This book was almost too much but the writing was SO GOOD it just kept you hurtling forward into that 'wtf is going on' GOOD space that truly creative and ambiguous and NEW world building takes you to. I LOVED this book.

Saint Death’s Daughter, by C.S.E. Cooney, is a complicated book to review. It is a clunker of a story with an almost 700-page count, and it has a strange identity that is going to be very appealing to a small niche of people but will frustrate a broader audience. Ultimately, its biggest point of contention is the book is trying to straddle two foci: dark humor and family drama. If you like these two subjects then this book might be a real hidden gem, but I suspect many readers will leave these pages confused.

Lanie Stones, short for Miscellaneous, is the daughter of the royal assassins of a backwater court and a burgeoning necromancer. Her family lives in a realm beneath the notice of the surrounding powerhouse countries, but it has a lot of natural resources making political intrigue a daily matter. Lanie’s less-than-idyllic childhood is turned upside down when her parents get assassinated themselves and she and her reviled older sister try to step into their parents’ shoes to keep the house from being taken by the ultimate evil, bankers. The story bounces around from point to point unpredictably as plans and plots come and go, and we get to watch Lanie develop from a timid reclusive child to a powerful necromancer taking charge. It is a wild ride, but not made for everyone.

Something that was not immediately apparent to me when I first began my time with this book is that Saint Death’s Daughter feels like a dark comedy first and a narrative second. There is a plot, winding though it might be, but it is definitely second fiddle to the pervasive dark humor of the book. The humor takes the form of tons of little bells and whistles in the story that give it a clever atmosphere. Lanie has an allergy to death, despite being a necromancer, so anytime she sees someone experience physical harm or discomfort she gets terrifying and funny little echoes of the effect. There is a ton of lore dumping, but most of it is in the form of the family history of the ridiculously named Stones. All of Miscellaneous’ ancestors are named things like “Death Incarnate Stones, Apocalypse Stones, Sunday Delight Stones,” and as we learn their names we often get a poignant story about their hilarious demise as well. The book also launches into developing a robust map of cultures and people early and you will find yourself bogged down by seemingly “useless” information about other places not relevant to the plot.

Except, the little vignettes and colorful commentary about people near and far seem to be the actual core of the book. It all cohesively comes together, but the point is less setting up places for the cast to explore and more giving Cooney lots of opportunities to make witty observations about the human condition. To be clear, I think Cooney is good at this. There are tons of witty remarks and metaphors that made me smile. It’s just that Saint Death’s Daughter doesn’t have the breezy layout that something like Terry Pratchett’s work does and it can absolutely feel like being hit by a landslide of facts.

Added to this is the aforementioned plot that is competing for the spotlight. Lanie and her sister are drawn into a series of quests to try to save their home and escape death. All of this highlights the extremely tense relationship that Lanie had with her deceased parents, living relatives, and necromantic ancestors that still haunt her as a necromancer. We get to see Lanie’s very believable coming-of-age story and character development through key events in her childhood. The problem I found is that these events feel more like a skeleton draft of themes than a cohesive narrative. We jump from point to point and all I see are the themes Cooney was hoping to explore, not the meaty story to connect them like muscle on a skeleton. Lanie is a wonderful protagonist, with some very believable growth, but I have a hard time feeling invested in her when alternating between overwhelming info dumps and bare-bones story moments.

I am sure that Saint Death’s Daughter will be someone’s favorite book, it just wasn’t mine. Its unique blend of dark humor and coming-of-age necromancer family drama is very original and I had fun despite my difficulties. If you like a focus on observational humor about the human condition but also want a narrative north star to work towards, Saint Death’s Daughter might be your hidden gem.

Rating: Saint Death’s Daughter – 6.5/10
-Andrew

Enjoyable, great pacing, exciting settings kept me hooked. Fun novel that will be the perfect to lose yourself in. Thank you Net Galley for ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Whoa, this is such a spellbinding novel that seamlessly weaves together elements of fantasy, mythology, and folklore. The story follows the life of a young woman named Rhea, who is caught up in a deadly game of power and politics between the gods of the living and the dead. Cooney examines the ways in which power can corrupt even the noblest of intentions, and the lengths to which people will go to protect those they love. The novel also touches on themes of faith, as Rhea grapples with her own beliefs and the role of the gods in her life. Def recommend.
Full review on my YouTube channel

A new book that creates an interesting universe with lots of magic. The main character is Lanie, who has the power of necromancy. She must team up with her sister, who she doesn't know if she can trust, to save their home.

This universe was really interesting and creative, but the writing style wasn't my favorite!

I admit I was drawn in by the the cover and I’m so glad Iwas, because as much as the synopsis did intrigue me the story is even better and I am so glad I read this fantastically written story , it has great world building, so much humour and well developed characters. This was a brilliant read and I can thoroughly recommend

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Okay, let's start with a positive or two. First off, I really liked the cover and the author did a good job of hooking me into the storyline from page 1. Unfortunately, as the book went on and she continued to cram more and more flowery language and extraneous plot into it, I started to lose interest and finishing it became a bit of a chore - to be honest, I think if I hadn't received it as an ARC, I might have just shrugged and moved on.

Our main character is Miscellaneous (Lanie) Stones, who is the younger daughter of the family and happens to be a necromancer. Her family have traditionally served the royalty of her country, with her father being the official executioner and her mother the unofficial one (by way of assassinations) and the book starts with Lanie's psychopathic older sister Nita returning after they've both died, determined to take on both those roles. This is partly because the family estate is mortgaged to the hilt and the metaphorical wolves are at the door. Lanie's sister has gifts too, in her case the ability to make people do what she wants, which she's abused to get herself a husband (Mak) who can shapeshift, willing or not (and he's definitely not).

These three individuals make up an uncomfortable family group which is later joined by Nita and Mak's child (Datu) and that's where things start to really unravel - Nita ends up pitting herself against the magical government of a neighbouring country and gets herself killed, forcing Lanie and Mak to go on the run with Datu in tow. There are gods and royal marriages of convenience involved as well, not to mention the changing relationship between Lanie and Mak.

I'm left feeling really ambivalent about this book because there were elements of it that I really liked (the whole thing about Lanie reanimating skeleton mice, for example) but then those are lost in the absolute barrage of detail about the Stones' family past, footnotes galore and flowery text where the author never uses one word when three will do. In the end, I felt as though I lost sight of who the characters were and can't summon up all that much enthusiasm to think about book 2...

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

Sorry, I thought it a series. Already read this book, here's my review:
I loved the cover and found the blurb interesting, the plot is even better and I had a lot of fun in reading this funny and well written story as fast as I could.
Great world building, full of humor, well developed characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

thank you to net galley and rebellion for the advanced reading copy of saint death's daughter by C. S. E. Cooney. this book is about death plain and simple. Lanie Stones, was born with an allergy for violence, a magic for necromancy. when suddenly her parents and aunts sudden and tragic deaths are thrusts upon her. she writes to her sister nati to return home after years away for her help. help with a debt collector ms. scratch who comes calling to cash in on the family's large debts. they could loose everything is the debts aren't settles. suddenly the nations ruler is also killed plunging their world into madness. together they must find a way to combat all this and to survive. very interesting and long read but well worth the time with the expansive world building. magic is always a fun read and the trials these women have to go through was unending.

Loved this book! Absolutely stunning writing, plotting, and characters. CSE Cooney is now on my must-read list!

A delightfully long book that I have yet to manage to give the reading I would like to, simply because of the expanse of it and the time I have for review copies, but I am going to be glad to pull this in and find someone to nerd out with it over. It's that kind of book. Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity with this title.