Hey all, Sam here.
Yay, it’s time for yet another review. These past couple weeks I have improved my NetGalley review ratio by like 5%. I still have quite a ways to go to get it up where I’d prefer it to be though. Overall though, I’m at least pleased to see that I’m making proper progress. Actually I think I have something like 20 more reviews in the queue from NetGalley before I’ll need to have finished reading more.
That being said, I am trying to read more as well, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep getting books completed and reviews typed up.
Let’s not dilly dally much longer. It’s time to jump into the review.
The Banshee and the Wraith. They have the power to save the world―or destroy it.
In a place unlike any other, two brothers set off an ancient, epic, and never-ending battle. This world is controlled by the Necromancers and Reapers―one side pulls people back up through the earth, and the other cuts them down again. One ancient family, the Laheys, have been tasked again and again with keeping the balance between the worlds. And Nyx Lahey, born a Necromancer, but raised a Reaper, is on the front lines. Lately, though, Nyx is wrestling with her identity as she’s thrown into an adventure filled with prophecies and the kind of danger you can cut down with a giant scythe.
While chasing a creature that’s killing young girls, Nyx runs headlong―and gun drawn―into Erebus Salem. A hunter who has the ability to turn into a raven to escape danger, Erebus also harbors a secret: he’s not alive. He lives in Dewmort, a world in-between, where the souls of the dead reside, and where memory is all but erased. With no memory of who he is, his only connection to the past is a locket which ends up in Nyx’s hands. Determined to get it back, Erebus and his friends set watch on the Laheys, but they aren’t the only ones.
Other beings are lurking in the shadows. They know the truth about Erebus and Nyx. They know that the pair are the Relics, the only two powerful beings in the world capable of taking down the greatest evils known to any kind. Soon, Nyx and Erebus become the hunted, and must try and escape the evil plans of the war lord, Bellum.
Bellum wants the Relics for his own purposes. He needs them to raise his father, the original Necromancer, Neco. With his father by his side, Bellum believes he can rule the world―all of them―and destroy the Reapers once and for all.
Can Nyx and Erebus master their new found powers, and even if they do, can they survive?
My Thoughts
Rating: 3 stars
When I saw the cover for this book and then read the summary, it sounded interesting to me, like something I would likely enjoy, and so I put the request in. I hadn’t even noticed that the publisher for this book was Wattpad books, not until I finally got around to reading it while on my most recent cabin getaway with my husband. I make this statement because it is relevant to some of my thoughts on the book.
This makes me think back to my early days of writing, when the place to write and post was fictionpress[dot]com and fanfiction[dot]net. Now it seems like WordPress has taken over that position, where writers can post up stories chapter by chapter, and some can even publish/print finished books. But there is a style to writing and releasing books a chapter at a time, and a specific way to pace the tale. That was very clear while reading Relic and Ruin. Most chapters were shorter, and they were quick, easy to read, and often tried to leave off on a cliffhanger, even if only a small one.
While the story and the pacing was quick, I found myself struggling to get through the second half of the story. It wasn’t holding my interest well enough and while the chapters were short, it felt like they were drawing the story out longer than was necessary. And in many ways the story beats and reveals felt a bit too predictable.
Plus there were times when the story would jump forward days or weeks or months, skipping over the times when the Banshee and the Wraith were engaged in training, learning more about their powers and harnessing them. I would have loved to have seen some of the lessons and gotten to learn more about their respective skills and abilities.
That’s not to say that the tale woven through these pages wasn’t a good one. It was compelling in its own way, and I can see why people would be intrigued by it, but it just didn’t grip me that much. Still, I might consider picking up the sequel anyway, to see if the story of Erebus and Nyx manages to grab my attention now that the lore of the world has been established.
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You can pick up your own copy of Relic and Ruin from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local indie bookstore.
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