agrees to accompany her.

The kingdom is under threat, one that the Queen believes can only be won with the help of Sikras. Begrudgingly he does agree to help, and this sets him, Benjamin ( his undead brother-in-law), and Helspira (a demon) on a quest to take down the one person who hes known the longest, his best friend – turned evil necromancer Vessik.

Be ready to feel all the feels. I was not prepared for some of the truly deep and impactful moments this story has. Reading through there were parts that felt like I was healing along side them. There is a ongoing message that its ok to be broken and that even in those moments where we feel the most broken, we are still important and loved. I do love that there are also points where you can also feel the beauty in sadness, because we wouldn’t be sad or hurt, if we didn’t care.

Somehow even with the heavy and deep parts, the overall vibe and feel of the story is pretty cozy and humorous. Sikras is pretty much all of us millennials, we just need some Advil and a cozy bed. The humor through out is very much that of a 30 year old who has just lived through to much and does not care. So much to the point where he’s willing to stuff an angry poltergeist into a dead cat – because someone upset his friend.

Some may call this “Romantasy”. There is Fantasy. There is Romance. However, it is very much a slow burn. Think of less of a slow burn and more of a smoker situation, the most contact they have until about 95% into the book is dancing (the not spicy kind of dancing). I personally loved the build up and how we got inner monologue from both of them during that build up.

I was honestly smiling and giggling to myself from start to finish. I absolutely loved this and will be reading book 2 when it comes out. I will also be obnoxiously recommending this to everyone for the foreseeable future.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC!