Amy of the Necromancers: A Queer Young Adult Paranormal Mystery

by Jimena I. Novaro

When Amy’s power to raise the dead brings an unexpected guest, she embarks on a journey of mystery and grief. The dead child demands answers, and Amy must uncover secrets and dangerous family truths or the spirit will never rest. Amy’s life takes a tumultuous turn as she searches for the child’s identity while also struggling with her feelings for the mysterious Toni Davis and her own chronic depression. As Amy delves deeper into the mystery, she finds it harder to connect with her magical family, the only people who could help her understand her powers. Amy of the Necromancers is a heartfelt, character-driven paranormal mystery that doesn’t shy away from exploring the realities of death and the experience of those left behind. If you enjoyed the emotional depth of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, you’ll love this novel full of powerful emotions and unexpected twists. Buy now and get your copy of this captivating and relatable novel before the price changes. Content Depression, attempted suicide, domestic violence, miscarriage, death.

Genres: Fantasy, Lesbian, Paranormal, Ghosts, Fiction

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2021

About the author

Jimena I. Novaro always knew she would be a writer. She wrote her first stories before she could spell and hasn't stopped since. She was born and raised by wildlife biologists in the arid steppe of Neuquén Province, Argentina, identifying stool samples, dreaming up other worlds, and climbing mountains without her pants (that one time). She graduated with a major in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. You can get her latest novel, Codex of Mechanical Dreams, for free on her website!

Reviews

[A Mac (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy isn’t your typical high school girl – she sometimes gets The Itch at night, and it allows her to bring back the dead. Normally it’s just a pet or wild animal who seem to be not quite ready to move on, but the night before her junior year of high school starts, she brings back a little girl. The girl doesn’t speak, but Amy can’t help but feel her death may have been the result of a murder. While she tries to figure out this mystery, she finds herself sinking even more into her depression and losing connection with her friends and family. Can Amy learn enough about this little girl to help her move on while learning how to find her happiness?

I admit, I picked up this book because the cover was gorgeous – thankfully, the inside of the book was just as good! I wasn’t expecting to like this work as much as I did. The concept is unique and was well executed. The author’s writing style was fantastic and incorporated meaningful and thorough descriptions of things that made the work completely immersive. That being said, I did realize that the setting descriptions weren’t really there – aside from the mention of them living atop Whalebone Hill, there was no indication of what the area/setting was like. I enjoyed that this was a work of magical realism, though there was no real explanation included for why this magic existed.

The characters were likeable and relatable. Even the secondary characters had unique personalities and felt like real people. Amy struggles with depression and trying to figure out how to express what she’s feeling throughout the work – this was relatable and added an extra layer of depth to the story. The romance wasn’t the focus of the work, but was extremely well written, paced well, and honestly quite cute. And I loved that while Amy’s father was in the picture and was a positive role model, that it was the women of the family and their relationships that this work focused on. (Sidenote – I would LOVE to see some short stories or prequels about the older women of this work and how they came into their powers, or even the origin of this family’s magic. And why this magic appears to be gender-based.)

There was a section of the work that took place within a police station. This was the only part of the book that didn’t maintain my interest and felt a little out of place. I can’t pinpoint exactly why – I think it partially had to do with what felt like unrealistic reactions to the situation as well as the overall tone. I disliked that Amy (the narrator) was constantly calling the police force useless, but to be fair, she told them she was a necromancer and raised a girl from the dead and they didn’t believe her. I disliked how often she hated on the police without any valid reason given for it.

This was an excellent read that I highly recommend! There were only a few things that I personally disliked but didn’t detract much from my enjoyment of the work. If you enjoy magical realism, murder mysteries, family drama, and coming-into-you-own-power stories, this is the book for you.

My thanks to BookSirens and the author for giving me an ARC of this work. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[May ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

~4 stars~

Thanks BookSirens for a free arc in exchange for honest opinions!

Writing:I’m not a big fan of the pacing of the story since the first 60% was pretty slow and mainly just build up material. I get that it was necessary to understand the friendship & family dynamics and getting to know Amy but it could’ve used a speed boost. After that though I couldn’t stop reading and wanted to push for answers. The writing itself was good. I wouldn’t say crazy spectacular but it was well enough to hold my attention.

Characters: I really liked Amy as a protagonist! She was flawed and made some questionable decisions but that made her human and understandable. I can’t speak on the mental health rep much but I thought the descriptions really helped you get a feel for what she’s going through. Amy’s family and friends were decent supporting characters.

