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Book: “Ghostsmith” by Nicki Pau Preto
Publishing Info: Margaret K. McElderry Books, August 2024
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: In this action-packed finale to the House of the Dead Duology, Wren and her friends put everything they know to the test as they battle the living and the undead to save their world.
Wren is still reeling from the revelation that the mother she thought was dead is actually the Corpse Queen, a ghostsmith with the terrifying power to control the undead. It was Wren’s own mother who created the iron revenants—an army of near unbeatable undead soldiers. When the iron revenants attack, no one in the Dominions will have the strength to stand in their way.
Now Wren, Leo, and Julian find themselves once more in the Breach, this time on the run from Wren’s father, who is determined to secure more power for himself and the House of Bone. The three are desperate to stop the upcoming war, but working together is easier said than done with Julian still furious about Wren double-crossing him. And to make matters worse, Wren is plagued by powerful new abilities that force her to reassess everything she knows about being a bonesmith.
When Wren’s long-lost twin brother shows up and vows to help her destroy the well of magic that feeds the iron revenants, she must decide if trusting him is worth potentially playing right into their mother’s hands.
After all, the dead might be dangerous, but it’s the living who can betray you.
Previously Reviewed: “Bonesmith”
Review: I remember picking up “Bonesmith” last summer with some trepidation. I was mostly reading it because it was an upcoming selection in a book box I subscribe to and wanted to decide whether or not to skip it, as I’d read a book by this author before and not been overly impressed. Well, more fool me, I absolutely loved the first entry in this duology! It had a unique fantasy world, a badass leading character, and a well-paced enemies-to-lovers romance. It also ended on not necessarily a cliffhanger, per see, but with a few major reveals and betrayals shaking things up. So, let’s find out how well the story was wrapped up here in the second book!
For the most part, I think this was an incredibly successful conclusion to the story. I had a few niggling qualms here or there, but, overall, the story came together nicely. While the first book did a lot of the heavy lifting with regards to introducing this world and its magic, with the (re)introduction of ghost smiths and ghost magic in the latter half of that story, this book still had a lot of new territory to cover. In particular, I was impressed by how carefully many of the reveals were used throughout the book. As the plot progresses, little bits of lore are dropped in here and there, steadily fleshing out the history and culture of the lost ghost smiths until, by the end, the climax revolves fully around this history and the uses of this style of magic. For the large amount of new information that was necessary to build this ending, I was impressed by how organically this knowledge was fed to the reader. There were no clunky info-dumping sections or dialogue that was obviously just there as exposition. It was very skillfully done.
I also enjoyed the continuation of the darker tone of this duology. There is humor to be found in Wren’s dialogue and inner commentary, but much of the plot is quite serious and dealing with fairly gruesome magic. In this book, this was balanced out by an increased depth of emotion found in the relationships on the page. Not only is there the romance between Wren and Julian, challenged by the betrayals and reveals from the previous book, but the story also tackles many different familial ties as well. Wren’s entire family history is one big knot of tragedy and abuse, but by the middle point of this story, it almost feels like she got the easy side of things! Instead, her newly found brother’s past is littered with even more tragedy and disfunction than Wren herself endured. While Wren’s life was ruled by a distant father figure, her brother has dealt with the abuse found at the hands of a manipulative and selfish mother. We also see their sibling bond explored as the story progresses, adding an interesting new dynamic to Wren’s approach to the problems before her.
I continued to love Wren as a main character, and her growth in this book felt natural and interesting. Her arc was one of coming to turns with her own magic, as well as with the family history that she is only know beginning to understand. However, throughout it all, she maintained her snappy attitude and “barge right through it” mentality to problem solving.
That said, my main point of struggle came down to the other character perspectives, specifically Leo’s and, new to this book, Inara’s. Now, there was nothing actually wrong with either of these character’s stories. And, in fact, I’d say that I really enjoyed Inara as a new voice in the book. But it did feel as if both characters’ stories were simply there to provide a window into action scenes that were taking place in different parts of the world and didn’t serve any actual character purpose on their own. Leo, especially, could have been almost lifted from this entire book with no one the wiser.
I also felt that we had too little time spent between Wren and Julian. On one hand, I understand this, as this book’s driving relationship was much more focused on Wren and her brother. And that story was fantastic! That said, I still felt as if there were only a brief few scenes where these two really even interacted. It was great stuff when they did, but I still wanted more. Perhaps a better balance between some of Leo’s more unnecessary chapters and these scenes between Wren and Julian would have helped round out the story better.
That said, I found this book to be an epic conclusion to the duology! The climax of the story, in particular, was action-packed and thrilling. The story may have suffered a bit from “Return of the King”-style multiple endings by the very finish, but, as I still wanted all of those scenes, I’m not sure what I would have done differently there. If you enjoyed the first book, you can rest assured that the conclusion is well-earned and satisfying!
Rating 8: Bone-chilling at times and full of heart at others, this duology has it all!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Ghostsmith” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2024
The Library Ladies 