Scan barcode
A review by booksthatburn
The Reanimator's Heart by Kara Jorgensen
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oliver is autistic, and up until now he hasn't had people in his life (romantically or otherwise) who take him as he is. He's told he's too much or too little, in ways he can't change even if he wanted to. Oliver makes himself small, working as a mortician hiding the extent of his powers as a necromancer because of the social stigma from those who work with the dead (let alone raise them). He's been interested in Felipe, one of the investigators at the Paranormal Society, but doesn't screw up the courage to do something about it until the night Felipe is murdered.
Felipe likes Oliver, he's liked him for years but (as in much of his life) kept putting off things he wanted in order to go all in on being an investigator. He's missed much of his daughter's life, and he doesn't see his wife and her partner nearly as much as he should. Suddenly, he's out of time when someone attacks him in his apartment and he's killed, only brought back because Oliver, the necromancer, found him in time to raise him from the dead.
Oliver is terrified of being one of "those" necromancers, the bad ones who keep people alive past their time while they rot. He sets a time limit of one week for him and Felipe to solve the case and wrap up everything, then he has to let Felipe go. Faced with a deadline, Felipe tries to solve the case so he can enjoy his last time with his family, but putting them aside once again gets complicated pretty fast.
This is great, I love it! I keep listing things about Felipe and Oliver as characters because they're so well done and I want the best for them; they are delightful both separately and together. Their romance is sweet, the mystery is engaging and wonderfully twisty while making sense at the end, and I'm excited for where this series will go next.
Felipe likes Oliver, he's liked him for years but (as in much of his life) kept putting off things he wanted in order to go all in on being an investigator. He's missed much of his daughter's life, and he doesn't see his wife and her partner nearly as much as he should. Suddenly, he's out of time when someone attacks him in his apartment and he's killed, only brought back because Oliver, the necromancer, found him in time to raise him from the dead.
Oliver is terrified of being one of "those" necromancers, the bad ones who keep people alive past their time while they rot. He sets a time limit of one week for him and Felipe to solve the case and wrap up everything, then he has to let Felipe go. Faced with a deadline, Felipe tries to solve the case so he can enjoy his last time with his family, but putting them aside once again gets complicated pretty fast.
This is great, I love it! I keep listing things about Felipe and Oliver as characters because they're so well done and I want the best for them; they are delightful both separately and together. Their romance is sweet, the mystery is engaging and wonderfully twisty while making sense at the end, and I'm excited for where this series will go next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Cannibalism
Minor: Self harm and Alcohol