Plot & Romance: I loved the way it was constructed and the ending left me shocked. Romance isn’t very prevalent in the story but it was cute when you get a glimpse of Amy and Toni’s relationship :)

~~~~~
FIRST ARC LOVES 🤩

[ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually cry because books, so for this one to make my throat tight and make me shed some tears was a very nice surprise.

So, Amy is a necromancer. This means that she is able to bring "things" (so far, only animals) back to a near-life. She does this to help these animals accept that they have died and enjoy the joy of life for a little longer, until they're able to move on.

But one day, she brings a child. The story follows Amy's search for the child's identity and the cause of death in order to help her move on while Amy also must deal with her mental health and the issues in her own life.

Amy of the Necromancers was a very nice book to read. Despite having almost 300 pages, it didn't seem so. The writing is very smooth, the characters are well built and the plot is interesting. I really liked the way Amy found out about the little girl's death. It wasn't like a teenager playing detective in a way that it was unrealistically, no, it was really like a teenager. Kinda awkward sometimes, messing up, doing and saying things she regrets later.

It has a lot of friendship, family, emotional support and a romance that you just can't get enough. I don't know if it's a standalone, but I would definitely read a series about it.

I want to thank BookSirens and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Really. Thank you.

[Lisa | Lady_Logomancer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I had finished a different title last night and just pulled this one up, preparing to read it the next day. Instead I ended up staying up until 1AM finishing it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down!

I love the MC Amy, she is such relatable, believable teenager. The inclusion of her insecurity, her disassociation, her questions about sexuality, her first love awkwardness and her realistic descriptions of life with anxiety made me feel so seen. I wish I had a character like Amy when I was a teen.

This book is part magical realism, part domestic suspense and part teen detective/coming of age. I found it engrossing and very entertaining. I highly recommend Amy of the Necromancers!

Thank you to @booksirens and @JimenaInovaro. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Army of Necromancers” by Jimena L. Novaro is a thrilling young adult novel with a fascinating take on necromancy and the responsibilities that come with raising the dead.

Amy comes from a family who are all magically linked to death in some form. Amy happens to be the member who is able to bring the dead back to life. Usually, it’s only pets she can summon from the other side, but for the first time, she brings back a young toddler.

The circumstances around the toddler’s death are unusual. Why won’t she speak? What’s her name? How did she die? Who is her family? The more Amy investigates, the clearer it becomes that the child’s death wasn’t an accident. On top of it all, Amy must deal with the sudden reappearance of an old classmate who disappeared for a few years, a complicated crush, an overwhelming mix of anxiety and depression, and a sense of alienation from her own family.

Novaro really knew what she was doing with this novel for many reasons. The first thing that blew me away was Amy’s mental health. She very clearly suffers from anxiety, depression, and dissociation. Her triggers didn’t happen at specific moments throughout the book as a means of garnering sympathy for her situation. Rather, it felt like reading a personal experience of someone who suffers from these mental conditions, which brought Amy’s story to a whole new level of reality.

Secondly, the magic in this book must be discussed. While bringing people back from the dead does not sound like a wickedly cool superpower due to the number of complications that would arise (and very much did in this novel), the imagination behind the way it’s done is pretty awesome. Even the kinds of powers Amy’s family has in relation to death is incredibly creative and I think it would be an amazing idea to have a book that centers on each woman or sibling and their magic (though that’s totally up to the author)!

Third, the romance. Oof! Romance is at its finest when it’s not dramatic or over-the-top. It’s a slow progression of two people learning how to be open with one another and coming to terms with how they feel for the other. Of course, like most romances, it’s complicated and messy but sometimes it’s those awkward moments that create a deeper connection. I support these two with my whole soul.

Finally, the overall story itself was spectacular. It read like a thriller or a mystery crime novel since much of the novel focused on finding out what happened to this young girl Amy brought back. The tale kept me guessing the whole way through and I thought the conclusion was very unique.

In short, this is definitely a book I recommend picking up and giving a read. The expected publication date for “Army of Necromancers” by Jimena L. Novaro is July 11th, 2021.

Thank you to BookSirens for providing me a free e-arc of this novel and the chance to share my honest opinion in this review.

[Sinamile · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review: Received for free via BookSirens for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Jimena I. Novato for giving me the opportunity.

CW/TW: death, animal death, mourning, child death, allusion to child murder, dissociation, anxiety/anxiety disorder, panic attacks/disorder, homomisic slurs, underage smoking, underage drug use (Marijuana), misogyny, terminal illness, grief, mourning, physical abuse, vomiting, attempted suicide, mention of suicide, mention of stillborn babies, mention of intimate partner abuse, mention of police corruption, mention of parental abuse, accidental child death

1. Okay, I'm in love with books like this. I love books that have that softcore magic in them, where the characters aren't doing these huge and fantastical spells and things, but do tiny things that would kind of make you as a reader question if any of it is real, but also know that it is real. Like Anna-Maria McLemore and Rse Szabo, where the story cleary tells you that this person is magic, they have magic, but it's so soft and contained that you almost think they'll wake up one day and you'll find its not real. BUT IT IS REAL! I love it.

2. I love the short chapters. It makes reading so much easier but also there's something about the shortness of the chapters that makes you want to read more. It makes it so much easier to read. The chapters aren't clogged with too much story, too many words, but Jimena I. Novaro has somehow found a way to build up the world and give us back story at the same time and not take anything away.

3. There is so much drama in this book, lmao. Like I am reeling because so much happened! The suspence is so well thought out and well put together and the fact that you can't just easily figure out who done it makes it so much better. Like each time you think you have the story put together, are sure you know what happened, the entire story just goes 'nope, that's not it' and I LOVE IT! It's so, so, so well done!

