- My Rating: 4.5/5
- Goodreads Rating: 4.4/5
- Year Published: 2025
- Page Count: 1030
“Helena was not a planet or any celestial thing. She was just a human bound tight to the present, to the brevity of existence, and she could feel time running out.”
Synopsis
In the aftermath of war, Helena Marino is held captive as a prisoner. The resistance has been wiped out, the necromancers have used the undead to take over, and Paladia is now ruled by evil. Helena should have nothing left to hide, as a healer for the losing side with little exposure to anything of import.
So why is she missing memories? The ruling class intends to find out. They send her to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful (and ruthless) necromancers, giving him the task of uncovering her memories. Trapped in his slowly decaying, cold manor, Helena faces the challenge of keeping her soul in a world that’s lost all hope. After all, the Resistance has been defeated. But Helena is still standing, and this is her chance to protect the little that remains, no matter the cost.
“Whether or not vivimancy was a curse, she was becoming quite sure that she was one.”
The Review (Spoiler-free!)
I have to confess that I read this book back when it was a popular Harry Potter fanfiction. I loved it then, and I love it in the new form it’s taken. It’s admirable the way that SenLinYu didn’t just change minor details, but instead created an entirely new magic system with its own fascinating rules and techniques. I thought the characterization was strong. However, don’t be fooled into thinking this is a traditional love story. It’s an extremely dark novel, and the main relationship is, at best, riddled with PTSD and trauma. Be aware of the trigger warnings going in.
The reason I deducted half a star was the sheer length of it. A 1000-page novel, it has no need to be that long—I felt that quite a few scenes were repetitive and slightly unnecessary. I would have preferred brevity over the depth SenLinYu felt was necessary to go into. Alternatively, splitting the book into two separate novels might have been a good solution. However, I raced through it and don’t regret reading a single page.
The beginning is also a little heavy on the exposition and world-building. It’s a difficult thing to weave the background of a new world (especially one as complicated as Paladia) into an already-created story, so the book suffers from some info-dumping at times. I may also be feeling that in extra amounts because the original story required virtually no worldbuilding, so it’s a sharp departure from its original form, for the better and for the worse.
That said, the writing was spectacular. I was so deeply invested in Helena and Kaine’s story, and not just the romance of it. I wanted to know more about their personal histories, what made them act the way they do. The scenes of the past were both saddening and fascinating. There were certain lines that made me put the book down to take a minute because they were so breathtakingly beautiful. And, without spoiling, the last line of the book… I’m just going to say it’s probably the most memorable and heartbreaking sentence I’ve ever read in a novel. Even thinking about it makes me want to cry.
“We have to stop hurting ourselves for each other. Both of us. We’re not going to last if this is the only way we know how to love.”
Recommendation
I bawled for hours after finishing. Maybe spare yourself the heartbreak that will stay with me forever.
But seriously, if you’re a fan of high fantasy, I would cautiously recommend it. Look into the warnings about the book first. You’re going to delve into an extremely dark headspace. However, I loved it, and I don’t think I’m ever going to recover. Push past the first 30 pages or so of exposition—it’s definitely worth it.
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