This was an enjoyable read for me. The synopsis was engaging and the cover is super badass. Fantasy is one of my most read genres so with that being said this would fall into the average category for me. It was well done but didn't necessarily stand out for me.

Finally something just a little different. Here you have Necromancers and Reapers fighting each other due to an ancient feud. Enter Nyx a Necromancer raised Reaper who while trying to find a killer runs into Erebus a hunter that does not remember his past. The two are brought together and find they share a bond that others want to use. This story has some great action and I enjoyed the many types of magic happening along with all the different worlds. There is a huge supporting cast and trying to keep them all straight can be an bit much but the characters were endearing once you kept the straight in your head. The ending felt a bit rushed and I also wish there was more to the ending but overall this was a very good book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Nyx is a necromancer turned reaper. Part of an exclusive but shunned family who have all abandoned their roots, they hunt down creatures created by her own kind. But Nyx is so much more, she just doesn't know it yet.

This world is much different from our own, although it looks very similar. It harbors all kinds of supernatural beings. From zombies to fairies, reapers and necromancers have an ancient rivalry. And Nyx is just doing her job, protecting people by essentially killing rogue necromancers and their pets. That is, until out on a mission, she meets a young man named Erebus.

He's unlike anything she's ever met, in a good way, mostly. But things go so much deeper than it seems at first glance. They're fated for so much more life than they're living, which is kind of funny considering Erebus's predicament.

This book completely captured me from the moment I picked it up. I'm a huge sucker for supernatural books like these, and this one is such a good example. Gory and scary in all the right places. I got to know the characters well enough by the end of the book that I felt upset when I had to move onto something else.

All the lore, all the backstory, was really well planned out and laid out nicely for you to absorb. Everything was really well written and described as well. I had no problem getting right into it and speeding through. Definitely check it out if you get the chance!

Relic and Ruin had a very interesting synopsis. I was really intrigued about this world of Reapers and Necromancers, but I am sad to say this book was not for me. It is a multi-perspective story, mainly from Nyx and Erebus point of view. One is a reaper the other a necromancer, their fates collide when they literally crash into each other when they both are hunting the same monster and the story unfolds from there and their futures are uncertain.
While this story had some amazing ideas and I had high hopes for it, I found that several plot points were not completely developed. We would get the main idea but there would be plot holes throughout and some things did not make sense. I wanted a lot more world developing in this story. There was quite a lot of action and twists, but we did not spend a lot of time on it, we would just jump to the next big reveal. I wanted more description and to be pulled into the story, but I found all this jumping jarring and it left the story lacking for me. With all the jumping I felt that I did not get to know the character’s, I did not develop any feelings for them negative or positive. Finally, there were several side characters in this story, and based on their description, I thought they represented characters from other stories like the mad hatter, but I am not sure why or the purpose or if that is even true. Overall, this story was not for me, and I wanted a lot more answers and a world that was really laid out and detailed than this story gave me.
Trigger warnings: death of a child, gore, bloodshed
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Rating: 4.5/5
I received this eARC from Netgalley for my honest review

In Relic and Ruin you will learn the story about Nyx and Erebus, two completely different people, from different worlds that are drawn to each other after they meet for the first time. In their world they are surrounded by necromancers and reapers, one can bring life back and the other can take it away. These two are thrown together and must learn about what they really are and what powers they have and master them before the other beings that are lurking in the shadows come and take them away. Can the Relic and Ruin piece together their meaning to the world and what their purpose is before it's too late.

I really enjoyed that this was a unique plot, and to have all the subplots that were interwoven into the storyline. One of my favorite parts of the book that the author did was the SC to have them being part of fairy tales that most have grown up to love. I just adored the Hatter so much, but it wasn’t just fairytale characters, but also characters that were from a variety of mythologies as well. All the SC had their own every important part of the storyline with the MC.

The MC Nyx is a true badass! I love that she doesn’t take anything from anyone and fights for what she believes is right. I also love that Wendi made her into a character that you really can connect with. Nyx is one of the many characters that you will get sucked into loving. Erebus, at first, I was like me, but once his storyline started to come out more and you really got to understand him you will see what an amazing MC he is and you would love to have him as your friend.

The world building is what I loved the most in this book. McIver knows how to write a fantastic fantasy, The mythologies and folklore that she took inspiration from all over the world and built a multi-dimensional world which was incredible. The attention to all details, large and small, really helped to build these characters and the plot making it into something that will grab you and won't get off your mind even after reading this book. I can not wait to see what the sequel to this story will have for us.

I want to thank Netgalley, Wendi McIver and Wattpad for allowing me the chance to review this book.

