Forevermore

by S. Jean

Up-and-coming necromancer, Nezael, has lived a quiet, solitary life with his lord, the Great Sorcerer Carrow deep in the woods of thorns and brambles to hide from those seeking to hurt them.

For a time, Nezael was content, but now that he is ever closer to becoming a necromancer in his own right, he finds he wants more than this life. In that desire for more, he finds Yorick, a handsome woodsman from the nearby town…

Genres: Fantasy, Ebooks, LGBT, Romance

176 pages, ebook

First published March 20, 2023

About the author

S. Jean (she/they) is a queer sci-fi & fantasy author writing whatever strikes their fancy at any given moment. When not writing or dreaming of what to write, they can be found dabbling in game dev and drawing!

Reviews

[S.S. Genesee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay. I am dead. I am broken. This is my own fault for reading it and then realizing too late it's a TRAGEDY. Says so right in the blurb on itch so this isn't a spoiler, but I go in blind a lot of the time just remembering the general vibe of what the book is supposed to be. And BOY, WAS I NOT EXPECTING TO HAVE MY HEART BROKEN AT THIS MOMENT 😭😭😭

The writing is absolutely perfect and crisp, as always by the lovely S. Jean. Seriously, the workmanship and craft in their writing is STELLAR. Wonderful characters and wonderful world building!!

[Lupo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good story , tragic but good. Now , if you excuse me , i'm gonna take a bath with whatever electronic device i can find

[Jake Vanguard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hurt so much 😭
Forevermore is so well written, the magic used and displayed interesting and while detailed, also easily comprehensible. The dynamics between both Nezael and Carrow, as well as Nezael and Yorick are fascinating, in very different ways.
I didn't quite know it was a tragedy, yet the story has a feeling of "Something will happen anytime soon" and it doesn't disappoint. The end haunted me in my sleep, a wonderful mix of sweetness and forevermore in a way you wouldn't wish for.

[Ronan Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good but I think I need to go lay face-down on the floor for a minute

(I also did not realize this was a tragedy until it was too late)

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The process made Nezael's vision sway as he drained his blood into the pestle, as he mixed it with what Carrow had left for him, and then came the crushed petals. Mix until it shimmered. And it did. A somber, golden light.

Starts very sweet, ends very sour, but that's all I'll say, because the surprise is sooooo worth it and just delicious >:) Pretty descriptions and lovely magic system, despite, y'know, all the corpses and bone-shufflin'.

[orion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I say this WAY too often but I wanted to love this book given that I have so many books from this author that I haven't read yet. I had not played the game that preceded the book and so I was going off the slightly misleading description of the book (where tragedy is only mentioned in a bullet point on the Itch.io page).

Let's just say that towards the end I was pretty much pulling my hair out as the main character pretty much accepts their fate as a necromancer (and apprentice) in an abusive controlling relationship.

My three stars mainly come from the incredibly well-developed dynamic between Nezael and Yorick that despite being so short-lived both storyline wise and literal page count wise was so tender it almost didn't need cooking (/j)

UPDATE: I switched it to a four star cause clearly I was too salty about the twist to see through it and give it a fair rating.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forevermore by S. Jean is a queer necromancy fantasy romance that will literally rip your heart out. I am incredibly impressed by this author's ability to craft such a fully realised romance filled with tenderness and yearning, while in the same book having a character that uses his power to coercively control others while committing acts of gory violence that are so viscerally described that I winced while reading. I loved the setting and the characters, secondary as well as main, and I at one point genuinely felt a wave of sadness and sympathy for Nezael, the main character and a trainee necromancer. If murder, magical skeletons and the tenderness of first love are all items that float your boat when it comes to picking out what to read, you need to pick up this book