What Blooms From Death

What Blooms From Death

S.M. Gaither

Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.0
☠️
❤️‍🔥
🐕

Princess Bellanova has spent years surviving on her own, forced to flee her palace in order to escape the curse that put the rest of her royal family into a death-like slumber and set their lands to rotting. After spending her exile honing her thievery skills alongside her innate necromancy powers, Nova has earned a reputation as one of the fiercest outlaws the kingdom has ever suffered. But soon she’ll be the fiercest outlaw who ever died. A death that will be on purpose. For rumor has it that the true cause of her family’s demise—Luminor, the Blade of Light—is buried deep in the belly of the underworld. Stealing that blade back into the realm of the living will mean a chance at undoing the curses it left, restoring her family, her reputation, and her kingdom to life. The only things standing in her way are the endless twists and turns of the underworld, its terrifying monsters, unpredictable magic…and Aleksander, the infamous Light King himself—keeper of the blade, and the one who wielded it on the night of her family’s ruin. King Aleks has spent nearly a decade trapped in the underworld, a phantom of his former self, unable to truly die. When Nova crash lands into his purgatory—an inexplicably bright and lively being in a sea of endless dead things—he begins to dream of the world above for the first time in ages. He needs her to get him back to that world above. She needs him to undo the curse. But as the two form a reluctant alliance that soon blooms into something dangerously deeper, they find themselves unraveling ancient magic and dark secrets that will have greater consequences than either of them could have ever imagined...


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  • marissa
    Mar 31, 2025
    Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.0
    ❤️‍🔥
    ☠️
    🐕

    S.M. Gaither knows how to write romantasy, and What Blooms from Death is no exception! This was an excellent start to a new series, It’s full of intrigue, danger, and just the right amount of romance. It has amazing characters that are easy to feel invested in (including the side characters) and the best banter to read. The world-building is vivid and the magic system is so interesting, it felt unique (she has shadow powers in this one) and complex without being overwhelming. The descriptions of the world were especially fun and honestly, I still often think about it. I’ve always found myself captivated by the worlds S.M. Gaither is able to create, and this one was no different. Oh and one of my favourite things? The adorable, sassy, loving animal companion, Phantom! He’s the bestest boy. I love that I can always count on Gaither to include one. I fall in love every single time. My only real critique is that the book felt longer than it needed to be. Some scenes dragged a bit or felt unnecessary, which slowed things down a bit. That said, by the end, I was really happy with the story overall, and I will absolutely be reading the second instalment! *Many thanks to the author and her team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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