4. I lowkey wish there was an epilogue just to round things up. So much happened in the story and I just wanted a little something that would sooth my heart outside of how it ends. It's not a bad ending, but i was expecting a little ending that kind of sees Amy moving on from all the drama, maybe revealing some new insight on her life now that she's gone through all the drama. The ending just feels kind of abrupt.

5. Amy's anxiety is so realistic, and I like how it's handled. She isn't magically cured, she had to continuously work on it, you see how sometimes it wins over her life, how she tries to practice what her therapist taught her, how it doesn't always work. I like that. Like how the whole thing was handled, personally I feel it was done pretty well.

6. Overall, very good book and I enjoyed it so much. The wiring is very good and the mystery and suspense keep you reading and wanting to learn more. And the revelation isn't underwhelming, it's actually really perfect and just the whole playout of everything is perfect for the story.

[Bücherhörnchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy comes from a family in which everyone has a power connected to death. While her aunt can talk to ghosts, her mother can help the dying find peace. And Amy can raise the dead.

This book has an interesting way of dealing with death and necromancy. It’s new and refreshing. It makes you want to believe that somewhere out there people like Amy’s family could just exist. And it wants to tell you that death is part of life.

The thing is… I’m not quite sure everything is explained that well…? I never knew how many sister Amy had, or who could do what. I could distinguish her friends just fine so I’m not sure where the problem was. I just kind of missed the “my family consists of” and “she can do this and that” part. It’s in the book, somewhere in the middle, scattered, in a very subtle way… which is not how I prefer my introductions. I’m still not sure what her grandmother can do…

Apart from that I really liked Amy’s internal voice. She has some serious problems and I loved that she has a therapist, that she struggles and fights. I also think the way she described her problems felt very… real? I could identify with how everything was told, to the part that it felt uneasy at times (which, considering the subject, is good, because it means it’s well written). I’m also unsure whether she feels that way because of her powers or not.

I also liked the representation because it did not feel forced (Amy likes girls and apparently one of her friends is non binary). The thing is… I am quite sure Harper’s pronoun switched between “they” and “she” (the latter one being used at least twice) which really should not happen. Harper even states that they are not a girl at one point. So (apart from confusing me) this needs some additional proof reading.

I’m summary I really liked this book and had a great time with it. I just think it needs some tiny fixings. The writing and execution, not the story, though.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sizarifalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book. The plot is fresh. I have never read such story before.

Amy is a necromancer, a person who uses witchcraft or sorcery, especially to reanimate dead people or to foretell the future by communicating with them.

This book plays with your emotions as it was about Holly who came back from the dead. She was only 3 years old with limited vocabulary. I could see how sincere Amy was when she tried to help Holly. I could see that she did her very best to understand what Holly was trying to say and want to do.

The family bond in Amy’s family is so strong. They trust each other and support each others’ believes. Each of them has their own ‘powers’ .

I was not expecting a plot twist towards the end.

It is an easy read for middle grade to young adults. It has short chapters so it a fast paced read. As usual, when I like a book I would read is very slowly.

Definitely going to buy this book and other books by the author.

I also hope that the author would make it a series about Amy’s family and their powers with the dead.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amy of the Necromancers is a book that starts with an interesting concept, but I’m not sure that it fully finishes the story in a satisfying way. I’m not sure whether that was intentional - is this book 1 of a series on Amy and her family? If so, I can see why the decision was made. If not, then the ending fell flat.

The book revolves Amy, who is a part of a family of necromancers, each with their own power tied to Death. One day, she ressurrects a little girl who died mysteriously and much of the plot (and my motivation to keep reading is to find out why she died. The characters were great, complex and vivid like each of Maddie’s family members. The author does a great job of writing much of what occurs in Amy’s head and her struggle to trust herself and who she is. However, there were questions I had a as a reader that weren’t fully answered like “What happens with Amy and Toni’s relationship?”, “What trauma occurred with Amy that causes her to disassociate so often?”

The book seems to be missing a conclusion. You do find out how the little girl died, but the book ends quickly after that and doesn’t seem to bring it full circle with Amy reflecting on the whole experience and the conclusions she drew about herself. The quicker and more abrupt ending is what disappointed me most about this read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[By Book and Bone (Sally) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just under 4 stars in reality.
I adore the concept of Amy of the Necromancers, it's a really unique take on necromancers. The author also did a really great job of writing a cast of mostly women, with a queer protagonist and not making the book be about that. It felt real and natural (as it should).
This is the sort of representation I've been craving.

Having said that, there's some clumsy 'men can be dangerous, women are right to be afraid' dialogue that made me cringe. It's not that the topic made me cringe, just that with how the story ends, it's clumsily written and confuses whatever message or takeaway the ending was trying to convey.

I hope this is a series. I'd like to read more about Amy, Toni and their friends. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Goreting · Rating 4 out of 5]

*ARC provided by BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.*

I had never read a book about necromancy before, so I was looking forward to see how I would feel about such subject.

The story was intriguing, kept me trying to guess what happened, only letting out one little clue at a time.

I really enjoyed how the characters were believable, how many there were and how the relationships between them were portrayed. 
The family dynamics were interesting, and so was the friendship group.

I liked how there was representation of, not only race but sexual orientation, gender and an anxiety disorder. There was even a non binary character, which unfortunately doesn't happen very often in literature.