I expected this to be dark but I found it unnecessarily dark. This is not the type of story I would feel good about handing to a student. The world is dark enough no reason to add this into their fun reading. Not recommended for school libraries. There is better horror our there that causes less concern. I do appreciate the warnings at the front of the book.

Holy shit. I won’t lie, I was bored for parts of this book but that ending??? I am genuinely so excited to read the rest of this series.

I will say that some of the characters that were introduced (especially with her family) were too much to keep track of and didn’t actually play a role- I wish less time had been devoted to them and more time to character development for our heroes. But otherwise? I was engaged and ready to see what happened next.

When the world of Necromancers and Reapers comes to a tipping point, Nyx and Erebus become the catalysts that could save it—or destroy it in Relic and Ruin by Wendii McIver

When Nyx pistol-whips a strange boy on a hunt and steals his locket, she hardly realises she's set off a chain reaction that will upend her life as she knows it. As a Lahey, Nyx has spent her entire life being shunned by other Reapers, and doing her best to diminish her Necromantic powers, when the council reveals that she must embrace them in order to save the world. Following her on this journey had its emotional highs and lows as she faces constant obstacles and loss before she can become a true Relic. As a whole, Nyx is a very trusting character. She accepts most of what she's told without pushback, including going to a separate dimension and her Relic status, while she's also incredibly strong throughout it all.

On his side, Erebus is on a quest to fill the holes in his memory. When the council approaches him with a promise to do just that, he can't help but follow. He is mildly more dubious about the whole thing than Nyx is, but his rapidly resurfacing previous life stamps out any doubts. Like Nyx, he becomes a bit of a tragic character as he also faces loss both old and new, during Relic and Ruin.

With alternating POVs, we get the full scope of Erebus and Nyx's character arcs and, more importantly, feelings towards each other. Their relationship develops slowly, almost uncertainly, in a way that allowed me to savour it. In fact, I wasn't even sure where it was going for most of the book which made the ending of the book even more exciting.

While their relationship is central to the story, it does take a step back to allow the plot to shine. McIver grips her readers in the first few scenes and she keeps that going throughout the book. While it does have some pacing problems here and there, the mounting tension more than makes up for them, as does how intriguing the whole thing is. Relic and Ruin was not straightforward like I expected, instead McIver embellishes the classic 'YA protagonist is whisked away to save the world' in a way that makes it stand out, which she also does with the world she builds.

Relic and Ruin by Wendii McIver is set in a world where Necromancers and Reaper fight each other for eternity, but there is also so much more. Taking inspiration from folklore all over the world, Wendii McIver builds a multi-dimmensional world with at least three dimension. The one in between, where most of the action takes place, is expansive and incredibly immersive. McIver's descriptions bring everything to life without weighing the book down, and make me want to know so much more about it all.

McIver's writing is fantastic, especially considering she's a debut author. It's descriptive in places but punchy in others and overall very engaging in a way that never bored me. I was surprised to find out Relic and Ruin started on Wattpad, as McIver takes the clichés that can bog those types of stories down and turns them into strengths.

Finally, I enjoyed Relic and Ruin by Wendii McIver immensely. Even weeks later, I can't get it out of my head and I cannot wait to read the sequel. The characters and the lore in particular have stayed with me, while that ending had me on edge for day afterwards. If the blurb intrigues you even a little, I cannot recommend this book enough!

I think this book has a lot of potential but, in my opinion, needs a lot of work. There were a lot of characters that I couldn't differentiate from one another. The world itself was super interesting but again there was just so much I couldn't wrap my mind around.

4/4,5 ⭐️

Reapers and Necromancers. I’m blown away by the lore and storyline. The lore had classic fairytale influences but McIver made them completely her own. The history and backstory are so well thought out and compelling. I felt for and got my heart broken even for the minor characters. Relic and Ruin is a very fast-paced, keep-you-on-your-toes, incredibly entertaining adventure. The editing and pacing were perfectly done and the action scenes were captivating. I simply adored the dynamic of these characters. The story follows a lot of pivotal characters and there were a lot of necessary but still a lot to take in info dump. Coupled with the fast pacing, they made the book slightly confusing to follow around 25% into the book. I have to admit she lost me with the writing at times. As I said, there were a lot of info dumps which I understand is needed for the first book of any series, but more often than not, it was more on the telling rather than the showing. Overall a very suspenseful and intriguing story and I cannot wait for the rest.

A Charming Tale - Bogged Down by Erroneous Detail

Typically, I LOVE an expansive fantasy novel. With colorful characters and rich world-building...
Relic and Ruin is not that.

That's not to say that it isn't an engaging read, it simply feels underdeveloped. Or developed in the wrong ways.

