The Deathless One was epic! There was a literal shadow daddy, a murdered princess, feminine rage, a revenge plot, and forced proximity, all of my favorite tropes, plus it's mixed up with gods and witches. Need I say more?


Jessamine and the Deathless One make quite a pair. They hate each other, but they like each other. She doesn't trust him and thinks he's a selfish god incapable of feeling. He thinks she is power-hungry and malicious. Oddly enough, they are more alike than they realize. Both have been betrayed, so it makes it hard to trust anyone, yet they still try. However, the attraction can't be denied. Oh, the slow build is so good. I love the little unexpected moments between them. When she does or says something that catches him by surprise, and when he lets his guard down enough not to lash out, it's the best. He calls her "little nightmare", I'm telling you with big heart eyes. They slowly heal each other, but it doesn't make them any less brutal when it comes to their enemies.


I don't know what it says about me, but I'm always up for a good revenge plot, and this was an incredible one. The characters and the plot were complex. Jessa and Deathless have revenge on the mind, but their goals are completely different. I sympathize with both. They need each other, but they're in conflict with each other. I was dying to know how it was all going to work out. The backstory of the gods was good, but I would have liked a little more. However, Emma more than makes up for it with a crap ton of magic. The spells, shadow travel, persuasion, magical familiars, and the mirrors—I can't forget the mirrors. It was so good. Then the big reveal happened in the last few chapters, and I was totally freaking out. OMG! I was questioning all my choices because this book was going to wreck me, but I made it through.


The Deathless One was incredible! This is just the beginning of Jessamine's story, and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Yes! This book looked phenomenal from the cover and the description. And, to be honest, I'll read anything by Emma Hamm. This one did not disappoint. The world was expertly crafted. The characters were intriguing and multi-dimensional. The plot was perfectly paced. Truly a must read!

Very solidly in the middle of the road with this one. Our FMC was an okay main character, while our MMC was much better. Gotta love a shadow daddy, right? Unfortunately the middle was a slog and in the grand scheme of the romantasy phenomenon, this was just forgettable.

4.5 Stars
WOW. This was incredible. It’s dark, witchy and has a delicious slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance. I ate it up!

Jessamine was such a strong FMC. She’s incredibly resilient and I loved seeing her start to embrace her newfound power.
Elric is known as the Deathless One. He’s morally gray and broody but a complete softie when it comes to Jessa. Oh and he’s made of shadows. Naturally, I loved him. I loved seeing Jessa and Elric slowly fall for each other. Their banter was fun and the tension was SO GOOD.

This is pretty character driven but if that’s not your thing don’t worry, the world-building, magic and the plot were all fantastic. The stakes are high as Jessa works to take back her kingdom and save her people. There’s still a ways to go but I’m looking forward to whatever comes next!

If you want a romantasy with a vengeful princess and ruthless god, then this may just be the book for you!

Many thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Ms. Hamm for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

Starting off by saying I LOVED the dark (dare I say, "inky"? too soon?) shadowy atmosphere of the story. It also started off with a *bang*. One of the best beginnings I've read in a while. Jessamine, the realm's princess, is marrying the prince of a neighboring country in exchange for help ending the plague decimating her people. Instead, the prince stages a coup at the wedding and kills Jessamine and her mother (the Queen), and takes over her country. The Deathless One identifies Jessamine as a "gravesinger" and bargains with her: her life for her partnership in bringing him back to power. I was expecting Big Action after such an exciting beginning.

Unfortunately the next 60% or so was really character-based with little plot advancement. It was a struggle at times to move through it and I kept getting bogged down with questions. Why does the Deathless One keep allying with worshippers who just want to torture and kill him? What IS a gravesinger? How exactly does that work? What are the Deathless One's powers, and what exactly happened to the rest of the gods (his family)? I did enjoy the slow growth of attachment and rapport between Jessa and Elric but I felt frustrated that I was never super sure what was going on. Maybe a re-read would help. I was also sad that Jessa didn't unleash the devastation I'd been waiting for, but I'm assuming that's coming in book #2 ;)

The writing was beautiful and I did enjoy the luxurious, haunting atmosphere that Ms. Hamm set up. It's a beautiful book. Here's hoping that book #2 will bring the explanations and the ass-kicking I'm waiting for.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are fully my own.

The title, the cover, and the premise were all promising. The execution, not so much. It all began with a bang! So much action happened that I was literally at the edge of my seat... and then it just fizzled out.

Maybe it's a "me" problem. I just didn't find the characters that interesting. Nothing much happened after the exciting start. The payoff was really interesting but it didn't make up for the lackluster middle. So there you go.

The Deathless One is a moody, atmospheric entry into the romantasy world. It's perfect if you're craving brooding gods, revenge-fueled protagonists, and some slow-burn tension. It's got heart and it could be a go-to character-driven fantasy if you like a dark, gothic romance. It could use improvement on the world building and pacing. I found the world building to be vague, and I was left with a lot of questions on how the magic system actually worked. There were times that the story felt like it was dragging, and just being drawn out for a word count, and the ending was wrapped up quickly to set up for the next book. Overall, I would continue to read this series in hopes that the questions would be answered, and the author was expand on topics that were introduced in this book.