The main character dissociated often at the beginning, which sometimes felt a somewhat repetitive, but I liked how open she was about how her therapist was helpful in dealing with those issues.

I thought the romance aspect was cute and ended up hoping they'd get together in the end. However, I think the beginning wasn't handled very well, it felt too rushed, it seemed like the main character was fixated on the new girl almost obsessively. It did get better but I believe it could've been improved.

Lastly, the ending of the book felt kind of sudden. As soon as the main "mystery" was solved, it took only a couple pages to be over. It didn't go over the consequences of all that had happened, it didn't go through how the main character felt about being "out" as a necromancer in town, about the relationship that was starting, it just ended.

Nevertheless, I thought it was a pleasant read, the characters were likable and relatable and I would read more from the author.


QUOTES:

“You don’t need to qualify your pain, Amy. Everyone hurts.”

"Death is silent, like Holly, but so are the people around it."

"An animal without a name is wild and free; a person without a name is just a ghost."

[Sydnie Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy of the Necromancers is wonderful Queer YA novel about mental illness, family, and the responsibilities that come with raising the dead. The writing was well done, albeit a bit slow for the first half, but the characters were wholly believable and likeable. The book had an interesting way with dealing with death that was new and creative as Amy came from a family of Necromancers, who all have powers linked in some way to death—talking to the dead, helping them find peace, etc…And again, I liked the representation of not only sexual orientation, but race, and mental health/illness as well. **I received a ARC from BookSIrens but all opinions are my own**

[kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The title of this book and the cover caught my attention immediately, and once I realized it was by Jimena I. Novaro I downloaded it right away. I was a fan of one of Novaro's other novels, The Relic Spell, so I was excited to read this one.

Amy is, as the title suggests, a Necromancer. She doesn't control what she brings back, and up until the start of the book, has only ever brought back pets. When she brings back her first person, a child, things get complicated, and Amy is forced to bring together aspects of her life that she has kept separate for so long in order to find out what is keeping this child tethered to the world.

I had a good time reading this, for the most part. The magic was creative-Amy brings back the dead by making mud and pulling the dead from it, and the rest of the women in her family all have death related powers as well. Novaro is really good at writing tangible descriptions, particularly when it related to Amy's power and the feel of soft mud between fingers. The whole book had a sort of hazy summer afternoon feeling to it-moving along without any urgency but still finding your way to where you're going (this is a bit of a problem, as there's really no urgency at any time in the book, but it does contribute to the atmosphere).

As much as I enjoyed these aspects of it, there were a few things that I didn't enjoy as much: the characters and the mystery.

Amy is a hit and miss character for me. She frequently dissociates throughout the book, and the author seemed to handle that well-she talks with her therapist, develops coping mechanisms, and isn't magically cured-though I can't really speak to proper representation. But Amy doesn't seem to have much of a personality, and a good portion of her actions she simply explains away as "I don't know why I did that." She's very passive, and the nature of her power contributes to this, as she doesn't have any control over it but must simply wait until a dead being wants to come back. I don't really know that I could tell you much about her! The actual style of writing contributed to this-the narration was pretty flat and unemotional, even though Amy was frequently weepy, making it hard for Amy to become a fully realized character to me. I would have liked for her to be more developed on her own.

The other characters are equally one dimensional, particularly Amy's friends, none of who seemed like people Amy actually wanted to be friends with. They also kept saying they were "outcasts" but this never actually seemed true, and they disappear for a good portion of the book anyway. Also, a big deal is made out of Amy keeping her family's death powers from her friends-it's mentioned in the synopsis, and the only one who knows about it shames her for keeping it from her friends. But when Amy does reveal her secret...nothing happens! No one is concerned, no one is upset or shaken or anything. There are no actual consequences to the decision to keep it a secret or to tell it.

The romance is sweet, but a bit underwhelming-neither Amy nor Toni have many distinguishing characteristics, so it's hard to be invested, but it is nice to see them connect after what they've both been through.

The mystery at the heart of the novel-what happened to the child and why has she come back-is compelling...for a bit. If you've read a mystery before, you know how this usually goes: you are completely surprised, you know who did it but you are enjoying the journey, you just figured it out the page before it's revealed and are really satisfied and surprised, or, worst of all, you feel it's blatantly obvious and spend all book annoyed at how oblivious the main character is.

Unfortunately, this fell into the final category for me. Amy is not a detective, nor is she a heavy reader of mysteries, nor is this book really a mystery, so it makes some sense that it may take her a while to come around. However, it is very aggravating to center a book on a mystery-whether you categorize the book as mystery or not-only to have your main character spend most of the book on an obvious red herring. It might make sense to her, but it's not entertaining to me as a reader. And since Amy is not a detective, she doesn't actually do much toward solving the problem, aside from carting the child where she needs to go. So, while I did want to know the answer for maybe the first third of the book, I spent the rest of the book internally shouting for Amy to use her brain. And for someone insistent that she "distrusts authority figures" she certainly tells them everything with no real hesitation or, again, consequences.

This is a minor quibble in comparison, as it didn't bother me much until the end, but I realized as I was finishing that though it was atmospheric, the book could have taken place literally anywhere. I know they live on Whaleback Hill, which is in a small town...somewhere. It's very generic, and I think that setting this in a more developed town would go a long way to making me feel like there were actual consequences to Amy's decision to let people in on her secret.

In all, I think this is a decent read. It goes by very fast and I think the descriptions of the magic and the feel of the gardens make it worth it. And as much as Amy's problem solving skills leave something to be desired, it is really satisfying when everything finally gets brought into the light.

