Witches and Necromancers and Magic, oh my
Claire comes to Lexie with news, there's another living Necromancer and he wants to meet with her. Only issue is he's not in state. Well, Montana, anyways. He's in New Orleans, an area legendary for magic revolving around death. The men in her life are not happy about this drive to go talk, neither her friends nor Rory. Unbelievably, her uncle allows her to make the trip, as young as she is, as long as she takes the guys with her. So, the 6 of them pile on a plane and head south the land of constant sweat and frizzy hair. What started out as a possible connection with another Necromancer turns darker. NO has some strange events going on. People getting sick with no bacterial or viral contagion, ghosts everywhere and none of them want to cross over, and then the disappearances start up. Forget about relationship issues, just what the hell did they all walk into?
Mild spoilers ahead-
There was so much going on in this book. Things have been building for a while now and all these little factors are getting pulled in. It's busy, it's chaotic, it's crazy. Rory allowing this trip? Oh hell no. I know she's been an acting adult for a long time now but letting her run headlong off as a minor is bonkers. This on again off again fighting with Tara is crazy, too. Why do we get Jessica's POV but not Tara's? If you're going to play up the jealousy over inherited abilities at least allow us to sympathize with Tara. All we see now is b**** mode and screaming. I had hope in previous books when she was learning self defense with Lexie. That hope is fading. Also, this headlong flight into an unknown situation. I get that she's finally getting some of herself back. I loved that she got to do some art tours. But there were some pretty epic TSTL moments going on here. And not just her, among the guys, too. After specifically stating that they needed to remain in pairs, at the very least, Zeke was constantly working out solo, the twins would argue and walk off in a huff, Asher would be alone on the balcony, and many other moments. I was a little disappointed that they didn't do something for Zeke's bday. Of all things, Miles and Lexie going dancing just seemed wrong. Why didn't they stay together and celebrate? Even if it was just burgers and video games? That seems like a slight to me especially as Zeke is obviously struggling over everyone's safety. The POV jumps, the oddness of the council, the other Supe groups, the little bits of info snuck in there about this and that, all the emotional upheaval and a million other things leave you feeling wrung out at the end of this book. I'm contemplating another read through after I've had a day to absorb it all lol. I almost feel like this should have been 2 books. I know it seemed like I complained a lot but it isn't really that. It was a good continuation of the series. I just felt oddly rushed in some places and that important info was skipped on others. A little fleshing out here and there and what was a rushed single book could become an epic 6&7. Brunnemer brings the energy, though, and doesn't disappoint on the action. Although, I feel Lexie is being nudged into depths she's not ready to handle yet. Yeah, gonna need to soak this in and reread and add to the review.