3.75 stars
I really enjoyed this dark fantasy world. It was a lot of fun and a break for some of the high fantasy I’ve been reading lately. It had some of my favorite tropes and the tortured god with a tragic backstory was the cherry on top. However, the chemistry was basically non-existent. I don’t know if it was just me or the book itself but I did not believe they were as obsessed with each other as they kept trying to convince me they were. This was a solid 4.25 stars before the romance came into play which knocked it down to a 4 stars, then the spice had me cringing which made me land on a 3.75? stars for now. I don’t think I’m interested enough in this world or plot to continue the series but maybe I’ll change my mind when the sequel releases.

This might be my favorite Emma Hamm book yet! She is an auto-buy author for me, and I was so excited to receive this e-arc!

The Deathless One — Shadow daddy god resurrects slain princess while she’s ovulating (*gazes longingly at corpse*).

Ava: ★★★☆☆ / Isa: ★★★☆☆

Let’s unpack the plot!

Emma Hamm kills it with relationships! Well, the main one. Our characters meet in death 🗡️🗡️. After experiencing life-ending betrayals, trust and dependency don’t come easy when this princess-turned-witch and her deathless god take back what was theirs: her kingdom, his life. The tension! 🔥
Jessamine and Elric’s relationship served as the backbone of this book. The parallels?? The connection?? 🙌 The chemistry feels EARNED.

Slow burn meets insta-lust, HEAVY on banter and attraction.

We’re hit with sexual tension when — Waitaminute. Gotta make them work before they bone.

So why three stars? Pacing and plot.
Kicking off strong, Jessamine (and her rebellious personality) get murdered by her new husband. We’re immediately (and really only) told he’s always been untrustworthy and cruel.
As readers, it’s hard to understand why anyone would think he would EARNESTLY help her kingdom stop the zombie plague (sprinkle in some undead for a lil bit of spice — no, not like that).
So, why marry this asshole? Because it’s the right thing for her kingdom. For reasons.
Basically, we needed background. More motivational and emotional tie-ins. This is Jessamine’s story! Feed me like the zombies, Emma Hamm! Alas, no such luck. The connection between the plot and the jerk who killed our girl isn’t as tied-together as we’d hoped.

Characters build relationships based on proximity and shared goals. Here, romance and plot felt separated instead of interwoven.
When the focus shifts to our MCs’ relationship, it veers from the plot and struggles to find it again (Magic practice montage! Have a cat!).
By the third act, any emotional impact within the epic reveals and bold declarations falls flat (RIP the middle’s potential 🥲).

But hey, for a deathless god stuck in a shadow realm, Elric sure does shine.
It’s not called “The Deathless One” for nothing. Elric is the main character in Jessamine’s plot. In a genre encumbered by underdeveloped MMCs, Elric is a breath of fresh air with his well-rounded backstory and believable/relatable emotional arc (corpse-admiration aside).
The Deathless One’s characterization was a soothing balm after the total bummer of Jessamine losing whatever personality had come outta the lab we first see her in.
Yep, we’re introduced to our protagonist in a lab (jarred bugs, a jarred toe!) getting her hands dirty and studying witchcraft. We can’t express the total bummer it was to see her squeamish, resistant, and not at all fierce until, somehow, she is by the end.

Unpacking the Boons and Banes

Boons
● No cliff hanger. Just falling off one with a bang 🌶️
● Female-rage one-liners
● Surprise zombies ➕➕
● Ava’s #1 boon: Social commentary
● Isa’s #1 boon: The concept. And the shadowy magic marks 💕

Banes
● Setting/world-building inconsistencies
● Magical mind meld instead of swoonworthy authentic connection
● Tell vs. Show
● Ava’s #1 bane: Antagonists needed more presence to make the emotions hit.
● Isa’s #1 bane: Unique gods, yet jarring references to IRL godly things (ex: “hallelujah”, naming the cat after a Greek goddess, etc.).

Overall, the potential was there! We got all the ingredients, but it was underbaked: delicious, messy, and with a mushy middle.

Is it our favorite book? No.
Will we continue reading the series? Absolutely.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Emma Hamm and Net Galley for providing me with an ARC to review.

I was instantly intrigued when I read the premise of the book, it is a super interesting concept that I haven’t come across in any other stories. I was expecting a lot of dark subject matter (which there definitely was), but I was also pleasantly surprised that it was also an incredibly fun and humorous read!

I absolutely loved the FMC’s growth throughout the book - she goes from the absolute lowest point in her life to being a force in her own right. Even though she came across as a tad naive at points, I didn’t find her annoying at all. You really get to understand where her weaknesses come from, and it was great to watch her grow in strength and confidence throughout the story.

The MMC was also an amazing character! I really liked how the author avoided making him super mysterious or emotionally unavailable just to build tension. He definitely has his secrets, but he is always supporting the FMC in a her pursuit of revenge and doesn’t try to hide how much he cares for her.