[Malischa Nijenhuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

its a slow burner book at least the first 60pages mainly because of the build up material. I get that it was necessary to understand the friendship & family dynamics and getting to know Amy but it could’ve used a speed boost.

after that al sort of getting to know amy and the dynamics of everyone. it was a good book. but not worth for me 5stars. the cover is very amazing and spoke to me when i saw the cover!

if you love a slow burner you should read it!!

[Christine Hinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well worth a read. It's so different. An enjoyable experience.

[Morëlle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy is a more or less relatable character and I suppose that the character growth is good. The is slow to start, several of the first chapters just building up and then it becomes fast paced. But then it slows down again so I felt that was a bit disconcerting.

Other than that, it was great a read!! And I might read it again after a while!

(Liked the ending though, felt it was justified)

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ridley Zarate · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT THE HECK
THIS IS SO GOOOOOOD
I received this via booksirens in exchange for an honest review and holy HECK this book is amazing. It's inclusive. It's romantic. It's dark. It's full of suspense.
I'm obsessed. I need a sequel.

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

WARNING: This one will get you in the feels.
“Amy of the Necromancers” tells the story about Amy, a junior in high school, who can raise the dead. Her entire family is made up of different brands of necromancers, but her talents allow her to resurrect beings for a short time until they can accept their deaths. They are not “back to life,” so much as they are golems, with no heartbeat, only existing in the world until they can fade away again. This story focuses on her first human, her first child, brought back and the search for what the child needs to do to be able to rest in peace.
I fully expected this to be a crime thriller. A little macabre, maybe, a little quirky with teenage romance with a dash of magic. But… NOPE. This book doesn’t fit into any of those boxes. There is magic, yes, and a little romance, but there is so much more anxiety, tragedy, catharsis, and love than I would have ever expected to be packed into a YA novel. The story does not shy away from death or those left behind. It is stark and tragic, but not dark and brooding. The entire endeavor is wrapped up in love. Love between family and a caring and supportive friend base. So, even if it left me crying in parts, it also had sprinklings of first love, good friends, hope for the future and self-care messages that lifted it up from being a morose novel.
The most surprising aspect was perhaps the magic. The Necromancy of Amy and her family feels grounded in reality. Somehow. In the grit of creating after-life from dirt and water, and without the rules defined outright, the existence and parameters of necromancy that were established were believable. They felt solid and possible. Even if Amy herself was not 100% confident of the rules and purpose of her talent, the reader feels assured that the author certainly does.
Amy is not a typical YA heroine. And I’m not talking about the whole raise-the-dead thing, either. For one, she likes girls. For another, she is not the typical pretty (or pretty and doesn’t know it), smart and snarky teenager often found in YA. She is kind and caring and striving to do the right thing, even if she doesn’t know what that is. She is also struggling psychologically, she disassociates and has episodes of malaise that affect her and her interactions with her friends, family and school. She is a character you want to sympathize with and see succeed.
Now, full disclosure, I don’t usually enjoy tear-jerkers and usually avoid them. I was drawn in by the description, and even once I realized how different it would be from my expectations, I stayed because it was very well written and I was invested in the outcome. The book touches on death (obviously), grieving, saying good bye, first crushes, secrets, everyday courage, supportive family and friends and not quite knowing how to cope.
There were a few editing issues and some of the characters weren’t defined outright, but, overall, the world is built in reality. It feels tactile and you experience the story fully through Amy. I was left wanting to see Amy after a few more years, when she is more certain in her talents and herself, because there is so much promise and possibility at the end of the book. It didn’t feel unfinished, I just wanted to continue the story because over the course of the novel I had become invested in Amy’s story and her future.
I recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t mind crying (and even those that do). If you enjoy magic realism, young LGBTQ protagonists, typical teenagers and un-typical teenagers, and a touch of mystery and a little suspense, this book may be for you.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Tabitha Tomala · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Amy of the Necromancers

A huge thank you to BookSirens for providing me a copy. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The females in Amy’s family are all necromancers. And while they all work with the dead, only Amy can bring the dead back. The Itch trickles in when her mind is at rest, most often in the middle of the night. And with her gut instinct, Amy mixes soil and water to create clay bodies for the departed souls reaching out to her. Every single time she brings back an animal, until one night a little girl rises from the mud. Startled, Amy begins to dig into the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death. And she will find a heartbreaking truth that threatens to tear apart a family.

Amy of the Necromancers is the first book I’ve read to dive into the mental wellness of necromancers. Amy suffers from depression which causes her to dissociate. While she sees a therapist, it’s a little hard to tell them your emotions are tied to bringing the dead back to life. Amy’s family is comfortable talking about death and their abilities, but Amy holds reservations over what she can do. She constantly questions if she is doing the right thing. When she brings back the little girl, she puts even more pressure on herself to make sure she is helping the restless spirit. But it certainly puts a strain on her mental health. This story shows the value of opening up and talking to your loved ones. Allowing them to shoulder some of your burdens to enable your mind to find peace.

I also loved the focus on making people who feel like outsiders feel more welcome and accepted. When a girl named Toni is introduced into the story, she is seen as an outlier. Gossip is rampant around the school as everyone builds their own stories surrounding Toni’s appearance. But Amy makes a point of telling her friends to stop their gossip because it’s rude. Amy even goes out of her way to help Toni not feel so alone as she builds a bit of confidence in herself. Sure Amy stumbles on her words at first, but she takes the first few steps into what may prove to be a great new friendship.

