I DNF'ed this about 25% in... The story just loses steam after that and I just completely lost interest

DNF at 70%

Nyx Lahey comes from a family of necromancers that shifted their allegiance many years ago and are now training with the Reapers, even though Reapers and Necros have been enemies for a long time. Erebus Salem is a hunter who also happens to be a kinda ghost since he is dead, but he can still interact with humans and he has a physical body. Erebus lives in Dewmort, the in-between world where souls with unfinished business go. Nyx and Erebus run into each other while chasing an “inbetweener” that is attacking and killing young girls. They end up having to work together to evade an evil one who is looking for ancient relics.

With a cover like that, I was expecting something dark and even gory maybe, but this book is not what I would describe as “dark” or “scary”… There are a few skeletons and zombies here and there, and necromancers can raise the dead, but that’s about it. Honestly, I was quite interested by the story for the first 20%, but after that, I was not really hooked and I had to force myself to continue reading and then I just lost interest after 50% of the book.

The world-building seems to be very interesting, but sadly it was not very detailed and well explained. There are mentions of “inbetweeners” in the first chapter, but it is still not 100% clear for me what exactly is considered an “inbetweener”. The ideas are there, but the execution is lacking. We also don’t have that much information about Dewmort and its functioning, or even about the Hallows. I would have really enjoyed a more detailed and thorough world-building so I could get more into the vibe of the book and the plot.

There are so many characters introduced in the first part of this book! Nyx has like 8 cousins and 2 or 3 aunts (it may be more than that…). I honestly struggled to keep track of all the cousins: which ones were sisters, who were their parents, what special powers they had. They all mixed up at some point because they lacked personality and depth. Some characters were named and thrown into the story with no real purpose and it just made it even harder to keep track of everyone. Most of them don’t have a background story at all and they are quite generic, so I honestly did not get really attached to them. There is definitely room for improvement when it comes to character development.

There are also a lot of creatures in this story, which could have been great, but I am not really sure what some of them have to do with the plot. They are just there and maybe their purpose will become clearer in the next book, but it just added even more information that was not really developed.

Nyx and Erebus could have had an interesting relationship, considering how their first meeting went, but all the combativeness and spunk disappeared quite fast. It feels like they did not really have the time or occasion to get to know each other, and they don’t really have much in common or have a “connection”, but then they suddenly were in love because it was somehow convenient for the plot…

Overall, it all felt a little rushed. The pieces of information are dropped here and there, there is the usual questioning scene that is used as a way to dump information, where Nyx asks Erebus many questions, and of course, he answers them all truthfully even though he does not know her at all and should not be revealing their information to a human. The world-building could use more building and the characters could use more development and depth. There was potential for this book and there are some good ideas, but it is not quite there yet.

I had to force myself to finish this. There were SO MANY characters, I couldn't keep up with all of them, especially Nyx's family. The lore was interesting, but again, I got so confused and couldn't keep up sometimes and it was too hard to try and scroll backwards through my Kindle I gave up. The author said on Goodreads it will be a trilogy, but I won't be reading any more. The book cover is what really pulled me in, but I guess you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

I couldn’t keep up with this. So much going on, so many characters and so much of true magic system that I couldn’t keep up with. I’m sure this would work for loads of other people, but not me or my brain sadly!

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Books for allowing me this arc copy to preview.

Nyx and Erebus meet as they hunt the same creature. They end up becoming much more than that as they become hunted by Bellum.

So I found the premise of Necromancers and Reapers and corporeal ghosts cool.

I enjoyed the action and how the author painted the dark world. There was prejudice and scorn for Nyx's family who are born Necromancers but are Reapers by trade.

The first half of the book was good. I liked that there was a mystery to Erebus the she was trying to solve.

The second half of the book when they get to the Hallows is a bit messy. It's gone from the real world to a third world without much of a hint as to what it is and then Bam! We are dropped into this new world .

I was disappointed that many of the character were named after other characters. I won't say who but they are obvious.

The ending was rushed I thought. It didn't have the same vibe as the front part of the book, which had more of a cohesive feel.

It was an okay read for me. I struggled to finish it despite the fantastic reveals epiphanies.

Thank you again NetGalley and Wattpad Books for this arc copy.

Big thanks to Wendii McIver, Netgalley and Wattpad Books for the eARC in exchange for a review.

I really wanted to like this one. The synopsis sounds so good, the beginning we get the history of reapers and Necromancers, which should be a book all on its own! We meet our MCs, they meet each other in a dark and gritty place, with some tension and trust issues, then things kind of fall flat after that.

