Author pic Sonia Tagliareni
Fans of dark academia, will gravitate easily to this romantasy that’s steeped in necromancy. For added pleasure there is bonuses in the form of forbidden love and a twisty murder mystery set within the perilous halls and labyrinth of a magical institute. It is a page turner woven expertly by author, Sonia Tagliareni whose grasp of mage world and the dark arts is articulated with brilliant clarity.
There is the pathos in the portrayal of grief, poignant and emotive, for which alone I give it five stars. It’s seamlessly woven into the narrative setting a collision of feelings that’s remarkably readable, if wildly so. Born with the ability to speak with the dead, Viola hates her magic DNA. It killed her sister, Olivia, and if she doesn’t learn why, it will kill her too. The book delivers wonderful prose and placing, with the addition of romance, found family, shocking reveals in an interesting world filled with old magic, complex characters, and if you needed more… emotional impact.
Viola’s only hope lies within the forbidden walls of Gorhall Institute of Magic, where Olivia spent her final days. There, Viola clashes with Silas, a poison mage whose magic stems from three magical snakes. Immortal, tormented and reckless, Silas is tethered to a life he never asked for and haunted by guilt for occasioning his father’s death. His hatred for death mages runs deep and he is determined to keep Viola at a distance. This initial hook snagged my interest, quickly— but when an attack forces forces him to heal Viola, their fates become intertwined by a magical bond that threatens to upend his loyalties and his common sense. As more students start turning up dead, Viola and Sylas are drawn into an uneasy alliance that sucks them deeper into Gorhall’s treacherous subterranean passageways where secrets fester beneath the stones and the dead do not rest.
As enemy lines begin to blur and an undeniable attraction grows, Viola and Sylas uncover a chilling fact—someone is hunting mages for their magical relics, and if they can’t uncover the killer in time, Viola will be next. Its an intriguing plot within plots—a mage that keeps her death magic controlled and hidden by crashing funerals and working in a mortuary. There’s an immediate connection to Viola’s story in unravelling why she was so determined to live a non-magical life. Another hook is meeting Sylas, the poison mage who is attempting to join the world’s magical law enforcement and the encounter between himself and Viola, while murders ensue and they put aside their prejudices, join forces working together to solve them. The premise of the book is inspiring with enough magic poison and relics to channel the mages’ magic into the exciting atmosphere within the catacombs while encountering evil zombies of the magical variety.
The vocabulary is unique guaranteeing to keep the reader’s interest piqued. Like all mysteries, Sonia Tagliareni leaves a lot of questions unsaid while filling magical realms with a lot of background information. There is enough spice mixed with the murders, romance and things mysterious. The book is a surprise on many levels, especially as everyone is corrupt in their own ways ensuring sequels to this story considering the worlds they inhabit are not clearcut or simple, it elevates the energy and enjoyment immensely. The nuanced concept of considering enemies as lovers is capriciously clever. The side characters of Lyria and Victor are very likeable, although i found Ysella’s persona a mite unimpressive.
There’s plenty of dark conspiracies with mysterious but enhancing entanglements that keep the burn in the book, making DEATHBRINGER a wonderful debut that is difficult to put down till the shocking end. What appealed to me was the layers of secrets vaporising against the background of the beautiful gothic school inhabited by ghostly, reptilian and poisonous apparitions. The main group dynamic has a gravitational pull allowing Viola and Sylas, Lyria and Beau to entrench themselves into the story. Bound by tragedy, its a family forged in blood with some healin, the threads of which, pour onto the pages highlighting power, purity and prejudice that evoke a story of epic proportions, especially when magical corruption is fuelled by the darker arts.
The author perfectly counterbalances the found family with a side of romance, in the thick of it. DEATHBRINGER is a true fantasy story packed to the brim with action and death…. Lots of deaths. The setting could be an urban fantasy or a traditional one… its up to the reader to decide because it mixes modern and and non-modern elements making the delicate literary balance to merge those things effectively. This story has a maze to cruise through with plenty of blind alleys to help in navigation.
