Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Vexx is a necromancer. Together with his Raven companion Nevermore he arrives at a village to take up a graveyard job from the Baron.

I didn’t know what to expect from the novella and I honestly think that was the best way to enjoy it. On a recent short flight I read it entirely and had a good time.
It is an easy, fast and lighthearted read. Especially the banter between the raven and Vexx were delightful. The plot is straightforward and did not have too many surprises for me. It‘s a book you shouldn’t take too seriously and I enjoyed it for that time.
I can see that the humor might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it got a bit old after a while, which I personally didn‘t mind.

The writing is on the simpler side. Some words were overused in my opinion. Vexx smirks a lot and the raven is perching on nearly every other page. Given it is the authors first published book, there is some room to improve.
I personally wasn’t a big fan of how the two women interacted in this book and wished it would be a little more nuanced.

The whole time I felt like I was either part of a quest in a video game or part of a fun necromancer tv show. It might can work as a series and I would have liked to know more about Vexx backstory how did he become what he is and how did he meet Nevermore.

All in all a fun little read that definitely entertained me.

Interesting premise but ultimately I felt it was unfulfilled. The resolution was definitely underwhelming. Main character started out interesting and his bird companion as well, but never really developed further. Not a fan of the sneeze effect or how it was used in the story as it really didn't seem to fit into the narrative. Has some promise but definitely needs further work.

I really enjoy the concept of this book but wish it was more fleshed out! I love a good necromancer story and Vexx is that perfect dark and mysterious MMC. Looking forward to work from this author in the future.

VEXXED is a gloriously chaotic cocktail of dark magic, bad decisions, and scandalous snark—and I slurped up every deliciously disastrous drop!

A fun necromantic romp—is something I never thought I'd say, and yet here we are! Vexx is both a necromancer and a smartass, and his raven, Nevermore, suits him well. They've come to clean a pack of ghouls out of a baronial graveyard, but get a little sidetracked by ... spoilers.

Even if, like me, you're a chicken and don't usually go for tales of necromancy this is worth a try. And it's a novella, so it's a very quick read. This is the author's first published work and I have tosay I can't wait to read their next one!

What can I say? VEXXED was an interesting concept, but lacked execution. This novella left me confused with single line dialogue that made me wonder who was saying what. The two female characters had no real personality or backstory-they were both instantly enamored by our MMC even though he did nothing at all to earn it. Nevermore, our sidekick, was strangely codependent and did nothing provide the comic relief it seems he was supposed to. I wish these characters all had more to them, but as is, they all were fairly superficial. This whole novella felt more parody than anything else.

So I wasn't sure what to make of this story when I opened it. At first I was confused about the length, but then just started reading and hoped to enjoy the ride. I was not expecting this to have comical moments and actually chuckled or smiled at some points. Vexx's sneezing transitions were unexpected, but added extra intrigue, and the Baron "flirting" with him while a woman was memorable. I did find the way the story was written confusing at times, the single sentences and little description was more like a script. A couple of times I had to go back and re read small parts to make sure I was understanding everything (mostly who was doing what as she/he/they was used when it could have been anyone speaking.) All and all, this was an enjoyable, quick read and I would actually want to see more of Vexx and Nevermore (preferably in a more traditional novel/novella sense)

Vexxed was a pretty frustrating read.

The main character basically just smirks (23 times in a 93 pages novella) all the time — so much that it feels like he doesn’t have any real personality. Add to that his talkative raven, who’s supposed to be funny but mostly just makes the same kind of jokes over and over, and it got old really fast.

The way the two female characters were written really bothered me too. They’re both interested in him right away, and there’s even a scene where they fight over him, totally ignoring him until they tell him to pick one of them. It felt really outdated and made the characters seem shallow. The romance was honestly frustrating. We never really understand why both women were so interested in him, especially since he didn’t even do anything to deserve it. And the way he ended up making his choice felt super rushed and honestly, it was just awful.

I also didn’t enjoy the writing style. It felt repetitive and the humor didn’t work for me (way too overdone). There wasn’t much emotional depth or anything that really made me care about the story or the characters.

While the premise could have been fun, the execution really missed the mark for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy. This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

What did I just read? In the worst sense possible. "Vexxed" left me confused and dissatisfied at the end, even though I expected to like it when I picked it up, really. I try to not be too hard with first books, but I need the author to give me something to work with, and, unfortunately, "Vexxed" wasn't that good for me.

Vexx, our protagonist, is a necromancer and has just arrived to his newest job: cleaning the city's graveyard of a ghoul's plague that is eating the dead and terrorizing the leaving. The Baron has contracted him to investigate and get rid of the creatures as soon as possible. And Vexx will do just that, with the company of a talking raven, Nevermore, and far away from Evelyn, the Baron's daughter, though, at the graveyard, after fighting the ghouls, he will find more than what he bargain for, elevating this easy cleaning job to a complex threat to everybody involve, even to Vexx's life itself.