My biggest issue with the story is THERE ARE A MILLION AND FIVE SIDE CHARACTERS and it becomes so overwhelming that I literally have no idea who did what and what their relationship to anyone is any more.
There were cousins, aunts, parents, brothers, brothers who come back from the dead, wives who are other people, friends, ghosts, zombies, we go back in time, we go to different realms, through magical doors and back again to meet people, and invisible friends who only one other minor character can even see, who tells part of the story.
Each side character seems to have some significance after we meet them, but their introduction was either so brief, or a side note that when their significant contribution comes along, their relationship to the MCs are lost and their contribution to moving the story along turns out to be nothing.

The book started out so well and would easily have been 5 stars if we only had to keep track of Nyx and Erebus.

bibliophobia-the fear of books… Thank you to the publisher and the author for this book! I loved this book! It was horror/mystery/fantasy. The story follows nyx lahey and her family which are necromancies that attend the reaper academy. Reapers battle to keep the dead at bay and demons. Nyx and family are traitors to their necromancy side bring Erebus who’s somehow dead and doesn’t remember how. This then goes into another world full of history wraiths and banshees This story will keep you up reading all night I loved the plot and the characters. My favorite was the lahey girls all of them and their quirks Read this book!

Relic and Ruin
by Wendii McIver
YA Fantasy
NetGalley ARC


I received an ARC copy of #RelicandRuin through #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and honestly, the blurb was more descriptive, and a lot more interesting than the entire story.

There are two MCs, a boy, Erebus, and a girl, Nyx, one is dead the other is alive, and one is also a necromancer, plus one is also a Wraith and the other is a Banshee. But there are also Reapers in the story along with a bunch of other creatures, but what those other creatures have to do with the story isn't clear except they are there. Maybe in the next book, as this is the first in a series, they have roles to play.

It is a messy mess of words and with all of those words, the plot is everywhere, the characters are generic, I couldn't tell you one from the other except for the MCs, but all the others blur together. Descriptions of the characters, their looks, actions, ways of speech, are general. 'He went to the car with a blue monkey...' that pretty much sums up the details in this story. Some things are described, and others are not.

The cover is cool, evilish/scary looking, but really has nothing to do with the story other than there are a couple of skeletons, and maybe a necklace, I don't remember. (See, nothing is described enough to stand out.) And the story isn't 'evil' or 'scary'.

Yes, it is an ARC, but this ebook needs a major formatting. Sentences ran together, but worse was that the dialogue did too; where one stopped someone else started, and a lot of the time without a space between words just the period and quotes. It got confusing. And I have no idea why there were phobias defined at the start of each chapter. There was no point, no relative event in the chapter that matched the phobia.

The story has potential but it will take some time to go through each paragraph, asking what will make the events, characters, dialogue, come alive so it can reach that potential.

2 stars

I loved the characters in this book. It was extremely well written. I had heard some really good things about this book and it lived up to the expectation. I’m extremely extremely excited and hyped for the release of the next book.

This one was a blast to read. I love the take on a book with elements of one of my very favorite holidays, Día de los Muertos. Thank you to the author Wendi McIver for this epic tale of kick-assery and thank you Wattpad Books publisher for the ARC copy. When this book comes out I hope everyone grabs and enjoys because this one isn't quite like the others (meaning other the fantasy genre) and I mean that as a compliment. If you are looking to read a book with the flair and intrigue of the Kingdom of the Wicked series and characters that make you want to swoon first and ask for their monster identification (or pulse) after–then this book is for you.
The pace may feel a bit quick at first, but it didn't bother me at all. The visuals the author takes your imagination through are a colorful landscape of worlds beyond the natural and there are even a few characters you might recognize from other classic tales with a new take on them that feels completely natural. I LOVED IT ALL, especially considering "Alice's Adventures..." is my all time favorite and Hatter my most favorite of all characters.
The tale revolves around an ageless and ancient feud between necromancers and reapers and the roots of hate that span over centuries. There are being of great power called relics and lets just say... the addition of an Amare (l'amour) bond is a Ben & Jerry's flavor of ice cream my sweet tooth craves every time–a perfectly shy slow burn romance that is as sweet as my mama's homemade pecan pie.
My only bit of constructive criticism is a bit of confusion following how the "relics" gene is passed from one family member to the next. I got a bit tied when trying to figure out the exact timeline, or how long after death, Erebus carried this Relic gene when other relic Amare couples are mentioned through time (i.e. Romeo and Juliet, etc.) Isn't Erebus older than them? If he was carrying the relic gene (even after death) then how did they get it? It wouldn't have passed to them if he still had it. It was a timeline knot for me.
If you are looking for an action packed, character driven, multi POV read with all the making of a series you'll stick around for until the end, then make sure you mark the calendar and/or pre-order before June 2022 release.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review from NetGalley! Thanks! ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

It all started with two brothers—Grim and Neco. Everything is sunny until it turns out that one of them is now out for revenge against the other! Relic and Ruin is a lengthy book for being # 1 in a series, but I don’t mind it. I rather enjoyed reading this book. I liked where the plot was going and how book one came to a close, the scenes were described fairly well, and the characters were pretty alright to follow around that left me pretty satisfied for the most part (Alice was my favorite). I liked to see different phobias mentioned, but I would have liked them to be related to the chapter. So, I hope the final copy will have the phobia relate better. My favorite phobia was the one about having a fear about being watched by a duck (Chapter 19).

