*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

DNF @ 30%

Look, it felt like a lot of things were really contradictory in a way where I'm just going to assume what is going to go wrong. Like how could the main character believe what was being told to her? I mean... maybe? so I was trying, but I couldn't.

Then there is how Naya talked to Lucia, seriously you don't have to like her, but she deserves some respect, especially if you are living in her house. Naya is not a character I could like, so because of that I couldn't continue.

It is an interesting world, I like the concept, and how necromancy is done was interesting. I do see how people will enjoy this book, but it hit me in two places I just couldn't get over.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. **any quotes in this review are subject to change in the final publication**

Twice Dead is a pretty epic opening to a series? trilogy? duology? I'm not sure how many books are planned for The Necromancer's Song yet. But if you're looking for an information (and action)-packed opener, you've found it.

Twice Dead follows our main character Naya as she learns to live (there's a joke in here somewhere...) with being brought back from the dead, even though it's something her people are very much against. As the tagline reads, "her death was only the beginning," Naya learns soon after her resurrection that her father was not who she believed him to be and she is sucked into a world of political espionage and plotting against the government she is currently ruled by. There's several twists and turns and who do I trust? moments as we follow Naya (also known as Blue to hide her identity), the Necromancer who brought her back, and the Wraith who trained her through this epic series introduction.

I am much more of a character-driven reader than a plot-driven and also not much for deep political turmoil, so there were times when I wasn't super into this book. I'm almost willing to say it should be classified as New Adult rather than YA because it's a little more intense of a plot that requires a good deal of concentration and knowledge of how politics/espionage work and it might fall flat for someone who's a bit younger or who enjoys reading a bit younger.

I really enjoyed the romance (and the plot twist involving the romance!!), I liked Naya's character, I didn't feel too much for the other characters. It's a possibility that I'll continue with the series, but it's not high on my 'must-have' list.

Also enjoyed the writing style. At times Caitlin delivered beautiful prose and I wish every description flowed as nicely as some. For example, "she could just feel the icy tides of death lapping at her calves" BEAUTIFUL!

My favourite genre of book is fantasy I love to be taken away to magical and mysterious places where anything is possible and nothing is mundane and this book certainly delivered that.  I enjoyed it that much that I was actually shocked when I got to the end, I wasn't ready for it!    

The book begins with Naya, who is a Talmiran, going on an errand for her father in the city of Belavine, which is in the neighbouring country of Ceramor.  A country where necromancy is normal and the undead walk amongst the living.  This is something that Naya has been brought up to frown upon so you can imagine how she feels waking up as a wraith after being murdered in the city,

So begins her life as Blue masquerading as a servant girl while secretly becoming a Talmiran spy, she meets Corten a fellow wraith who helps her accept what she has become as the book takes you on a journey of espionage, politics, kidnapping, murder, death and love.  

I love how the book is written, slow and easy to start with building into a fast paced and exciting plot and so descriptive that you're drawn right into the book, like you are there watching it happen which I personally think is the mark of a good fantasy book.  

I can't wait to read the next book! 

Thank you to Netgally for the ARC

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

I picked this up because the blurb sounded fantastic and I am a sucker for necromancy. There, I said it. In the end, the book was an enjoyable read, though it took some time to build up to it. The start was slow, and I didn't really start getting into it until probably halfway through.

There were quite a few sticky points, but when it comes down to it, will I read the sequel? You bet! I felt like things really kicked up towards the end of the book, and by the time it ended, it left me wanting to know more.

Thoughts:

- Corten is pretty much everything you could want in a romantic interest. And it's so painfully obvious from the moment you meet him that he is, indeed, going to be the romantic interest.

- There’s a “reveal” about halfway through the book, and it’s slow up until then and Naya is an unbearable MC … but after that? Phew, something was kicked into drive and things took off. The characters changed and felt more genuine, stuff was going down, there was blood and conspiracy and all the sorts of things I was hoping to find in this book.