Not only does this story pack powerful messages, but it is so original and creative. I loved the new twist on necromancy. Instead of grasping the horror aspects of Amy’s ability, Jimena I. Novaro focuses on the impact Amy’s ability has on herself and others. And she couples it with an enticing mystery that keeps you guessing as the story progresses. Not to mention the tension Amy feels as she tries to navigate high school and her friendships. I can’t praise this book enough. I really hope to see another Amy tale in the future. This is by far my favorite indie book of the year.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You don't need to qualify your pain, Amy. Everyone hurts."

3/5 ⭐

tw // violence, homophobic slur, death, mentions of domestic violence

This was an interesting book to read, mainly for two things: a) this is a different kind of fantasy that I'm used to reading and b) the main character dissociates so the narration is also different to other things I've read, since it's written in first person. So yes, it was an interesting.

But what is the book about? Amy's family is a family of necromancers, so each of the women in the family has a power related with the dead, and Amy's is raising the dead, although she's always raised animals - until now. One day, she raises a little girl who's death seems to not have been an accident. Meanwhile, a girl who left town years ago comes back and Amy finds herself having feelings for her.

At first I have to admit that it was difficult to read because of all the dissociations that are described and how different is to read this from other books, but once I got the hang of it I enjoyed it very much exactly for the same reason why I didn't like it much at first: because of how different it is.

Regarding the characters, I think Amy is quite developed but the rest of the characters... well, they aren't. I missed more developed characters so I could feel more connected to them. For example, we don't know much about her friends and that left a kind of... empty space. Like if they just were some kind of decoration. I also read someone comment that they felt like Amy doesn't pay attention to her friends and only uses them when she needs something from them. And whilst there is some truth in that, I also think that they weren't having into account that she has depression, dissociates a lot and there is a a big thing going on in her life right in that moment. That doesn't mean that the way she behaved with them was excused or fine, but it is something to have into account. That is one of the things of this book. The main characters' mental health is not a good one, so we can't expect the book's narration to be normal.

The beginning is a bit slow but then things start to take speed and it get's easier to read and better. And the ending is a very good. It was something I didn't expect but I liked it. It actually left my jaw hanging.

There also is LGBT representation! They are not there just for the sake of having LGBT rep and being able to say so. And (this might be a spoiler) those characters have a happy ending! And that isn't something you usually see. The only thing is that we don't really know what they are. Is Amy lesbian, bisexual or pansexual? I don't know and we are not told.

DISCLAIMER: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Samantha Riccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

One of my favorite things about reading is writing notes down as I go, to see if I can get anything about the storie right in my head before it plays out and to write down my favorite aspects, and parts that made me happy.

What could I say about 'Amy of the Necromancers' ?

I can say that I didn't see any of this coming really; the ending, how the characters would react to everything going on.

It was relatable in parts, as a young person with depression I understood what it was like for Amy to dissociate as often as she did, to read the same words that my own therapist has said back to me when I was panicking, it was good to see a character talk to a therapist, talk about going to see a therapist when so many people find it hard to go to one.

One thing that made me happy was how similar Amy and her friends were to actual teens: going out to concerts, gossiping, smoking weed in the woods. It all gave the story a good grounding sense to it when there was another level of chaos going on. The romance was cute, and slipped in easily with the story. The LGBT+ representation in this was another big factor into me liking this.

By not making a big deal of someone being non-binary or a WLW but having them reinforce that this is who they are shows how natural this is to people who aren't in the community, and its the sort of casual part of life that I love to see in novels.

My one complaint is that I felt that some of the chapters could have been condensed together to make a longer chapter but still have everything in it be there. Some of the plot twists made sense, some of them i didn't see coming at all - and I feel like Amy could be read as an unreliable narrator, due to the dissociation and how easily she seemed to bring things up that weren't previously mentioned.

The open ending suited the central theme of not knowing what's going to happen next, and I love that because we don't know what's going to happen next in our own lives and Amy has so much to do and to think about in the future of her life but she can't know what it will be! I just think it was a neat way to end it.

If this were to be a series, I would be happy to read about the other sisters, or anyone else in the family since they're all so unique.

[Bethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from booksirens in exchange for an honest review

What drew me to this book at first was the cover which is eye catching. Overall I enjoyed reading this book . it was interesting enough to me for me to able to read it in two days I think this a good take on how necromancy may work not as a permanent thing but as a way to gain closure and acceptance . it also settings up the conflict right away as pets and also people who are dead couldn’t then return to their families and life before . I think I would’ve liked to have more explanation of the backstory behind the powers that Amy and her family hold.

I liked the fact the action starts right away without excessive build up or outside explaining and you know from the beginning the issue that will carry through until the end of the book. The book focuses on the same issue throughout but its enough to build up the story and doesn’t make it overcomplicated .

Although there is a theme of death within the book and at points especially towards the end it could get a little upsetting it isn’t gruesome and the book’s tone isn’t morbid . there aren’t gory details but if you are someone who is sensitive to talk about child death or suicide or death as a topic in general you may not enjoy this book

there are side characters which don’t seem to add a lot to the plot but that’s not a huge issue to the books story as the plot manages without them . there are some concepts that aren’t expanded on as much they could’ve been such as Toni’s illness and the other family members powers. I wouldve like to have seen I bit more of Amy’s life outside of her being a necromancer and at times I thought people believed in it a bit too easily but it was enough to able to move the story forward and get the characters on board and get them on Amy’s side as it were.

