Twice Dead Hardcover – 18 Sep 2018

The world that this author is built is truly creative! I definitely stayed up reading this one. Loved the politics, and the intrigue, and the entire premise. The protagonist gets murdered in the very first chapter - how cool is that?! Looking forward to the sequel.

*I received an ARC of this book from Charlesbridge Publishing for my honest review.

Twice Dead is an intriguing, action-packed story involving necromancy, war, and betrayal. When Naya’s father, the captain of a merchant ship, docks in Ceramor, she is sent out on her first solo task to meet and negotiate with a fellow merchant. However, things do not go as planned…

Naya wakes up in the workroom of a necromancer after having been attacked and killed in the streets. She awakens not only as one of the undead but as a wraith, a monster from her worst nightmares. Her entire life has been filled with horror stories of the undead, with her homeland believing the practice of necromancy to be an abomination.

When she wakes, she is given an opportunity to work as a spy for her homeland. With the hopes of helping her country in getting this practice officially banned and making her father proud, she agrees. As she learns more about necromancy and what it means to be a wraith, Naya starts discovering secrets that make her believe that not everything she was taught might be true and she must decide who to help in the impending war of the two countries.

This book is unlike anything I have ever read. The concept of the wraiths and their use of life’s energy, aether, was so original. If anything like this already exists, I’ve never heard of it. It was fascinating! I also found everything with the runes intriguing. This world was like a mixture between olden times and modern technology as they used runes to power various things.

This book is full of action; it never stops. I love that it really just jumped right in and didn’t take 75-100 pages to get into the story. Nothing felt like it dragged on. It honestly kept me interested the entire time. Caitlin’s way of writing was easy to read too, which always helps.

I love the characters and really appreciated the interactions between Naya and Corten as he taught her what she was capable of, as well as their relationships with Lucia, the necromancer. I do wish there had been a little more to some of them. For example, there was a lot of build up to Corten’s background, but we never got the full story. I also want to know more about the Mad King and war that led to the treaty between the two countries.

I am assuming there will be a second book. There has to be. I need answers! Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s very unique and interesting. I would recommend checking it out.

A enjoyable but bittersweet book. (I'm going to try to avoid spoilers but still be helpful in my review.)
Having been told all of her life that the undead are evil abominations Naya suddenly finds herself among their number. After that nothing is certain and she is left to sort the truth from lies before it is too late to save those that she loves.
Told form Naya's point of view and the writing has a good balance between details to set the scene and action to keep things moving. (To be honest I'm surprised this is the author's first book.) These details leave you, the jaded reader, to infer what is likely (but not always) going on before Naya herself is aware of it. It is easy to be drawn into the world created in this story; it is rich and diverse. As Naya learns the ins and outs of her new home so too do you making it easier to sympathize with and understand her choices.
I hope the second in the series is as good. (I'm inclined to think if you liked the first in the Green Rider series you would also enjoy this story- strong female character who isn't quite content with the hand fate has dealt her but making the best of it. Rich world building and good story telling. [I'm not as fond of the remainder of the Green Rider series.])

Twice Dead is the first installment in a new series titled The Necromancer’s Song.

The book follows our main character Naya, a naive trade merchant’s daughter from the country of Talmir, who is on her first trade mission in the country of Celamor. Her father waits for her on their ship while she ventures off to meet with the client. On the way there, she’s murdered in an alleyway and later brought to back to life as a wraith by a necromancer. After her resurrection, she learns from the Talmirian embassy that she was brought back in order to spy on Celamor.

Now it’s worth mentioning at this point that Talmir is morally opposed to necromancy and because of this, Talmir and Celamor are bitter enemies on the brink of war. There’s not a lot of trust between the two countries. Neya is coerced into spying for her country, but as she quickly learns, things are not as they seem and not all of those she deemed trustworthy can be trusted.

This is a fast-paced, action-filled novel with fantastic world building. I enjoyed the backstory between the two enemy nations, though it took me a bit to get a handle on what was going on. But once I did, I found the intrigue, the politics, the spying and the backstabbing to be quite an enjoyable journey.


The magic system in the story was refreshing — the necromancy as presented here was not the type of magic system you often see in stories. When someone is resurrected, they are bound to their former body by runes engraved on their bones. The resurrection process also involves “singing” the soul back to the body, which is a complicated and rather lengthy procedure. I found this system not only unique but genuinely fascinating (and perhaps just a tad creepy!). This is the first book I’ve read about necromancy, and the system as it was presented here was intriguing. It was fun accompanying Naya on her journey as she discovered her new powers, adjusted to her wraith-body, learned about wraiths and necromancers, and overcame her long-held prejudices.

I found the writing to be crisp, sharp and clean, and well-edited (I didn’t notice any errors), and the storytelling and characterization were expertly done. The characters were well-fleshed out, the pace was spot on, and the storyline kept me flipping the page until it ended.

Twice Dead also had some exciting twists and surprises — it definitely packed some punch. The story, in my opinion, was well-thought out and well planned. There wasn’t one point in this book where I was confused as to what was going on. Naya was an interesting, dynamic character, and almost immediately, I felt comfortable in her head.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, action-packed thrillers, spy novels, paranormal adventures and worlds with intriguing magic systems. This was a fun ride that I’m glad I got to be a part of. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for the next book in the series.

Note: A big thank you to NetGalley, who provided me an Advanced Reader Copy of “Twice Dead” in exchange for an honest review.

This review originally posted on my review blog at rogersreads.com