Thursday, September 3, 2015

Ward Against Death by Melanie Card - Review


Title: Ward Against Death (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1)
Author: Melanie Card
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Length: 306
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4

Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive…



Ward Against Death was an amazing story. Ward de'Ath (yes ha ha he's heard that joke before) is a necromancer - a fairly good one from what I could gather. But his true passion is to be a surgeon - something is most definitely illegal in this time and place. Running from the law in several provinces, he finds himself in the mother of all trouble when he performs a wake for Celia Carlyle.

Now, there are parts of this world that may have needed a tad bit more explanation at the beginning. There were a handful of times I wondered what the heck they were talking about - almost like this was a spin off series of some sort. But I still loved every minute of it! 

Celia and Ward are the most unlikely partners you could find, but somehow they manage to make it work. There are some trust issues scattered about - easy to understand since one is a criminal and one was a recently dead person. They still manage to solve a mystery and save the day - sort of?

An amazing start to a very interesting world. I'm looking forward to starting Ward Against Darkness soon.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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