Nocturnal Book Reviews

4.5/5
When I spotted the cover I thought "oh well, let's brave another YA book". Not that I'm against YA books, it's just I like them dark and gritty, and most of them aren't. However, I was wrong. This was a good old fantasy *grinning*, and I was hooked from the page one.

Disregard the cover. The girl in the flowy black dress? Meet Celia - a local crime lord's daughter, a hardened assassin and a proud member of the Assassins Guild. She is cold, calculating and fabulous. Mostly you'll see her in breeches throwing knives and slicing throats *bloodthirsty wench*.

Ward De'Ath on the other hand is fantasy equivalent of a nerd. He is a necromancer by birth, who wanted to be a physician and begged his family to let him study in the Academy. Good for him, his family agreed. Only he became fascinated with being a surgeon, a profession prohibited in his world, and got caught doing autopsies on dead bodies. Branded as a criminal and booted from the Academy, he barely escaped with his life and turned to necromancy to make his living.

He's thin and wiry, speaks five languages, but mumbles and stammers a lot with beautiful Celia around. His head is always in the cloud but the boy's got real power as a necromancer, which he doesn't know about yet, and he is a brilliant surgeon.

Yes, I was totally enchanted with Ward, more than with Celia. She is more of a traditional character, who knows her potential and her mind is set. Ward on the other hand is a wild card. You never know what he'll do next.

The world was fascinating. Religious beliefs, Inquisitors and Trackers, Goddess and her two sons, the veil... I wanted to know more! Because there was so much action with all the chasing and killing and hiding, I just didn't get enough (hope, it will be remedied in the next books).

Relationship slowly building between Ward and Celia felt absolutely believable. They are both smart cookies and once they let go of their prejudice towards each other, they become really good partners in crime.

I can't recommend it strongly enough! Please, read this fab debut from Melanie Card. She's done a wonderful job and I hope to continue reading her books for years to come.