I didn’t like that there were so many characters introduced. A lot of information introduced is a lot of information lost by the ending. It did eventually slow down, but each new place needed ten more characters apparently. I didn’t like that the centuries old men were called “boys” in one of the chapters. I think it could have been worded different.

With the characters POV change, I wish there should be a location change name drop in the beginning of the chapter. The scenes/POV jump around a lot and it would be nice if it was clear to where the information swirling in my head can clearly pick out the information I need for the next chapter because a lot of information and detail is thrown in my face. It made it hard to picture the scenes in my head.

Overall, the ending was good and I look forward to the next installment.

Summary and more
Plot - pretty good/Going places
Characters - too many to keep straight
Grammar - fair for ARC
Details - not bad
Story telling - I like it
Clarity - reading through this was alright.
Would I recommend? - sure

I’ll have to check out the book when it’s out for sale and see if it’s different from this ARC copy.

Thanks to NetGalley, and the publisher wattpad books for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


While this held a lot of potential- I was let down. Some wattpad/ao3 stories have amazing chances at becoming full on published books- so I was really excited for this one. It missed the mark, not alot of character building, not a lot of world building. I was left disappointed, personally.

Thank you Net Galley and the Publisher for a free ARC in exchange for honest review.

Initially when I first started reading this book It was right up my alley. The first scene started with a lot of action and was intense. This story involved necromancers and reapers and a long time rivalry between ancient brothers. Nyx and Erebus are relics that if working together contain an enormous amount of magic. They are their worlds best hope at being saved.

As the story progressed I felt that we drifted from this intense modern scary setting to the setting of Halloweentown. I felt that the book started out at more of a mature reading level than turned more into a cartoony rendition of just reapers and necromancers and Aton of other fairy tale creatures. I was able to read the book until the very end but I just felt like the story had no real direction and good character building other than the fact that the two main characters needed work in unison to save their world. I still enjoyed parts of this book at times I just felt like the overall story was not very interesting and got worse as the book went on.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review from NetGalley.

Full transparency - I DNFed this book at 61%.
Short Review - Would I recommend this book? No. Unless you enjoy reading Wattpad fantasy books or have enjoyed other Wattpad Books publications.

Long Review:
When I saw this book on NetGalley, I was drawn in by the graphic cover and the summary. Relic and Ruin is set in a world ruled by Necromancers and Reapers who have been in conflict for millennia. This particular story follows Nyx, a necromancer who's family has sided with the Reapers, and Erebus, a ghostly hunter who remembers nothing of his life before. The pair are vessels for powerful beings call the Wraith and the Banshee. Naturally the villain seeks to control their power to raise the original Necromancer (Neco) and destroy the Reapers. Nyx and Erebus will need to master their powers quickly to save the world.
I hoped that this book would by similar to Scythe. A YA horror/fantasy novel with great world building and great pacing.

The story has some original and interesting elements, like the magic system. I also found the various realms and factions interesting. I also thought the villain, Bellum the Young God, was promising. These elements are overshadowed by the weaknesses outlined below.

The first of the weaknesses is a fault of my own, not the author's or publishers. I should have looked closer at the book before I requested it. It is being published by Wattpad Books, after the the story was published there (5.5m reads, 3346 votes, and 146 chapters). I've read a lot of web-published writing on Fanfiction.net , Archive of Our Own, Wattpad, FictionPress, etc and it's really obvious that this book began as a young girl's hobby. Have I read worse of all of the websites listed above: yes. Is this book better than everything I've read on those websites, absolutely not.

The plot is a mish-mash of ideas and scene strung together with a kitchen sink's worth of ideas thrown in. There's superfluous world building and too much telling instead of showing. There is a section in which you are provided the backstories of the various side characters that have been introduced in the previous chapter. Instead of information dumping, I would rather have a mini-chapter or scene that show me the character's background and then only include that information if it moves a piece of the story along. The biggest killer in this book is the pacing. At 60% of the way though, we have just at Nyx and Erebus training their relic powers. The previous 59% was filled with backstory, world building and a completely pointless school scene.
It really shows that the story was written chapter by chapter with either a rough plan or no plan for where this was going.