- The way necromancy is handled in this is really interesting, and I loved reading about it. The undead come in two flavors: reanimated bodies and wraiths. In order to bring them back, necromancers sing, and apparently, it is possible for a soul to resist the song, which adds a really interesting layer (although, it wasn't touched on much in this book, but it seems like it might come up more in subsequent ones). I came here for the necromancy, and I wasn’t disappointed, especially with the moral issues and complications that arise from reanimating the dead.

Sticking Points:

- Aside from Corten, and maybe end-book Naya, I didn’t really feel like I connected to any of the characters. It felt like there was a whole cast of characters that were randomly dropped in scenes and yanked about, but I never really learned much about them or felt a reason to care about what happened to them. By the end, I realized I really didn't even know all that much about Corten and Naya's pasts, despite being the two major characters.

- Naya has to be probably the worst spy in the history of spies. There are so many red flags in this book that, as a reader, had me yelling at the protagonist—you know, the trained spy. Naya took everything at face value, asked no questions, and followed blindly. And the things she was suspicious of made no dang sense, instead of the extremely obvious shady stuff that's going on.

- The “reveal” about halfway through the book was so painfully obvious right from the start, and the red flags were everywhere. Yet, for some reason, Naya couldn’t figure it out? I increasingly became frustrated that things were teased as something not quite adding up, and I kept wanting that to become significant … or, at the very least, for Naya to start thinking, hey, what’s going on here?

- The whole book took place in Ceramor, which means I got a pretty good glimpse of that, but the world-building otherwise is fairly lacking. I didn’t feel particularly immersed in this world and had trouble picturing the whole thing. There’s a lot of history between the different countries, too, and mentions of different political things (wars, treaties, leaders, etc) that didn’t completely add up to form a big picture by the end.

- There’s an LGBT relationship that’s sort of obvious early on, but the reason they have to keep it hushed is just weak, in my opinion. Basically, it goes back to the whole be fruitful and multiply sort of concept. I’ve seen this sort of idea used quite a few times, and it drives me crazy. It’s a huge pet peeve. This opens a can of worms because what happens to those who can’t have kids? Or those who simply don’t want them? Every time I’ve seen this, it feels like a weak replacement for religion as a reason to explain a stigma around homosexuality rather than giving a legitimate reason that makes sense in the fantasy world.

Twice Dead is a captivating novel full of necromancy, young love and lies, lies and more lies. I absolutely adored this novel. It has everything that high fantasy readers will love with kings and different ‘countries’ at peace with a treaty…but peace can’t last forever. It also has the likes of the paranormal genre as everything revolves around necromancy by the means of runes, which is taken to a civilized level.

The story follows Naya who is loyal to her home and the views that they hold dear. She’s sent to another part of the world to help her father’s cause. What she didn’t know was the extent of her loyalties was determined by her death. And all at once she becomes something she’s grown up to fear and hate. She’s at battle with herself to figure out who she is, if she’s still who she was before she was resurrected into a wraith.

She becomes the embassy’s weapon by becoming a spy that can change her face, see hidden protective runes and sense people through ather. She did as they told her and thought the people that live in this necromantic town were the bad people.

She was placed as a servant named Blue for the necromancer that resurrected her, Lucia. But Lucia didn’t trust Naya just as much as Naya didn’t trust her. And when it came to learning things Lucia couldn’t help entirely. That’s when Corten comes into view. Lucia’s previous apprentice. His apprenticeship ended when he died and become a wraith. “The dead can’t sing the souls back.”

Lucia demands that Naya doesn’t go back to Corten and that she should read the books to learn how to live as a wraith. But Naya doesn’t listen and keeps going back to him under the guise as Blue.

Things all crash down around her when Naya finds out the true intentions of the man that was supposed to be on her side. A war was coming, and all of the walking dead and necromancers are in trouble. She has to pick a side. Is she Naya or Blue?

The plot line of Twice Dead is very intriguing and kept my attention the whole way through. From hidden intentions of wanting war to the development of young love. The main message that revolves around Naya is being alive when you’re dead. It also is a battle to find out who you are and learning trust. More than one character’s story is all about growth and that learning to live while your dead theory.

