Book Review: Reign Of The Fallen; Sarah Glenn Marsh.

I was so excited for this pretty pink cover, necromantic fantasy, and the bisexual MC that I was promised in this book and went in with such high expectations. Honestly though, this was a bit of a disappointment.

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: Hardcover

TITLE: Reign Of The Fallen
AUTHOR: Sarah Glenn Marsh
SERIES: Reign Of The Fallen (#1)
PUBLISHER: Razorbill
PAGES: 375
GENRE: LGBTQ+, Fantasy, Young Adult

RATING: 2/5 Stars

Blurb:

Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their souls from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised--the Dead must remain shrouded, or risk transforming into zombie-like monsters known as Shades. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, the grotesque transformation will begin.

A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears among Odessa's necromancer community. Soon a crushing loss of one of their own reveals a disturbing conspiracy: someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead--and training them to attack. Odessa is faced with a terrifying question: What if her necromancer's magic is the weapon that brings Karthia to its knees?

What I Liked:

• I think the overall concept for the world was really cool. Firstly, LGBTQ+ rep is really important to me and so I appreciated that Marsh was not afraid to include it, especially in a fantasy setting. I loved the necromancy idea too, it's something I haven't really seen a whole lot!

What I Disliked:

• I really just felt that while the book had a strong beginning, way too much of the middle was a repetitive period of mourning the loss of a character that we barely got to know. It was interesting to focus on grief and addiction, but it wasn't what I was expecting from the story and having that much of it didn't really add anything.
• Despite adoring the fact that the MC was bisexual, Marsh skirted dangerously close to my least favourite bisexual trope - promiscuity. I just felt that there was a little too much attraction to almost every character in the book and it was unnecessary. I can honestly say that I had no interest in the MC's romantic endeavours, which was a real shame.
• There were some inconsistencies in the way that the world worked (can someone really live their entire life under a shroud and not expose themselves at all?) and a bit of a lack of exploration. Thanks to the middle being too much of the same, it meant that the final fifth of the book felt super rushed.

Overall Conclusion:

There was so much potential for this book to become my new favourite and I felt a bit disappointed that it didn't. I just felt that there was a lack of plot and so I felt no real connection to the characters or the events of the story. A real shame because the concept and promise of LGBTQ+ rep was super cool!