Well, at least, that's supposed to be the plot, but it soon derailed into something else that left me baffled and feeling like I have wasted my time on this book. If the book have been longer, I would have understand taking detours, developing some subplots and giving context to things, but for such a short book, the choices made and the way the plot went in the end, was neither coherent nor justified. Also, vaguely say that it all got resolved quite easily and way too conveniently for our protagonist, and those books tend to bore me. Where's the conflict in that?

Also, I mainly came for the necromancy and the promise of adventure, and, at the end, only got necromancy, and not even much of that. What we actually get out of this book is drama, dry dialogue that doesn't add much to the story most of the time and...kind of misogyny (in my opinion).

So, I say drama, because "Vexxed" starts introducing Vexx and the Baron and their contract and how Vexx makes a little effort of going to the graveyard and investigate, thus, getting attack and meeting the thinking mind behind the ghouls. But, that would be the only time we actually see some action taking place, because the rest of the book is spent with seeing interactions without substance taking place between the various characters, but not adding much to the plot or to us getting to know the characters. Unnecessary banter dressed as flirting, or empty threats, or the Baron repeating himself to get Vexx away from his daughter; which, we all know will happen the moment he tells Vexx to stay away from the very first time they interact.

The dialogue, as I said, is superficial, explaining things in case we didn't catch it, though is not like the narration offers much, so of course it has to happen through dialogue. The little we know about the characters is through dialogue, most times offer without little resistance, as if the characters where just waiting for other character to ask them so they can talk, scarcely I should say, about their tragic past. Another bits were flirting between Vexx and other characters, dry flirting that was there to make it seem like the characters have some instant connection and were attracted to each other, were I never felt it happening because there was too much insubstantial dialogue and little actions and intimacy to accompany it, which left the flirtations unbalanced and feeling forced.

And for the misogyny...is not an attack to the author, who I don't know, nor is it about the book in general or how the narration treats the women in the book, but more about how they are portrait. Because this book falls into the sin of making the men having active roles and being the heroes while the women are relegated to be the prizes for said hero, or the antagonist of the story. In fact, there's only two women in the story: one of them is Evelyn, already mentioned in my review, who is the Baron's daughter and the other is Ilvara, a vampire and responsible of things happening at the city. Both of them are presented as attracted to Vexx right at meeting him, fighting for his attention and hating each other the moment they meet, again, because of Vexx. I hate that women keep getting written to be this: vicious with each other for some man, to which the narrative tells us they are attracted to though it is never felt on the page, and been underdeveloped (though, in "Vexxed" none of the characters are really well develop) in comparison to the men. Meaning, Vexx is a necromancer with charm, lazy but competent, and with a complex past hinted at. The Baron is a decorated soldier and lord of the city, protector of the people living there. Meanwhile, Evelyn is the Baron's daughter who shall not ever get near any men and should stay away from Vexx and not interfere in the ghoul's problem, yet she's rebellious and does as she pleases, but that's all we ever get to know about her; and Ilvara is a vampire with a tragic past that gets explained midway in a paragraph that spends the whole book trying to seduce Vexx.
I'm tired of women getting relegated to be the love interest of the main (most commonly a man) character and being underdeveloped. I just want them to stand side by side with the men, having as much personality as them and having more different roles than just the "love interest". Which is not bad for them to be love interest to other characters, but I want them to be more than just that, to feel more three dimensional and have a personality that jumps from the page, like with the men. That's all.

Overall, I wasn't even entertained enough to give this book more than a start. I understand that, apparently, is the first book of the author, and while I empathized and know that first book are hard and can end up nothing like we envisioned, I think some things could have been done better, specifically characters and plot, following everything I've said above. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book, unless anything I mentioned make y'all interested in it, which I say, to each their own; the book is quite short and fast paced, after all and won't take much time to finish

Edit: fixed some typos but, mostly, I've been rereading this review and realized that, maybe, I was a bit too harsh on this book; I did have some laughs towards the end, Vexx and Nevermore (his talking raven companion) had an endearing relationship and the world was interesting enough, making me want to know more about it by the end of the book. So, I've rethink it and decided to raise my rating to two starts. At the end of the day, is the first book of the author, and, honestly, I've read worst from both other debut authors but also for seasoned authors, so...no need for me to go to the throat, in my opinion

2.5! fun, creepy, and chaotic!
I had a lot of huh? moments but all questions were answered!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

What did I just read? This was short (thank god) and a hot mess.

The idea was there....the execution was not.

VEXXED is an unapologetically chaotic, wickedly sharp tale of necromancy, charm, and a lead who makes all the wrong choices—and somehow makes you root for him anyway. The world is gritty and weird in the best way, and the writing crackles with wit and emotional undercurrents. I loved how the story balanced grim magic with snarky humor and complicated relationships—it’s clever, fast-paced, and feels like The Witcher took a bad dare at a cursed tavern. I couldn’t put it down, and I didn’t want to.

So this is a short, mostly unedited, likely unfinished outline for a book I think? I can see what the story is supposed to be, but there definitely needs to be some editing, adding context, etc.