The characters are both relatable and have very realistic emotions as well as actions. There’s isn’t a lot of romance in the novel, but there is definitely a tinge of it, so if you need romance in a novel this may not be your cup of tea, but if you love a slow burn than you should give this book a try.

The adventure continues for Naya as she tries to save the ones she cares about and stop a war from occurring.

Rating: 3/5

I did not enjoy this book as much I was wanting too. While the romance was written very well, the pacing was slow and the world setting was incomplete. It kind of took away from the plot The character development was missing as well - this story had grounds for a great adventure and great character growth but it fell through unfortunately.

Twice Dead sounded so interesting: necromancers, wraiths and espionage!? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I was incredibly disappointed by the end. To the point that all I wanted to do was finish it and felt a weight lifted off my shoulders when I did. It took me almost two weeks to finish reading this book - which is absolutely unheard of for me.

There were aspects that I did like. I enjoyed the secondary characters Lucia and Corten. I found the idea of resurrecting the dead very intriguing as well as the types of undead and how they fit into society. Seeing the ways that Corten and other undead made lives for themselves, despite the negative aura constantly following them was one of the best parts of this story.

That said, the main character was absolutely uninteresting. I just couldn't believe she was truly driven by her love of country, certainly not to the point that she would become a spy. It just wasn't set up properly. Additionally, the government was incredibly confusing. There is a king that is supposed to be in charge but it kept feeling as though the Necromancer's Council (are they a government entity or just a group of citizens?) and the Talmir ambassador were running the show? I kept trying to figure out who held the power and who was apart of the government and just couldn't wrap my head around it. It felt as though I was expected to know these things but I just don't remember them being explained very well.

To top it off, it felt as though NOTHING happened until well past the halfway point. My attention was never truly grabbed. While I appreciate the uniqueness of the story and really feel the author has something promising here, I felt as though her editor really dropped the ball. There was much to be desired when it came to thoroughly explaining things but also keeping other aspects concise. It shouldn't take a hundred pages to pass time that could have been managed in five pages. Naya's training to become a spy was muddled and drawn out. Her getting a handle on her powers as a wraith was drawn out and hard to follow at times.

Overall, there were a few high points as previously mentioned. I found the romance sweet and did enjoy how Naya began to see the truth in what was happening to those around her, plus her willingness to take action. However, much was brushed over and the pacing was all over the place. I hate writing reviews like this, but I really feel as though this story could have been more thoroughly polished with better editing and direction.

DNF. Very slow and hard to get into. I wanted to love it! The premise sounded great, but it just did not live up to expectations.

I'll be the first to admit that yes, I did want to read this mainly because of the awesome name of the author (I may be biased on that point though) and the lovely cover. Then when I read the synopsis, I was definitely ready to read this one.

There were many sailing references to be found in this book, and you didn't have to be a sailor to understand them which was good.

I also liked that there were runes to bind a person's spirit to their body once they were dead. It's probably the first time that I've read where that needs to happen for a spirit to stay bound. Plus the carvings in wraith's bones was an interesting thing to read about.

One thing I didn't like was only a small thing, but for some reason in the things I see or read recently there seems to be a mad king for one reason or another so I felt kind of meh about that when I saw that come up.

Corten seemed pretty nice though and I think I probably liked him more than I liked Naya. Plus I loved that Lucia and Alejandra were together and made me like Lucia a little more than I already did - I don't know why that's the reasoning, but I know it helped.

The reason behind Naya being able to do things that other wraiths can't was an interesting twist and I liked that point quite a bit.

By the time the glass bird that Corten had made was brought up towards the end, I had pretty much forgotten about it - whoops!

Overall, I definitely loved the story though and I was very into it. There were time that I didn't want to put it down because I wanted to find out what happened next. That cliffhanger has me stuck though and now I seriously want to find out what happens next!

Spoilers!

