Books Not Decaf

SHE RAISES HELL. HE RAISES THE DEAD. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

When new recruit Helspira takes on the doomed mission that no other soldier wants, life – and death – start to get a little complicated.

Helspira must play escort to Sikras – a frustratingly handsome necromancer with the power to raise the dead – as he attempts a mission that he’s failed twice before; stopping an undead army at the edges of the kingdom.

No one thinks he will succeed. Not even Sikras. But the more time the two spend together, the more they find they can imagine a brighter future. As secrets come out and the two grow closer – and Sikras’s lively skeleton companion Benjamin tries desperately not to be a third wheel – will Sikras’ and Helspira’s changing feelings for each other be enough to overcome the growing danger?

RAISE A GLASS. RAISE THE DEAD. JUST DON’T RAISE YOUR HOPES.

*POTENTIAL SPOILERS*

This book has only been on my anticipated (re)releases of 2026 for the past few months, so finally getting to it wasn’t a big deal or anything. Ha.

Truly, though, I came across Shiloh Briar’s art for Hopeless Necromantic on Instagram, and pretty much instantly fell in love with the premise and character dynamic. A necromancer who can barely wiggle his fingers for some magic without winding himself? A tiefling-coded sentinel with intrusive demon-thoughts? And a tragic backstory that leads to the creation of an animated skeleton who really is the a foundation unto himself?

Yep, instant TBR add.

Now, I’ve finished it, and I’ve waited over a week to sit down and review it.

Why?

Because I needed to sit with the aftermath and decide, “how did I feel about it?” Even now, I don’t know that I truly have an answer to that question.

Let’s start with what I know I enjoyed.

I liked that the characters were crafted with distinct voices. I liked that they were flawed, yet not unaware of those flaws. Helspira is what happens when you give a Lawful Good leaning character demonic intrusive thoughts. Ben gives loyal jock vibes – but the sweetheart of the group, not the mindless henchman kind (despite the actual lack of a brain, hah).

As for Sikras, I really just kinda love him. Having an author give their MC real-time consequences for magic use, rather than say there is and then someone that character has the reserves of gods, was refreshing. I also liked the way Briar wrote him as morally grey, ‘choose you over the world’, humor is the coping mechanism without making him an utter douche-mop. Beautiful. Wonderful. All the way down for it.

The humor was good. I laughed aloud a few times. I loved the banter between Sikras and Ben.

The romance part of it is I think where I’m hung up on the most. It was cute, sweet; love that it was built on mutual care. I just…it’s marketed as slow-burn, but I thought it felt more like near-instalove. Which is fine. For me, stretching the event timeline out even a smidgen more would have helped to make the romance development seem more realistic. However, it didn’t ruin the book experience for me. It simply knocked it down a bit from 5 stars.

There was a couple other things I expected to follow a different timeline, but it has me ever curious for what happens in the next one.

Over all, I enjoyed the book. Consumed it, really, after I stopped passing out every time I sat my butt on the couch. Would definitely recommend.

Rating: 4.5/5

Spice: 1/5

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this eBook!