I enjoyed reading it. Interesting plot and characters. Kinda dark-ish fantasy. Skilfully written. Quite fast read. Can't wait to find out what will happen next.

While I enjoyed the thought that went into crafting the world of 'The Mourners' and the unique representation the main character Elide offered, this book fell a little flat for me. In part, I think this was because of some needs for additional editing. As I said, the world that Fox crafted is creative and imaginative, but sometimes the details do not come across clearly. For example, I still am not solidly sure of what each order of The Mourners is capable of with their set of powers. The same goes for the Apostate and for Elide herself. The "magic" system is intriguing, but I felt like the rules weren't clearly defined in the text. There were also some issues with scene order that caused confusion for me. Because this was an ARC, I wonder if those things were addressed in subsequent publishings of this book. If so, I could see myself bumping this review up another star.

In general, I think this would be a fun read for anyone who enjoyed 'Six of Crows' or The Selection series.

This was so good!! I think it brings a lot to the dystopian genre- fresh ideas and a fresh plot in a genre that often feels very tropey and repetitive. Great characters and a great plot. Definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the advance reader copy.

A fantastic plot with a lot of potential but just missed the mark for me. Things felt underdeveloped, from the setting to the telepathic powers. I did really like the main character, Elide, and enjoyed seeing things from her perspective. I just wish I'd gotten more answers to the basic world building.

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy of this book.***

The Mourners is set in America after the Civil War, except the South won and is now Texas. The resulting authoritarian government is known as the Apolite and is a fundamentalist Christian society. The Apolite is currently fighting territory wars with The Outlands. The story follows Elide Hester as she comes of age and learns that there is an entire community of people with telepathic powers. Throughout the story, Elide goes to an academy to grow her powers as the first Teller in over a century. She learns that the world is not the way she grew up believing. Elide has to make a choice of whether she will follow the "status quo" and help to end the war, or to break the mold and change the world.

Likes:
1. Dark academia setting: not as light-hearted as Harry Potter, but not as heavy as The Maidens or Zodiac Academy. Similar to the the feel of Grimrose Girls
2. Magic System: the different types of magic were very well developed and explored throughout the book. I liked the telepathy aspect, it was very unique.
3. Mute and Sign Language Representation: Elide is mute due to medical malpractice. The book does a really good job, especially in the beginning, of demonstrating how hard it is to be disabled and live in a world built for the able-bodied.

Dislikes:
1. The Setting: it is still not clear to me if Texas is a conglomerate of the Confederacy or if it is just the state of Texas. Given that the main focus of the book is the ongoing territory wars, this could have been explained more. I had a very hard time visualizing where Texas was in relation to the Outlands

2. Heteronormativity and Traditional Gender Roles: I didn't like how the world was centered around women being the weaker sex and having no choice. They were also blamed for any sexual encounter, whether it was consensual or not. It was very much just a breeder society. I read to escape from what is going on, and Elide didn't do enough to challenge these roles for my taste.

The Mourners by Aminah Fox is book one in The Deadly Elite Series.

My first time reading this authors work an I'm very impressed.

The Mourners is a knife-sharp fantasy, that captured my attention and held it captive until its amazing finish. Aminah Fox is a strong storyteller.
This was such an interesting read. And one I really enjoyed.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

22nd Light LLC,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!