Serena’s Review: “The Second Death of Locke”

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Book: “The Second Death of Locke” by V. L. Bovalino

Publishing Info: Orbit, September 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Grey Flynn has dedicated her life to her mage, Kier.

She will be his blade on the battlefield, his healer and protector. The deep well of raw power inside her is Kier’s to use. Grey would do anything for Kier – be anything for him – if he would only ask.

When a quest to protect the child of an enemy kingdom pulls them into the dangerous heart of their nation’s war, Grey and Kier will need to decide what they are willing to sacrifice to protect their secret.

For Grey is no ordinary magical well, but heir to the lost island of Locke – the root of all power. If she dies, all magic dies with her.

Review: I’ve always had an inkling that I’m probably not the typical romantasy reader. Not only do I not often enjoy the most popular titles in the genre, but, especially as I’ve gotten older, my preference for romantic tropes has shifted greatly. Mostly, I have a limited tolerance for the exhaustingly popular “enemies-to-lovers” trope. It can work (see “The Jasad Heir”), but it takes incredible restraint and dedicated character-building to properly pull it off, in my opinion. Something that you rarely see. Usually, the characters are called “enemies” because they have a minor disagreement or have been put on opposing sides of an incredibly simplistic conflict only to immediately fall head over heels for the first person they’ve talked to from the opposition. Instead, I’m coming to understand that I strongly prefer “second chance” or “friends to lovers” love stories. Alas, we see so few of these in the fantasy/romantasy genres. But, all of this long preamble aside, I present you with pretty much the perfect version of the “friends to lovers” trope all wrapped up in an excellent fantasy novel to boot!

Before I start raving about the romance, let’s talk a bit about other aspects of the book. While this is a character-driven story, the world-building and magic system we get were incredibly interesting. I’ve read other fantasy books that include a magic system somewhat similar to this, where it essentially takes two people to channel and direct magic. But this one was fairly unique in the dynamics this created between Well and Mage. What’s more interesting, the rather straight-forward dynamics that are set up in the beginning are challenged throughout the book. By the end, we see much of this flipped, particularly with Grey and her abilities as a Well.

I also really enjoyed piecing together the history of this world. The author just throws the reader into the middle of the action and the political strife. Only slowly does information come out about what exactly happened in the past and how things ended up where they did. Not only do these revelations explore the political past between nations, but we slowly learn more about Grey’s own previous life.

The plot was also fairly action-packed, especially, again, considering how much of this is a character-focused story. I closed the book feeling like I had really spent a lot of time with Grey, understood her fully and had read an excellent book about her coming into her own. But when I stopped to actually go over it all, I discovered numerous actions scenes peppered throughout, many throwing massive swerve balls into the plot and changing the entire direction of the story. The action ranges from one-on-one conflict all the way up to massive scenes of warfare.

But man, the characters and the love story, this is where it truly shines! This book should be held up as an example to all authors looking to write stories with mutual pining at the heart. And it’s not like you have to wait long to get to the good stuff (and by “good stuff” I don’t mean the spicy scenes; I mean, good ole longing and affection). Almost from the very start, it’s completely obvious that Kier and Grey are head-over-heels for one another and each are too oblivious to say anything about it. But instead of being annoying, this just leads to the reader getting to linger in all of the sweetness that is constantly touched on between them. Every little scene, we see constant affection from Kier towards Grey. And Grey, silly that she is, writes it all off. Now, this could have been tiresome, but instead I felt like I was in on the joke most of the time and was able to shake my head at her all while enjoying what we got in the meantime. Further, the author knew when to give up the ghost and allow the romance to actually move forward.

But what made this romance so successful was the fact that the progression didn’t end the moment confessions happened between them. Instead, through their romance, the story spends a lot of time exploring themes of sacrifice and what that means for those we love. This was particularly interesting as self-sacrifice in the name of love is something we see all the time in romance plot lines, but it’s rarely discussed in any meaningful way. Here, the story takes the time to dive into the nuances of sacrifice, specifically the way it can add an unhealthy dynamic to relationship development.

So, probably not a surprise by this point, but I absolutely loved this book. Grey was a fantastic, complex main character. Kier was pretty much the perfect romantic hero for a friends-to-lovers romance. And the fantasy aspects surprised and impressed at every turn. If you enjoy romantasy but are looking for something unique from the million-and-one generic enemies-to-lovers books coming out right now, definitely give this one a go! I’d also say that this is a great pick for general fantasy fans who enjoy romantic subplots, as I think there’s a strong enough fantasy adventure at its heart beyond the love story.

Rating 10: A perfect rebuttal to the idea that “enemies to lovers” is the peak romance trope. This, this is what I’ve been looking for in romantasy fiction!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Second Death of Locke” can be found on this Goodreads list: Year of the Lady Knight 2025