Sarah Glenn Marsh

Odessa and Meredy journey beyond Karthia to a land where the Dead rule the night and dragons roam the streets, but just as they are beginning to explore the new world a terrifying development in Karthia summons them home at once.

Song of the Dead

Sarahi

** spoiler alert **
           So good! That villain comeback??? fantastic. This book gave me the sappy, angsty, wlw love story I've been waiting for. I love that they could not be mad at each other for more than two chapters.

Candyce Kirk

After Reign of the Fallen, I was really looking forward to diving back into this unique world. It was so interesting to read a book about necromancy and how it influenced all of the characters. I am sad to say that Song of the Dead was a little bit disappointing. I still enjoyed reading about the characters I grew to love in the first book, but it was lacking in certain elements.

At the beginning, Meredy and Odessa are on a boat to go and explore the world. Never being allowed to travel, it was so interesting for them. I loved reading about the different places they were visiting, but it felt kind of rushed, like the story had to hurry up and make it known they needed to head back to Karthia. I did love that on their journey they find out that there is more to magic than they ever realized! They even bring some new characters back to their kingdom.

Back in Karthia it's clear that things haven't been going well. Valoria is now Queen, but not everyone is accepting her or what she wants to change. Different attacks start scaring the people and with the possibility of a threat from outside kingdoms, it's not a good time to not have people who will follow their Queen.

I loved reading about how they needed an army, training volunteers and even using the different types of magic they're discovering at the Academy. But I also felt that this was just touching the surface. A lot of this book was about Odessa and Meredy's relationship. Well not even really a realtionship, but the "drama" of them trying to be together or not. Odessa was often more worried about where she stood with Meredy than about what was happening in her kingdom. I loved these two in Reign of the Fallen, so I'm sad that I didn't enjoy them as much this time around!

To a point, I think it would've been a lot better if this was going to be more than a duology. With only having two books, maybe the author felt she needed to fit everything she wanted to happen in the second book. I would've loved to have read more about the characters we see in the first book: Jax, Simeon, Danial, etc. We see them, but not as much. The ending was very interesting, but also went very fast.

In the end, I really did enjoy being back in this world. I just wish that it would've concentrated a bit more on a few things instead of trying to wrap up so much at once. This author created an amazing world and characters and I wouldn't say no to reading more about them. Especially the animals. I loved Lysander in the first book and Nippler was added to that list while reading Song of the Dead. A dragon who acts like a dog. That was so much fun!

If you're looking for an unique world to read about with amazing characters, I really do recommend this duology. I know I had a few things that I disliked, but I really did enjoy being back in this world. Maybe because I loved them so much, I just wished they had gotten more!

Jessica Williamson

4 stars

This was a great concluding novel to the duology!

This book delivered on a great plot, characters, writing and so much enjoyment! 

The one thing that just didn't hold the same feeling for me as in the first is the stakes. The first book made you worry about your favorite characters and people you were attached to were dying left and right. This didn't really happen in this book and I just felt like it made it feel cheap. I wish there had been a little more death and destruction to our main cast.

That being said, I highly recommend this duology for people who like quirky world building and seeing something different in the world.

Side note - I listened to this on audio and I am not a fan of this narrator. I recommend reading it physically if possible.

Characters 4; Cover 3; Plot 4; Pace 4; Writing 4; Enjoyment 5.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book from Razorbill and Rockstar Book Tours. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4/5

Publication Date: January 22, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, death, disease, slight gore, addiction)

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 416

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The Dead must stay buried.

Karthia is nothing like it used to be. The kingdom's borders are open for the first time in nearly three hundred years, and raising the dead has been outlawed. Odessa is determined to explore the world beyond Karthia's waters, hoping to heal a heart broken in more ways than she can count. But with Meredy joining the ocean voyage, vanquishing her sorrow will be a difficult task.

Despite the daily reminder of the history they share, Odessa and Meredy are fascinated when their journey takes them to a land where the Dead rule the night and dragons roam the streets. Odessa can't help being mesmerized by the new magic--and by the girl at her side. But just as she and Meredy are beginning to explore the new world, a terrifying development in Karthia summons them home at once.

Growing political unrest on top of threats from foreign invaders means Odessa and Meredy are thrust back into the lives they tried to leave behind while specters from their past haunt their tenuous relationship. Gathering a force big enough to ward off enemies seems impossible, until one of Queen Valoria's mages creates a weapon that could make them invincible. As danger continues to mount inside the palace, Odessa fears that without the Dead, even the greatest invention won't be enough to save their fates.

In this enthralling, heartrending sequel to Reign of the Fallen, Odessa faces the fight of her life as the boundaries between the Dead and the living are challenged in a way more gruesome than ever before.

Review: For the most part I really liked this book. It was an excellent end to the series and I liked how Odessa and Meredy didn’t have that fairytale romance ending. I liked the writing and I felt that it was easy to follow along. Finally, I like how the author kept some consistences from the first book. Odessa was still dealing with her addiction and they both continually dealt with their partners deaths. While a lot of readers would say that this was prolonged, I disagree on the principal that it is realistic and needs to be written that way. It’s not realistic to think that you’ll be over a breakup or death in the matter of days. Weeks, months, and sometimes years later the sadness still lingers. I loved that the author didn’t write this any other way.

However, I do think that the pacing was off and I didn’t like how slow it got in spots. I feel that the book had a lot of weird character developments and it didn’t feel natural like it did in the first book. I also feel that the characters weren’t as connected as they were in the first book. I don’t know, something just felt off about the whole thing. I also feel that Azelie and Karston weren’t given the attention they deserved as characters, and in the end I felt that Karston was given the middle finger as he wasn’t even mentioned in the end when Odessa was remembering everything that happened and such.

Verdict: An good ending to a great duology.

Samantha Bass

3.75

I received this as an advance copy from Penguin Teen and it was really good. The book picks up where it left off from Reign and while it seemed confusing and unnecessary at first, it all comes into play as the book goes on. While I’m not a fan of romance, the love in this book is so heart warming if not sickly sweet at some points. It’s hard not to “aww” at a few moments. Overall, I think the plot of this book was just as interesting and odd as the first one, which made me want to keep going, even if I wasn’t sure where it was going at first. If you liked Reign of the Fallen, you’ll love Song of the Dead - even if it’s more focused on the living!

Georgiana.aysha

I loved this book ! 
I love the characters and the world! 
I love Meredy and Odessa so much ! I love how even when they are fighting they care for each other. 
In the first book Odessa was addicted and Meredy was trying her best to help her, and now in Meredy is doing some sus stuff and Odessa was helping her. 
I just love them! 
I like how even when we discovered new things I didn’t feel like I was questioning for more. 
I liked overall this duology series and I am happy how it ended!

Song of the Dead

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