The characters are relatively straightforward- Nyx borders on the MarySue trope and Erebus embodies the dark and mysterious archetype. There is little depth to their characters beyond their generally badass-ness. Their interactions, especially in the second half of the book feel forced and the inevitable YA romance comes out of literally no-where.

I also wondered as I was reading, if this book was going to be part of a series, as it wasn't labeled as a series on goodreads or Netgalley. In my experience YA books that are the 1st in a series tend to be more heavily focused on world building to set up the later book. Turns out- that yes this is the first book in a series.

I have to say I adored this book! Thank you so much #netgalley, for allowing me to read this eArc of #RelicandRuin by #WendiiMcIver. I love the story of Erebus and Nyx! I love the way they followed the story of Grim and Neco and their families through the centauries. The story follows descendants of Neco and Grim who are the originals that eventually in a way destroy each other and so their power is passed through to others in their stead called Relics and Ruins. The most powerful of the Relic and Ruins are Amore. Mortem is an interesting character, he seems like he would be not a wonderful person but I actually really liked him and he is a very powerful Necromancer. The story follows Reapers, Necromancers, Seers and several other types of supernatural beings. Its a great book I can't wait for it to come out so I can purchase!!!!!

Thank you to Wattpad Books and NetGalley for providing a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Relic and Ruin tells the story of Nyx and Erebus, two unusual people in an already unusual world. Surrounded by necromancy and 'reaping' - where one side can bring the dead back to life while the other can cut them dead - this novel has one of the most interesting and well developed magic systems in recent fantasy. With subplots that offer relevant and enjoyable distractions from the main narrative, the story is, for the most part, well paced. The ending could have been slightly more fleshed out yet it didn't feel as though anything was missing, just that more would have been welcomed.

Side characters such as Chasity, Alice, Damon and Hatter offer intrigue yet are never fully realised enough which can be rectified in future novels within the series however, within Relic and Ruin, they do tend to lack punch.

While the magic system is incredible and we see a lot of world building - and without info-dumping, too - there is so much going on within each world, be it Dewmort, Earth or the Hallows that there will be so much still to discover in subsequent novels to fully create these exciting worlds.

Ultimately this was an incredible read and one which could not be put down and the other novels in the Born From Chaos saga will definitely highly anticipated. An easy contender for book of the year.

I wanted to DNF this book about 25% into it honestly but I forced myself to finish it. Everything is rushed and messy. Way to many characters are thrown at you. Way to many worlds. It's to short of a book to try and cram that much into it. I like the idea of the story but it wasn't done very well sadly. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC to read and review.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

Man, I don't have much to say about this book because I couldn't make it past 20%. I didn't feel any connection to the characters after a certain point and found myself just not really caring what happened next. This books description sounded right up my alley but I don't think the authors writing clicked for me.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

This book sounded quite interesting, but once I started reading it, I had to force myself to keep going. I lost interest so quickly. It had potential—it just didn’t meet it.

Nyx (18) and Erebus (21) could have been good together, and occasionally they were. Their first meeting had a good combative spark, but it fizzled out for the rest of the book. They didn’t have much chemistry after that, nor did it seem like they really had an opportunity to get to know each other. And then they were suddenly in love when it became pertinent to the story. The villains were so . . . dastardly and melodramatic, overdone.

In fact, that’s how the writing felt—overdone, like it was trying too hard to be epic. It just didn’t work for me.

Perhaps there could be a second book, but I don’t know. I don’t think it needs one.

Note: Some swearing, quite a few f words.

Note: Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for allowing me access to this arc!

My Review
Right from the start ("In the Beginning”), I knew this book was going to be a fast-paced book that I wouldn't be able to put down. And boy, was I right! Relic and Ruin is an exciting adventure that I had no problem sliding through.
This book fits into the YA and Fantasy categories perfectly. So if that is what you are looking for, then read on! Now I need to add the author's other books to my tbr.

The Good Things
1. The main characters are all written well.
2. I want to mention that the relationships between the necromancers and reapers are intriguing and definitely add a bit more dimension to the overall book. It's an interesting relationship dynamic and certainly one that I have not seen written before.
3. I also love the monsters and zombies that are mixed into the chaos. Talk about exceptional world-building.
4. The book is fast-paced and action-packed. 


The Bad Things
1. I SPED through this book, which in my opinion, is a good thing! Others may see it as a bad thing, as they may want a book with a bit more UMPH that isn't so rushed.
2. Some of the supporting characters are a bit lackluster.
3. The last chapter was NOT my favorite. However, it did leave me wanting to read the next book in the series! I suppose that is the point, though. 


My Final Rating:
☆☆☆☆ (Goodreads)
☆☆☆☆ (Blog)