I liked the way the romance was handled within the story as well

I liked that the ending goes away from what could’ve been the more predicable outcome of the mystery and goes for a different twist instead which I wont spoil here but I think that was a good way to maintain the attention and show how even if you thought you’d worked it out you could’ve got it wrong and thus that would put you in the same boat as Amy as she learns more information .

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

*ARC sent by the author and booksirens in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are mine*

tw: death, animal death, mourning, child death, allusion to child murder, dissociation, anxiety/anxiety disorder, panic attacks/disorder, homophobic slurs, underage smoking, underage drug use, misogyny, terminal illness, attempted suicide.

REVIEW

It’s hard sometimes to find a good book with a queer main character that doesn’t focus only on the fact that the MC is queer. It’s so hard that it’s frustrating sometimes. So, it’s always a pleasure to find a good book that I can recommend, where the MC just happens to be queer. Amy Of The Necromancers is that book for me.

I enjoyed most things about this book. The original take on necromancers, the queer representation, the (mainly) all women cast, the mental health rep and the realistic teenage experience are a perfectly wrapped package. This book even managed to leave my eyes watery on multiple occasion. It’s impossible to stay unmoved when you have a dead three years old who’s trying to communicate with her family but can’t. It broke my heart.

The magic is very realistic, I loved how everyone in the family has different powers related to death and the whole concept of Amy bringing back living creatures from mud, in a way that they’re not exactly ghosts but not alive either, is truly fascinating to me.

The romance is very cute and I found myself invested in Toni and Amy romantic development. It was interesting to see them both navigate their complicated feelings and situation. The friend group and the family were also really wholesome and I wanted to hug everyone.

The only off part of this book is that it felt a bit long to me, despite being on the shorter side. Even when a lot of things were happening and I was still interested, I found it slow. I honestly cannot point my fingers on exactly why this was, maybe it’s the writing style, maybe something else.
That being said though, I’ll definitely be interested in checking out more of this author since this was truly an enjoyable read.

[Lars Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy of the Necromancers by Jimena I. Novaro - 4/5 stars

Thank you to BookSirens for access to a free copy of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review independently.

I want to start off by saying I love this book. If it had ended when the main plot ended, I would have given it 5 stars. Casual queer representation in the form of Harper, a teen that uses they/them pronouns. MC queer rep. Great mental health representation. I love this book's relationship with death. It's so healthy, yet so uncommon. Supportive teen friendships, while not pretending that all teens will love and support each other. It's just full of so many wonderful things.

The only thing I didn't really love was the ending. The epilogue itself actually. *Spoilers Incoming, you've been warned* at the end of the book the MC chooses to actively resist her gift, even though by the end of the plot she did so much good with it. It was difficult, but by being honest about it she met her GF and grew closer with her friends and she learned things about death and her role with it. She even did end up helping both the dead and the living with her gift. But she decides to tuck it away, ignore it, push it down at the expense of negative physical and mental side effects. Granted, I could have understood this and been okay with it, but then her choice is supported by her relative with the most similar gift. The one person who could have said "I get why you want to do this, but here's all the reasons you shouldn't". But instead she simply said "I mean, waiting until you're older doesn't mean it will be better later" but ultimately supported her choice to just put the gift on pause indefinitely. It gave my Rainbow Fish vibes. There's something special about you but just tuck it away because it's hard to be different and people don't understand your gift. Very unsatisfying ending.


But again, even with that, I did still really like this book and will continue to gobble up anything Jimena I. Novaro puts out.

[Shahira8826 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and BookSirens for providing me with a copy of this novel for an honest review. It is set to be published in July 2021.

"Amy of the Necromancers" by Jimena I. Novaro was quite a pleasant surprise for me.
I admit it was the beautiful art on the cover that caught my attention, even before I knew anything about the story itself or about the author.
The plot is at the same time pretty familiar (a bunch of high-school misfits playing amateur detectives in a mystery involving the supernatural) and at the same time fairly original (a teenage necromancer has unwittingly raised a human from the dead for the first time in her life and she then starts searching for clues about the dead girl's identity and fate).
Many of the characters are sorely one-dimensional (there's the Faithful Best Friend, the Gossipy Friend, the Quiet and Mysterious Love Interest, the Distracted Mother, the Annoying Older Sister...), but after all the story is plot-driven and the pacing is swift enough that in the end, I didn't mind the lackings of the characterization too much.
The plot has some good twists and turns and doesn't shy away from some very dark themes, which are seldom dealt with in YA books.
Besides, the author did an amazing job of portraying a vastly diverse cast of characters when it comes to ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
I can definitely recommend this book to anyone, teenager or not, who struggles with inclusivity and who doesn't see themselves represented in most books.
Overall, I enjoyed reading "Amy of the Necromancers" and I would definitely read a sequel (or more than one). I can easily see this novel becoming the first installment in a series, or even being picked up to be made into a movie or a TV show.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn’t this book have the most beautiful cover! I’m the sort of person who will judge a book by its front cover! If there’s a book with a stunning cover like this in front of me I have to read it! This is one trait of mine which has betrayed me many times in the past, was that the case this time around???

Let’s find out…..

The story has an interesting concept, I can’t say that I have read anything similar before so that was nice. There were a few parts which I found pointless, words filling a page with absolutely no relevance to the story, this always annoys me and a lot of authors seem to do it.

