Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Synopsis:

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?

Rating:★★★½

Review:

Necromancy + Royalty + Zombies = An amazing Fantasy!!

I loved the immediate jump into action from the opening of the book. Also, I liked how we get bits and pieces of the world building here and there piecing it all together instead of taking two and three chapters to do it all at once. Avoiding brain overload!

I felt like the characters were missing something and needed a little more development. I don't feel like I have a real relationship with the characters but at the same time when something bad happens to them, I'm somehow emotionally tied to them. I wish I had more of a background on the other Necromancers, seeing as they are a part of the main cast it would make more sense. I hate that Odessa had a suicidal attitude, like Bella & Tris, but I like that I got to see her hit rock bottom then pull herself together without needing help from another love connection like most YA books. Speaking of love connections I'm not a fan of the romance AT ALL!! Not because of how it was built but because of who it was built between. I just think it's weird, but not far fetched, and disrespectful and you'll see why once you read the book.

I think Sarah Marsh did a good job setting up and explaining how the Necromancers retrieved the spirits. She set up a really good adventure just from taking us through the gates to traveling through the Deadlands, and that's not mentioning the time spent in the real world. However, I wish she went into more detail about the other types of Mages. We only get a real lesson on Necromancers and Beast Masters but that's only 2 out of 5 of the KNOWN/BASIC Mages, not including however many hybrid mages there are that were also mentioned but we know nothing about. We get a crash course on Weather Mages but only mentioning that they can manipulate the weather and I have no idea what the other mages even are. Why mention something you're not going to explain or use? 

But I hope it's different in book 2 because overall I did really like this book.