The story takes an excellent premise: Necromancers and Reapers policing the paranormal in order to keep the mundanes safe - but falls flat of trying it all neatly together. For example: the main characters Nyx and Erebus both belong to very distinctly different family groups that are clearly inspired by ancient mythology. But that is where the name symbolism starts and ends. A missed opportunity. Instead, we find ourselves with an excessive cast of characters who are extremely difficult to keep straight and are barely instrumental to the larger story. Plus, we get an abundance of backstory where it isn't really needed.

It is clear that Wendii McIver spent a lot of time on her novel and is excited to share everything she can about the world she's built and the characters in it. However engaging, her passion is not enough to keep the story from being predictable.

I give this one a 3/5 because the characters that were developed were extremely likable and the story kept me just engaged enough to both finish it and be cautiously optimistic that we'll see improvements in future books (despite any audible groans or eye-rolling on my part through this first installment).

While I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this one, I am rooting for Wendii and will keep an eye out for future releases as she continues to develop her style.

A tale as old as time...brother against brother (just like Cain and Abel)...the first Necromancer (Neco) and the first Reaper (Grim) have started a long war between Reapers and Necromancers. Nyx Lahey and Erebus Salem must work together as the Banshee and the Wraith to make sure Neco will not wake. Because then, the whole world, not just the Otherworlds, will be in trouble.
I think I may have liked this better had I had a copy on audio. Good story and obviously this has the makings of a strong series, but I think I would have been more interested if I had listened.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for an e-arc of this novel.*

The beginning of this book is really what captivated me. We start off this book with a brief history run down of the original stories of Grimm and Neco - the first grim reaper and the first necromancer. The intro felt very similar to the Deathly Hallows story from Harry Potter. That is one of my favorite scenes from the movies and so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lovely, simple, and read perfectly as an ancient tale.

Relic and Ruin has everything a fiction lover enjoys- Greek mythology, Disney references, Grimms Fairytales, a little bit of it all. Usually, that might worry some people, I did at first, as it leads to possibilities of a non linear plot line and confusion. However, McIver did a wonderful job in combining several different lores. The only way I can see it being confusing for people is if you didn't understand the references. It's similar to finding Easter Eggs in movies. If you catch the reference, it's super fun. If you don't, it might just go right over your head or you may have to reach out to Google. That being said, the references she makes are pretty well known and hard to miss.

It was very hero vs villain driven. We know our heroes and their villainous counterparts from the start. McIver makes this book very easy to digest. World building is received as the story and our MC progresses. The only problems I felt were dialogue, the chapter headings, and Erebus' story. Starting with dialogue, this isn't a problem everyone is going to have. For me, at 25, it was just a bit juvenile for my taste. That is obviously completely understandable considering the audience. Anyone under 18 is not going to have a similar issue at all. It's funny, witty, and very much young. If you are an older audience, it might make you crinkle your nose every now and then.

As for chapter headings, I just wish they held more importance to the story line. Each chapter starts out with a phobia and its definition. I found them interesting, don't get me wrong. At the beginning they seemed to maybe play a part in what was going on with the mc and the story's progression but as we got further into the book they just seemed to be random add in's. Would have been way more exciting if they had been involved with he plot of the book. Considering how much this book has going on, it is understandable. Which brings me to slight issue number three of mine, Erebus' family story line. I felt like everything happened so quickly in this book. This is what held me back from being completely mind blown by this book. We started off so well, truly building an incredibly unique world. It had depth. It was well thought out. It was impressive.

About mid way through I feel like we lost the purpose of the book. I think if we had been focussed on the mystery and adventure of figuring out Erebus' past, we could have lead into a second book very cleanly. The second half of this book should have been the entire second book in my opinion. It felt to rushed otherwise and a bit anti-climatic. Book one's focus on the original tale of Neco and Grim, the association and legend of the Relics to that original tale, their progression to their role, the building threat, and Erebus' mystery life should have been it all. Bridge breaking being the cliff hanger. They are very good, enticing plot lines and it still worked. I just feel that if we had got the separation and extension of these plot lines, it would have made the series even better. That is just my opinion of course and I repeat, this book was not heavily lacking because of these choices. I would still be interested as to where we go from here and how long of a series this may be. At this point, I feel like it might be best as a duology. Also!! You guys, this author is YOUNG. her potential is unfathomable. I am excited and proud for her.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me the ability to read this book!

Reviews Posted on Goodreads and Storygraph May 31, 2022

I went into this one really excited about the concept but was let down at every turn. Full disclosure I did not finish this book but trust me, I really tried.

The writing in this book was bad, and I don’t usually notice when there are mistakes or inconsistencies, but from the first page, I was having a hard time getting through this. The intro was super choppy and had little flow to it, causing me to focus on other things and come out of the story. The rest of what I did read was not great either the sentences and structure were all over the place, and I truly had a hard time getting through even a page.