The actual plot was alright, I was invested in the story and characters and wanted to keep reading to find out what became of them, I wouldn’t say there were any big plot twists but there was enough happening to keep things flowing nicely.

The main character is Amy who is born a necromancer (someone who is able to reanimate dead people) only, the best Amy can do is bring back animals, that is until she manages to bring back a young girl who refuses to speak, making things very difficult for Amy. The mystery of the story is focused around Amy trying to find out what actually happened to the young girl.

There was a bit of romance thrown in which personally I found pointless, totally unnecessary and underdeveloped. The story could have done without it.

Overall, this was fairly well written and did tackle some tricky subjects which I felt were done very well. The story was a bit all over the place at times but at no point did I consider DNFing the book. I am glad that I read it and I would be interested to read more from this author in the future.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from booksirens for free and I have chosen to leave this review voluntarily, views and opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.

[Christine Rains · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amy is from a family of necromancers. Each of the women have a different magical ability that deal with life and death. If she gets the Itch, Amy can raise the dead from a bucket of mud. For the first time, she raises a person and it happens to be a three-year-old girl named Holly. Holly can't communicate well why she isn't at peace, and so it's up to Amy to interpret her feelings and the visions related to the child. Amy enlists the help of her friends and family, but the truth of things is tangled and it may end up to be too much than she can handle.

This incredible book is a YA paranormal coming-of-age story. It's beautifully written, giving a feeling at times of things being surreal like in a dream. When you hear the word necromancer, you think of dark magic, blood, bones, and undead. Yet for Amy and her family, it's nothing like that at all. This is not a horror story or even scary. It's elegant and natural. Amy raises Holly up from mud as a corporeal spirit to help her finish the business she has in the living world. Amy doesn't get to choose who she raises or why. They choose her. Amy isn't only dealing with the mystery of Holly and her powers. She has chronic depression and dissociates, she's bullied for being a lesbian, and she awkwardly deals with having a crush. Her family is amazing and so patient with her. I would love to see stories featuring each member of the family, especially Amy's aunt and mother. There is a lot of deep talk about death and different views of it, and there is grief. The climax and reveal of what happened to Holly had me in tears. It was so well done. Bravo to the author!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I randomly stumbled upon this ebook on Amazon and decided to give it a try since the synopsis sounded interesting. I would categorize it as magical realism since the supernatural elements in the story feel very grounded and just another part of the characters' everyday lives which is something I really enjoy.

I liked reading about the main character’s family of women with all their different necromantic abilities, though I will say the father felt a little oddly tacked on as a character since he was rarely mentioned. The teenage main character herself was very relatable since she spends a lot of the book making mistakes as she navigates her personal life and her supernatural abilities. Some sections did feel a bit meandering as she constantly questioned her choices but I still appreciate the realistic quality it brought to the book.

The author’s writing style is fairly simple and seems accessible to younger readers while tackling more complicated topics like grief and depression. She talks a lot specifically about the main character’s struggles with dissociation, which I don’t think I’ve read much about in other books. I did think the ending was pretty heavy for a YA book since the main mystery of the story revolves around a child’s death but it still included a lot of thoughtful discussions relating to grief and the importance of taking care of yourself and your mental health before helping others. The romance also wasn’t a major part of the story but I thought it added a necessary lighter element to the book which I liked.

3.5⭐

[Bethany Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn’t my favourite. Let’s start with what I did like. The intrigue. I was kept wanting to know more. How does the necromancy work. What happened to Holly? How will we figure this out? I couldn’t stop reading because I needed these answers. The answers were spaced out well over the course of the book meaning there was never a dull moment. We kept receiving little pieces of information to keep us intrigued.

Now some not so great things. I found the constant lists to be repetitive and almost over informative. I found the actions of most of the characters to be unrealistic. In real life, how many people would actually believe necromancers exist? How many people would just accept it as truth? Not many. There would be some resistance, some denial. I don’t feel like this was portrayed here and it made me feel a little disconnected.

I wasn’t a fan of the romance. It felt like it came a little out of left field. They had only a few scenes of interaction and not many of them were very long or detailed making the romance feel a little forced. I don’t understand where their attraction for each other came from.

Overall, this book was fun to read and kept me interested because of the ‘who did it’ plot line but other aspects just fell a little flat for me.

Rep - Black
F/F
Mental illness, disassociation.

I received an ARC of this book from BookSirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book!

To me, at it's heart, it's a story about a girl who's different trying to survive through high school. Which gets harder the more she tries to ignore her differences.

The main character, Amy, was realistic and relatable. She overthought things, made mistakes, doubted herself, etc. We got to see inside her head and understand what she was going through.

I think the main thing I liked about this book is how it covered everything else in her life - family, friends, self-doubt/self-confidence, mental health, romance - aside from necromancy. We got to see the struggles of high school and life that Amy faced, and how she coped with it all. It also added to the relatability through normalizing the necromancy by clumping it in with everything else. I found myself being able to relate with her even when it was about her struggles with necromancy.

I enjoyed the story, though it had a slow pace for at least the first half. I didn't mind the slower pace - for me it didn't detract from the story, but rather expanded on Amy's life. I liked the twists, and the romance bits were cute. And it had a nice, heartfelt ending that I didn't see coming.

For a story about a necromancer, it all felt so normal, which I really loved!

I received a digital copy of this book for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.