Trinity of Bones

This was a really good story, I loved the first one so I was excited for this one to come out. It didn't disappoint, the characters were great and it was a fun ride from beginning to end.

Pretty good book. Reminded me a lot of the RA Salvatore books that I have read. If you're into magic this is a good book to read.

When this book came up to read I was freaking out!!! I loved book one and this one omg I about died. I need more right now!! This was a fabulous edition to the story!  Each character was wonderful and the story was well paced and didn't disappoint.  The writing was beautiful and engaging and the twists and turns kept me going until the very last page!! I can't wait to get my own copy of this!

Such a good book! Another one I could not put down. The characters were easy to read and Dialog was fantastic. I need to read more by Caitlin Seal!

3,5 stars 

I read Twice Dead, the first book last year and wasn’t entirely taken with it. However when I saw the sequel I knew I needed to give it a second chance. I am glad I did. I liked it a little better than the first. 

My biggest complaint with the first book was the world building. In this book we certainly get more of that. We travel to Naya’s home country Talmir where she comes as a traitor (as she comes as an ambassador for another country) and as an abomination (as she is an undeath). We get a better idea of the background that Naya grew up in. How she was always left out of a lot of things and how her father put a lot of pressure on her. We get more countries, we get more about the previous war, we get the political undercurrents, we get more about the necromancy. 

A big part of the book is Corten’s point of view as he is dead and in a twilight zone of sorts where they try to coax him through the door, to leave his life behind. It is interesting to see it approached. However in comparison to Naya’s point of views not that much happened. The revelations that did come at the end were not even hinted at during his time there and I think that was a missed opportunity to set up more of the overall plot that will continue in book 3. Now it is a very much mysterious thing that hangs before our main character. They have to save the world but the what or the how or the why is unknown. At the end of book 2, not a great thing. 

Naya as a character has grown from the first book. She is less fickle and indecisive. She knows where she wants to go. She has also grown more treacherous, more willingly to lie and be deceptive to people. In some cases that is good, in others not so much I think. It puts her apart as an undeath even more.  I still don’t quite care for her as much as one should as a main character and I think I missed the balance that Corten gave her in the first book. 

All in all certainly not a bad sequel. I am still interested in seeing where this story will go.

This is the second book in the Necromancer’s Song series and follows Naya, the daughter of a sea merchant captain, who was murdered and then brought back to life as a wraith by a Necromancer.  

In this book, she finds herself back in her country of Talmir, a place she never thought she’d ever see again given that Talmirans absolutely loathe the undead. Because of the events that took place in the last book, she’s also marked as a traitor to Talmir.

There’s quite a bit going on in this book.  First and foremost, she has to rescue Corten, fellow wraith and lover, from a dark, dark place where there are shadows who wish to claim him permanently — and time is quickly running out for the both of them.  But in order to save him, she has to find and obtain missing secret necromancy journals, which on the surface appears to be a nearly impossible task.  

She’s also sucked into an intricate political web where she’s forced to form new alliances in order to survive though she’s not quite sure who she can trust.  Like the last book, there are plenty of secrets, lies, and layers of treachery, but this time, the entire world is peril, a tidbit we don’t learn about until nearly the end of the story.  The plot and the continuous action enthralled me right until the end of the book. I felt that the author did an excellent job portraying the political tension between the two countries, as well as the moral disagreements and mistrust.   

I also enjoyed the dual POVs in the book, going back and forth from Corten to Naya, and witnessing the feeling of ever-growing desperation that both of them were experiencing.  I also liked how much Naya’s character has grown since the first book where she’d transformed into quite a decisive, less gullible, and courageous young woman (or young wraith, as it were).  She’s spirited, headstrong, and alert and has the backbone and personality complement and balance many of the other no-nonsense characters, includes the stodgy Talmirans.  I also was surprised by the “bad guys” in the story, which totally took me by surprise.  

All in all, a mesmerizing, action-packed multi-layered adventure story with a unique and compelling spin on necromancy.  The narrative never bogs down, and I was on pins and needles pretty much the entire time I read this book.  My only niggle was the abrupt ending.  Though it wasn’t exactly a cliff-hanger, it was pretty darn close, and because of that, I knocked off one star.  Still, a super-fun read, and I’ll definitely be picking up the third in the series.

Trinity of Bones is more engaging than the previous novel. This is partly due to the previous novel more focused on world-building than characterization for the first half of it. Trinity of Bones has moved past that, building up the tone and tension of the novel and giving the characters more focus. Now Naya has a chance to shine in this novel. However, she is not the only one who shines throughout the novel. Corten has died, and through his death, Seal gives him a perspective that also gives the story a new dimension. His POV chapters are sparse in comparison to Naya, but they give him life and personality, which was lacking a bit in the previous novel. 

As for Naya, it is incredible to see her perspective broaden and to see her come into her abilities and new existence. She spent most of the previous novel fighting her existence, but now, through her experiences, she has grown to accept herself and her race. The racism she felt for the undead has vanished, and now she seeks to spread that mind-opening experience. Moreover, returning to her homeland allows her to face these new challenges head-on and grow even more as a person. It shows just how much she has grown as a character.

In hand with that is the growth of the plot and the subterfuge. Naya always knew she was a pawn, but now her goal is to uncover just how big the plot she was involved in is. It involves so many plot twists and turns that come unexpectedly and keep the reader on their toes. These new developments give the story a new edge and a new mystery for the characters to unravel. Corten’s perspective hints at something dark and more menacing behind the events of the previous novel. Something sinister is growing throughout the novel, but what is smart about the story is the subtle hints Seal drops throughout the story to create tension without giving anything away until the end. 

With brilliant pacing, the novel is both memorable and engaging.