The world-building was also not great. In the first five pages, the author repeated the same bit of world-building information five times. I was literally sitting in my room screaming, I get it already. I know this type of metal is important. It also was a lot of throwing world-guiding at your face instead of just learning as the story goes on.

The hardest thing about this book was the sheer amount of characters. I only got about 40 to 50 pages in, and the author introduced like 20-something different characters. This made it extremely difficult to follow along with anything going on. The author would say a character looked over their shoulder or picked something up, and I was like which character because there was no way of knowing. Keeping track of so many characters right off the bat really turned me off from the rest of the book, and I just realized that there was no making it through for me. Also, from the description, I know that I didn’t even get to all the characters and I was feeling very overwhelmed by everything going on.

Overall this book felt like I was reading the first draft, and I was disappointed.

I was so disappointed in how this book turned out. When I started it I was so in love. The magic is so interesting and unique, unlike anything I had read before, and we had these creepy, almost horror like, elements throughout the story. But the book changed around the 50% mark and turned into a weird pop culture bland average ya fantasy romance. I wish that the second half of this book could have kept that same spark that ignited the beginning,

I really struggled with all of the characters. Not only do you have a big family where almost everyone seems important to the story, but also you get the POV of the bad guys and other people not directly important to the main story. I felt pulled around trying to figure out who was talking and why they were important to our main characters. This coupled with the grand magic made me feel like this book should have been much longer and more development put into the world and the characters.

Now I mentioned I loved the magic, and that really was the best part of this book. You focus on two different types - reapers and necromancers - and they hate each other. We follow a family who has both abilities, but really the book focuses on the necromancers' abilities. Even by the end of the story I am still not sure what reapers can actually do..... But I loved seeing the second gifts that the necromancers got along with how they needed to use their gifts constantly.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wattpad publishing for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an exciting ride, and a fast paced one. This book fits into YA and Fantasy categories perfectly. The man characters are well written. The book is also action-packed.

Necromancers and reapers, monsters and zombies abound in this story, as does the clash of good against evil.

Full of action this is a fast paced story that races to its conclusion, while introducing a unique series of worlds and characters.

Unfortunately the sheer number of supporting characters, meant that many needed more development for me to 1) keep the who’s who straight in my head and 2) to invest me in their individual stories.

Overall, an interesting read.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

DNF 33%

I tried, I really did. I’ve been forcing myself to read this book for over a week and a half…that should tell you all you need to know right there. I’m usually a two to three day read max kind of girl. I just couldn’t make myself do it any longer!

The story had promise, an academy for reapers and necromancers? I’m all in for that (hello Crave series!) But unfortunately this read like a first rough draft of someone quite young.

There were SO many characters introduced without any type of fleshing out I couldn’t keep track of anyone outside of the two mains and some had names so similar it was so easy to be confused.

The world building was chaotic and unorganized and again so much was introduced but not explained enough that I didn’t care about it and was made to appear unimportant. And I usually LOVE world building!

All the characters had a pre-teen to teenage type of dialogue even the characters that were supposed to be adults and even ancient beings. It was a bit annoying there was no discernible difference between the different age groups. This is why I think this was written by someone very young.

Over all I wish I could’ve liked this enough to finish it but there’s just too many better books out there for me to continue to force myself to read this. Reading is supposed to be enjoyable and this just wasn’t.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad books for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book spoke to the emo, goth, hot topic wannabe I was in my early teen years. The battle between necromancers and reapers, the angsty romance, the badass heroine all kept me reading. Some of the descriptions almost felt like Nightmare Before Christmas fanfic. As much as I had fun reading this book there is a lot that keeps me from really being able to recommend it. There are so many characters introduced and very little time given to properly fleshing them out. It was hard to really care about individuals that had no real discerning personality traits. There was also A LOT going on, so many plot points were being introduced along with these characters that it became hard to truly follow the story. I think McIver has some really interesting ideas, but she struggled to edit herself and to show patience with building her world and characters. There is enough content shoved into this book to create at one full trilogy, but much of it rushed or glossed over in favor of getting to the next scene. I understand that this was written when she was very young and that is obvious when reading it, but with a strong editor and some revision, McIver has the potential to create a unique dark fantasy series. As it stands now, I can see young teens devouring this, but not necessarily something older teens and adults would appreciate as much.

SUCH creative world building! I had such a great time with this creative and action-packed fantasy! I love the dynamic between the necromancers and the reapers and the story and me tightly in it's clutches the whole way through. It felt like the best sort of modern day story, with an old fairy-tale vibe.