Assuming this is just an outline, I’m gonna rate it accordingly. The story itself (from what I could understand) is promising. The actual writing is questionable. Lots of broken paragraphs, not a lot of context. It really appears to be a rough draft of chapters or an outline. I’m not sure.

If the story was fleshed out and written like an actual book then yes, I do think this would be really interesting. Therefore, I would rate the plot, story idea 3.5 stars and that’s what I will give it.

This Book is a Glorious Dumpster Fire of Magic and Mayhem—and I’m Obsessed

Y’ALL. This book is like if sarcasm had a baby with a resurrection spell and raised it on vampire gossip and bad decisions. I devoured VEXXED like a cursed snack and I’m not even sorry. Snarky raven? Check. Bloody flirting? Check. Curses, chaos, and one necromancer who seriously needs a therapist (and maybe a helmet)? DOUBLE CHECK. It’s messy, moody, and completely unhinged in the best way. Read it. Regret nothing. 🖤🔥🕸️

Vexx, necromancer and self-proclaimed rogue is summoned by Baron Blackthorne to the town of Grimholt to clear up a ghoul problem. Vexx and his sidekick Nevermore, the snarky talking raven, investigate the graveyard and are shocked by the infestation and quickly determine that there is something much deeper going on in Grimholt’s graveyard – especially when Vexx comes face to face with Ilvara, the vampire.

But Ilvara isn’t the only woman with her eyes on Vexx, but the baron’s daughter Evelyn is off-limits, too bad she doesn’t seem to understand boundaries. And if all this isn’t enough – there is Vexx’s secret that is only going to make things much, much, much more difficult.

It was painfully clear that this was a debut novel and while the idea of the story was fun, the author needs to work on execution. The structure of the story is messy, and the author clearly has no familiarity with plot structure, character development and apparently no fondness for proper paragraph use. I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a series – the reader was given no backstory on Vexx or his relationship with Nevermore (which BTW – Really? A raven named Nevermore??) or his secret. It made for an incredibly frustrating read. I think this author has potential and with the right editor/writing coach could probably write an amazing story – but this story is not a book I would recommend.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

You know you go into reading a book and it turns out to be nothing you expected at all. Well this was it.

I had no idea it was more of a novella but it worked!

I think a couple of my favourite sub genres are necromancy and animal sidekicks. This has both.

There was so much banter between Vexx and Nevermore. It had me laughing out loud.

I enjoyed the story overall but I just wish it had been a whole novel. I want more adventures with Vexx and Nevermore. I want a whole series.

I liked the creepy gothic vibes I got from the setting.

I'm trying to figure out if this novella was a test to see if we liked the story, the characters and the setting. It's a yes from me!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Bookbuzz for the arc. This is my honest review of the book.

Chaotic Fun, But a Bit Too Vexxing

Vexxed is a wild, necromantic ride with plenty of snark, blood, and bad decisions. The premise hooked me right away—graveyards, vampires, morally gray characters, and a flair for chaos? Yes, please. The voice is sharp and clever, and I appreciated the fast pace and bite-sized length. It’s definitely got that “Witcher-on-absinthe” vibe it promises.

That said, the plot sometimes felt like it was sprinting without a clear destination. Things happened fast—maybe too fast—making it hard to feel grounded in the world or emotionally invested in the characters. The romance (or flirtation?) was messy in a way that felt more confusing than compelling, and I found myself wishing for a bit more depth behind the banter and bloodshed.

If you're into magical mayhem, witty narration, and don't mind a bit of narrative whiplash, Vexxed might just hit the spot. For me, it was fun in the moment, but didn’t quite leave a lasting scar.

This book had all the ingredients for something truly fun: a cursed world, morally gray vibes, chaotic magic, and banter that gave me a couple of genuine chuckles - especially between Vexx and his raven companion. Their back-and-forth hinted at a deeper bond I really wanted more of but somewhere along the way, the story lost me.

The plot quickly spiralled into a whirlwind of "what is happening?" and by the end, I was more confused than invested. I was intrigued by the premise, and I wanted to love it. But the further I got, the harder it was to stay engaged.

3.5 ⭐️ a very quick Novella style read. It’s about 93 pages. I really did like the idea of a curse necromancer named Vexx. The dark elements that surrounded the story in a different characters we meet were very interesting. It just kind of got a little crazy towards the end. I do hope she she’ll write more to the story later on. I really loved the idea of it. Perfect October novella.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This had the bones of something interesting (no pun intended) but lacked the substance to pull it off. I liked a lot of the interactions between Vexx and Nevermore (though the Poe reference in a world where he clearly didn't exist was immersion-breaking), they clearly had some backstory/history I wanted to see more of. I feel the characters are probably fully fleshed out - but only to the author. The rest of us are left trying to understand who they are with very minimal details.

The rest of the plot quickly spiraled into a lot of "what is happening" and by the end I was more confused than anything else. So much of the book is "witty" dialogue that the little action we do get doesn't have a chance to show the reader anything.

Overall it was enjoyable enough to finish, but not something I'd give a strong recommendation for. 2.5/5