My first thought when we find out that Lucia literally sings Naya back to not-quite-life, was that Naya was probably one of the undead - turns out she's actually a wraith.

The almost insta-love between Corten and Naya did annoy me a little though.

It would have been nice if I was interested in Corten just a little more as it probably would have made his death sad for me to read if it was.

End Spoilers!

Twice Dead was an enjoyable, quick and easy read. In this story we meet Naya, who is a young woman who returns from the dead after a mission for her father goes wrong. Basically in her world, there are people called necromancers and they can bring people back from the dead. I really loved the concepts of death and bringing people back from the dead with the magic system. Not many fantasy YA books deal with this topic and I found myself captivated by the premise behind it. It was an intriguing magic system to learn, with runes being sources of power and aether or energy binding it all together.

The romance in this book was sweet and great to read. It didn’t seem overly forced and wasn’t insta love. There was quite a bit of politics in this book, and scheming. I thought that even with the all the rebellion and plotting in the book, it was a nice mix but at times hard to keep up with. There were lots of names and people to keep track of.

The one thing I didn’t enjoy about this book was the ending. It felt rushed and left me feeling a little unsatisfied. With the way things were at the end of the book, I think the intention was to create a feeling of longing for the next book, but I was left disappointed. It was not what I expected to happen and it was such a different ending to the rest of the book that I’m not sure if I want to pick up the next one. I want to know what happens but also don’t want to.

Overall this book was easy to read, had an awesome magic system and plot with a really sweet romance. If you love dark magic themed books and sweet romance this is for you.

Naya Garth was just a simple merchant’s daughter until she found herself awaken from the dead. Murdered while having her first trade mission in a Necromancer-friendly country, Ceramor, her father’s friend, Ambassador Valn, took it to himself to save Naya by letting a Necromancer to perform a resurrection. When Naya woke up, she was horrified at the idea of what the Necromancer did. As a Talmiran, she was raised to detest Necromancer’s power. The dead should be left dead. Worse, Naya isn’t just one of the UNDEAD, she’s a WRAITH. While Undead are animated corpses with their souls attached to their dead bodies, Wraiths are merely ghosts, spirits that sucked energy from the living. And then she found she’s even more than a Wraith… And she has to work as a spy to help Talmir, her country to prevent a war against Necromancers that was once ended by a treaty.

That all being said, this book sounds so interesting. Right? I mean, Undead? necromancers, Wraith? Sucking the energy, AETHER, from the living? I mean, I’m all for it. The idea or concept of this book seemed so unique and it is. But that’s where the uniqueness ended.

I was expecting an eerie, atmospheric read, they’re resurrecting dead for God’s sake, it supposed to be spooky and interesting but what I got is another story that involves romance, politics and intrigues. I know most books such as this one can have them, they’re not necessarily cliche BUT the writing made it like reading this is a chore and that I’m better picking up another book with the same issues.

Don’t get me wrong I still like the idea of the Necromancer but my love for it is buried under frustrations. See there is no silver lining in this book. Nothing to be excited about. The only thing to guess is who would betray who, like who’s the real bad people. And we’ve read that so many times before. If there would be twist in the future, I didn’t read any foreshadowing about it.

And if the pacing in the second book would still be like this, TOO SLOW, I’m gonna stop reading by the second chapter because really you can see if the pace would be good. This story went on like a freaking diary. A DIARY: No make it an hour-to-hour account of Naya’s supposedly interesting life. An example is here: I spent reading Chapter 2 until chapter 4 with Naya still in the same place listening to stories of who’s and whys and hows.

That’s maybe too spoilery and I warned you, didn’t I? But I have to make a point. The pacing is soooooo slow and it goes on like that till the end. Like I said nothing to be excited about while reading, sure interesting things happen sometimes but they’re not enough. I needed more of the Necromancy thing, like I wanna see it in full power or maybe REAL, SCARY THING ABOUT IT, I don’t want to wait for Book 2 to see interesting things. I think it’s a mistake for making book 1 as sorta just a setup for the whole series. The Romance didn’t even make up for it.

