Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

GoodReads Summary:
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?
Review:
As with most books, there were things I liked and things I didn’t when it comes to Reign of the Fallen. There were more things that I liked but somehow the things that I didn’t like kind of overshadowed the rest.
The setting was interesting. Though I would have liked to explore the world a little more. I believe that happens in the second book. The magic system was creative and unique. I think I wanted to know a bit more about it. How does it work? Were there more magics than the three discusses? Things like that. Aside from that I liked the magics. Necromancy is always a fascinating ability. I loved the concept of the master necromancers going into this other realm. I also enjoyed that our main character was special with her abilities but not to a point where it overshadowed anything. It was just a part of who she was. I also thought the animal powers were super cool. That’s what I’d like to have. Being able to talk to and understand animals and pick one as my companion? Sign me up for sure.
Our main character Odessa was believable enough. She experiences an extreme amount of grief when she loses the love of her life. She turns to substances to stop feeling anything. This was all realistic and believable. But when she starts making certain choices, I just couldn’t get behind her anymore. The romance that sparks at the end of the book was a little cringy to me. I want to like it, but there’s just something about it that I didn’t like.
As for the rest of the characters, they just weren’t as well developed as I’d have liked them to be. There wasn’t anything specifically wrong with them but I just wasn’t completely invested in their stories.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. I am planning to continue on and read the sequel. I would recommend it without a doubt. There are diverse characters living in an incredibly interesting world.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.