Overall I really loved this book for the characters and the relationship that they built. However, I had to knock off a few stars for somewhat lackluster world building and plot development. There were definitely times during the book where the pacing could have been more consistent, and the direction of the plot wasn’t always clear. I’m hoping that the next book in the series will have a stronger focus on plot development, but I would still really recommend giving this book a read!

This was such a strong start to this trilogy, it had that romantic fantasy element that I wanted from the description. I enjoyed the use of someone making a deal with the God of Death. It uses that concept in a way that was engaging and was hooked from the first page and invested in this world. The characters were everything that I wanted and really enjoyed the overall feel that I wanted from previous books by Emma Hamm. Emma Hamm has a strong writing style and was glad I was able to read this opening chapter.

The Deathless One is book one in The Gravesinger series by Emma Hamm.
I had so much fun reading this book.
Emma slowly builds up the tension between her characters and I always love that. It is truly a beautiful book, artfully written, and a book that you can’t put down once you start it.
The worldbuilding and the descriptions were great.
This book was so much fun!!! I'm excited to see how Emma writes the next one.

Thank You NetGalley and Gallery Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The premise of this book was really interesting and the cover art is beautiful! But I couldn't connect to the characters and I felt like the main character, Jessamine, was into the Deathless One way too fast. Unfortunately it didn't draw me in enough to read the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the ARC. This sounded super interesting, but alas I did not like the MC, this book was just not for me, I preferred a less ridiculous reason to get launched into the plot.

Hamm’s The Deathless One has a great premise and a lush world build. The pacing is glacial though and the story doesn’t quite hit its mark.

The story is about a princess who is killed by her husband to be on her wedding day. She’s brought back to life by The Deathless One a death god. She vows to bring the god back to life and take back her Kingdom. The thing is she does this in rage. She tells him she wants vengeance but never shows it again. I thought this would be about wrath, vengeance, and taking back her throne and it was more training to be a witch, looking for clues, and killing off one piece of the cog. We never got any real answers.

The one explanation we receive about why a certain betrays the royals doesn’t really make sense. I read it over and over trying to figure out why his explanation needed the Queen and the Princess gone. The only sort of reason was that the character could steal a book and use it but that seems like a lot of work for stealing a book.

I just wish we had more. Less slow rolling about guilt and training. More about taking back the kingdom and being a BAMF Queen. Jessamina wasn’t impressive. She was meek. Never the feisty wrath filled character we saw at the beginning. We want that, we want vengeance.

Will I read the sequel? Maybe. I think it depends on how long it takes to be released.

If you like lush world builds, and a slow burn mystery plot, you’ll enjoy this book.

Thank you to Gallery books and Netgalley for the arc.

I really liked the concept. A betrayed ruler being resurrected and making a deal with a god. It started strong and I enjoyed the ending but the middle felt slow. Jess and Elric's conversations and inner thoughts started to fell repetitive and dull. I had a hard time really liking Jess but I did like Elric. I enjoyed his magic and getting to know him. I did like that Jess acknowledges that what was done to him was wrong and vows to not to do that to him. I wish we had seen more of the familiar he made for her.

Overall, this wasn't bad. It just didn't suck me in. The middle portion was a bit of a struggle. I do like the magic and I'm curious to see what happens next. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing the ARC.

This book intrigued the hell out of me when I first saw it. I really liked the idea of a usurped kingdom, but that the ruler had died and been resurrected. I was really interested in seeing the magic system develop and learn more about the world they lived in.

The biggest issue this book faces is the pacing. The first half of the book is exciting and the pacing is really solid. I did not feel like I was getting bogged down in the story. Right about the halfway point, the story starts to drag. The conversations and the thoughts become repetitive and dull. While I understand that this is the first book in a trilogy, the story could have progressed in a more unified way.

Really wanted to like this book, but it ended up disappointing.

I really wanted to like this book and I gave it the most honest shot that I could. I got about 40% in, but just didn't find myself caring enough to continue. Even with ARCs, I don't take DNFs lightly, but god I couldn't finish.

Jessamine was a great enough MC, but the story just dragged on and on with no movement.

Ok, I’m 51% in and I’m calling it. I was so excited for this book, and ultimately utterly disappointed with what I read.

Like the story itself, the writing is not refined or developed by any means. There are extremely repetitive words. For instance dark hair, dark face, dark eyes all in the same sentence. Give me more descriptive adjectives. Raven or black hair, ebony skin, etc. The author makes things very one dimensional when choosing not to utilize more detailed terms. Also, the words “ink”, “inky”, dark”, or darkness” are used quite often. I get it, the world and situations are meant to be bleak, shadowy, and grim to evoke a mood, but it really just ends up flat.

There beginning started out so interesting, but for the majority of what I’ve read essentially nothing is happening. The Deathless One as a character has little depth, and Jessamine is rather whiny considering her desire to get revenge and take back her throne. I don’t care for the style of writing, or its clipped cadence and lack of real direction, so I can’t force myself to endure any more.