The characters? Do I love any of them? NO? Do I wanna see them again? maybe.. I’m not a snob, even if I didn’t find a person interesting in first meeting, I’d still want to meet them, but I wouldn’t make an effort to do so. Know what I mean? Naya, our heroine, is really uninteresting, it seems to me that she does things all based on what others said. i’m not even sure what she’s fighting for? I’m not sure of her principles aside from what her father’s led her to believe. Where’s her backbone anyway? Maybe she lost it when she became a wraith. Wraiths have no bodies anyway.

LILI, that’s RUDE!!!!

And she whines a lot. Even her inner monologues are filled with questions and whining.

I did like their expressions such as: ‘Creator guide you’ or ‘What in creations…’ I think that’s very unique in its own way.

Overall, this book has a HUGE potential, that’s why I gave it 3 stars despite my complains. The main problem is the pacing. I wish, really wish, it can be edited and omit those scenes I don’t need to read. And maybe add something more from book 2. That’s just my opinion and maybe I shouldn’t be giving opinions like this but I really wanna love this one. The main concept was very unique. I liked it. Thank God somebody had thought of a concept about the Undead that are not vampires. See how amazing is that?

I’m sorry this review is longer than my other reviews and filled with rants. But I needed to be honest.

I had a hard time getting into this book, and ended,up skimming some sections. For me the first half dragged. While I ended,up enjoying the story I never connected with the characters. Naya was completely flat for me. And the world building needed more. Really the whole book needed more. What was a great idea lacked in execution.
2.5 stars

An interesting story with a unique magic system, Twice Dead is about a young woman who has to become a reluctant spy for her kingdom Talmir, when she is resurrected as a wraith. Initially trusting and obedient, she soon realizes that maybe the people she is working for don't exactly have honorable intentions towards the kingdom (Ceramor) she is being asked to spy upon. Also, coming from a place that hates necromancy to being in a place where necromancy is considered a way of life is a cultural adjustment for her, which fuels her initial enthusiasm for her missions, but soon she has to accept that she is now one of the undead.

The book's highlight is the way it describes the world - the author builds it subtly yet concisely. The four kingdom system, the balance of the power between them, and the different values that led to the original conflict and what is threatening the peace now. The magic system works on runes that enable things to channel aether, or to raise the dead as undead bodies, or as wraiths, who have much more powers and can affect the flow of aether. Coming from Talmir, Naya views the latter use as abominations to nature, and she slowly comes to accept herself as a person, and not just a monster. Additionally, she also has to realize the negative propaganda that Talmir spreads against Ceramor. Besides her, the other characters of significance are Lucia and Corten - the former is the one who raised her, and whom she has a contentious relationship with, and the latter is another wraith who guides her through her new way of life, and who she falls in love with.

The disappointment came with the actual spying - it isn't until halfway through the book that she even goes on her first mission that, well, doesn't exactly go as she had thought. The first half is just her learning how to wraith, and being a dutiful daughter and countrywoman by learning combat and spy skills. And after that, her skills come to use, but she is not exactly a spy - a person to help break and enter, at most? The relationship between the two countries is also mostly painted in broad strokes, and is very black and white about things - Talmir is the intolerable one itching for another war, and Ceramor is the victim that is still recovering from the last one and chafing against restrictions. For a political plot, it was pretty straightforward, and I expected more to it. The other two countries are pretty much footnotes, and used to wrap up the ending. Speaking of the ending, it felt like it was dragging on after the climax just to set up events for the next book - something that could have been built up before instead of leaving it after an anxiety-inducing battle.

Overall - it is an interesting plot, and has solid world-building, but it needed a better flow to it. Nevertheless, it is a good start to the series.

Necromancy. Wraiths. I set my expectations pretty high for this book considering the blurb for it. It sounded complex and uniquely set apart from other YA Fantasy novels that are coming out in this genre. I could not wait to dive in and unravel the first part of this series.

Naya is traveling with her father to a foreign country, Ceramor, that houses a community that accepts necromancy which is forbidden in her country of Talmir. Upon reaching their destination, Naya is murdered and transformed into a creature she was raised to abhor in order to spy on her country.

Ok, I think this book is mainly a foundation for the sequels to come. Do I like that aspect? No, it needed more. More world building, more character development, more challenges – I could go on. If you were sitting with me right now, you’d see the obvious disappointment written on my face because I wanted more substance out of this novel.

Naya’s voice needs to grow stronger, powerful. She has the capability to being a strong character. Do not save your character’s development for future books. Plant the seeds in the first book and allow them to sprout! I waited and waited for sprouting. Nothing. Same goes for the world building. But, I digress….

The series has potential. It truly does, but if you don’t have growth or take the time to go deeper into a world’s history – then that potential goes right out the window. Try this book, but don’t set your allow your expectations to go through the roof.

I received an e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Truthfully, I try not to DNF books but I really tried reading this but I've couldn't get into the it or connect.

I try rereading this maybe in the future.

"The stories varied, but one fact remained the same: the undead weren't human anymore, no matter how well they faked it."

Besides being drawn in by the cover, I was initially pulled into the story by the unique summary. There's not many Young Adult books that dabble in the paranormal, in the sense of wraiths and reapers and necromancy. I've always been interested in the world of necromancy, and to me, it's no surprise that my favorite part of this book was the concept of necromancy.

Necromancy is communicating with the dead, which is part of Lucia's specialty. Lucia is the one who brings Naya back from the dead. Well, brings her back in the form of a wraith, an undead being that needs aether to basically live. Raising the dead in this story involves runes that are etched onto bonds, or even solid objects, such as a furnace. The concept of runes and aether were a delightful surprise. Both had a strong presence in the novel, as both played a huge role in Naya's new life (and secret life). There were not a ton of scenes that involved raising the dead, but there was enough to satisfy the reader while also staying true to Naya's story.

Naya, the main character, after being raised from the dead, finds out that she was only raised for one thing: to be a spy for her country. She never wanted to become a wraith, nor did she wanted to get tangled up in murder and dangerous plots. She never expected to die. The idea of using a wraith as a spy was very intriguing and definitely different from many stories. Being undead fit well for Naya, as I feel if she was still alive, there would not be a need for her story. As the reader, I saw her struggle with coming to terms of what she has become, while also staying linked to her past. Even so, I unfortunately did not see a lot of character development on her end. Naya was interesting, but there were times where she focused more on doing what she was told instead of following her instincts. Or she would do something drastic without weighing the consequences, which are mistakes we all made, but she seemed to make them over and over. She has a vast amount of potential, just like the story, so I hope to see more of her development as an individual in the second book.

Corton, though, was a great character. He had a lot of backstory and played a huge role in Naya's life, even if she was not aware of it. Him being the love interest was pretty obvious, but nothing wrong with that. I thought the two characters worked well together and had strong chemistry. There were a few scenes where you could feel the tension between Naya and Corten; those are some of my favorite scenes in books because it truly captures what it's like to interact with someone who emotionally affects you.

Overall, the storyline is strong. There are some areas where it will feel like the story is dragging on, but I promise, there are some really amazing scenes in Twice Dead. The political plots and necromancy are two sturdy topics in the book, which really make for a fun and unique story. The world building is absolutely breathtaking and very descriptive; it's a world unlike any other. Even though I wasn't the biggest fan of Twice Dead, I do plan on continuing this series. I love the idea of necromancy and I want to see how Naya develops in the second book.

I recommend this book for those who enjoy paranormal and unique stories in the YA genre.

This book had the potential to be a good story but it failed, at least for me.
I didn't feel invested in the story, some parts were too boring and the characters didn't have enough depth. Emotionally I felt nothing, so I couldn't care less about anyone and anything.

The afterlife is mysterious enough, but when the supernatural power of necromancy is introduced and thus the ability to bring someone back from that place, it becomes the potential basis for an incredible story.

Twice Dead did not sound like it would be an epic tale of magic and the Undead, but I certainly thought that I was going to have a fun read. Naya, the daughter a sea merchant & his apprentice for the last two years, enters the world of wraiths and walking corpses when she's mysteriously killed on a solo mission for her father. Snappy concept, right? I thought so, until I started to read the text.

Twice Dead drops the reader in at a rather rough place and expects them to catch on quickly. Up to the point where I read, not much was explained  as far as why necromancy was so feared and hated other than a very brief mention of a long ago Undead army uprising. Some cursory explanations started cropping up, basic religious reasoning, but it was very surface level stuff that didn't seem to hold much weight. However, from where the book begins, the way people are talking and acting, it felt like the reader is supposed to have a much deeper knowledge of the inner workings of the world's history than they did.

Another problem I had was the characterization. It was quite bland, so much so that I was unable to foster a connection with any of the characters. I didn't care what was happening to any of them, even a quarter of the way into the book. Naya, the main character, was not only difficult to connect with, but hard to understand. Her personality was all over the place, illustrated by many instances of her exhibiting behavior that was contradictory from one moment to the next.

Naya didn't seem able to hold onto her own feelings, often being influenced by those around her.  It seems this applied to emotions as well, such as anger at her situation. Being brought back from the dead was bad enough as it was a profane act against her faith, so I would think it would also be a traumatic event, coupled with being abandoned by her father who left when she didn't return from the mission he sent her on. However, after a split second of bitterness, she's fine. This among other instances came across as weak character development that allowed Naya to be pushed and pulled along by everyone else rather than making her own choices or having any kind of backbone.

The magic system seemed like it could have been developed well, but it too was just dropped on the reader without much foundation. The runes that Naya saw on everything from vehicles to lamps to vests to animated corpses, they seemed to power just about anything they were written on. If there was any basis for this system, it wasn't evident in any meetings that Naya had with the ambassador who's teaching her to be a spy or the necromancer who brought her back.

Twice Dead has some potential and might find some fans out there than don't mind slower reads or that don't put much stake in characters. This book, in short, is not for me and probably best described as "meh".

The main character finds herself dead and yet she is brought back to life and becomes a spy. She must decide to either betray the man she loves or fight for her country. This was a great premise but for me the chracters fell flat for me unfortunately. It has a lot of potential. I might revisit this author at another time.

I believe, for me, the biggest problem with this novel was that it felt generally directionless. On top of that I couldn't connect to the characters either. Incredible, compelling leads might've pulled this off, but Naya simply couldn't for me.

It took me a while to get set myself to writing this review, because I simply didn't care enough about this book. Not in a bad way, and not in a good way.

The main character, Naya, didn't have any sort of goal at all. She does mostly what other people tell her. Yes, she does a whole lot of questioning those orders, pages and pages of doubt, but she does everything anyway. Most of the story, she's in the dark about everything that's going on, and reading it feels like I'm trapped in her head-- which is not a nice place, with all the angst about being a wraith. By the time she does actually do something, I've already given up on thinking of her as an active part of the plot.

Her love interest, Corten... well, there's nothing much to say about him. He's a boy wraith. He's kind and angsty too. Needless to say, the romance didn't work for me.

Honestly the only character that seemed remotely interesting at the start was the ambassador, but he disappeared off-screen for 80% of the book and (spoiler) turned out to be a caricature villain.

Also the whole necromancy hatred from Naya's country... I understand it on a visceral level, but honestly, wraiths are so useful. They're not zombies, not stinky, decomposing reanimated corpses. They look exactly like they did before death (unless they wish to change their appearance), they are solid (unless they wish not to be), don't need to eat or sleep and are remarkably difficult to kill (again). They age, but I bet they don't get arthritis or rotten teeth either. They just cannot get children anymore, or be necromancers. Why isn't half the population a wraith? It sounds like an excellent deal.

Either way, I don't think this book was for me. Too narrow, too flat. If I read a book as narrow in scope as this, I want it to be three times as deep and hard-hitting to make up for that. But it wasn't.