Year of the Reaper By Makiia Lucier

Free read Year of the Reaper

The past never forgets...

Before an ambush by enemy soldiers, Lord Cassia was an engineer's apprentice on a mission entrusted by the king. But when plague sweeps over the land, leaving countless dead and devastating the kingdom, even Cas’ title cannot save him from a rotting prison cell and a merciless sickness.

Three years later, Cas wants only to return to his home in the mountains and forget past horrors. But home is not what he remembers. His castle has become a refuge for the royal court. And they have brought their enemies with them.

When an assassin targets those closest to the queen, Cas is drawn into a search for a killer… one that leads him to form an unexpected bond with a brilliant young historian named Lena. Cas and Lena soon realize that who is behind the attacks is far less important than why. They must look to the past, following the trail of a terrible secret—one that could threaten the kingdom’s newfound peace and plunge it back into war. Year of the Reaper

4.5 Stars

I didn’t like my Fairyloot edition so I’m trading that in and getting it in a kindle sale. I was pleasantly surprised at how the audio had me laughing quite a lot

Click the link to see the awesome goodies that came in the box!
https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 336 Some people sleep on their sides, other prefer to sleep on their backs, but a lot of y'all are sleeping on THIS BOOK and that simply cannot go on… 336 Just how I like my fantasy novels: bold, fierce and bloody. Grabs you by the horns and doesn't let go. 336 5 stars because why the heck not? lol.

i thought this was a COVID inspired book as a main chuck of the story is about an illness. but to find out its actually based on the black plague and a particular instance that happened because of it (wont mention what because of spoilers) had me enjoying this so much more.

but what first drew me in is the writing - it had me glued me to the page. the prose is so easy to feel present with and its written in third person, which i personally prefer. i also enjoyed that the MC is a boy. so often its young women who are the protagonists in YA fantasy, so it was refreshing to follow cas and his growth and life. hes extremely mature and level-headed, so he was easy to like.

i also have to give credit where its due. i love that this is a standalone. the art of creating a complete story in just one book seems to be a rare thing these days in YA fantasy, so i appreciate what the author has accomplished with this. yes, the ending is a bit rushed and there are some things that are left unexplained, but it feels pretty wrapped-up as a whole, so thats what matters to me.

this is the perfect book to pick up if you are looking for a historical kingdom story that is a little more adult, but still love the YA fantasy tropes, and want something that feels relevant to today (but in a fun way).

↠ 4.5 stars 336 Ugh, I really love it when a book has a gorgeous cover and a story fit to match.

Year of the Reaper is a YA standalone that was inspired by/the aftermath of the Black Plague, Princess Joan, and the resilience of the human spirit. The story was written in a way that was easy to consume and captivating from the start. The main character Cas reminded me of Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows. If Kaz was a nobleman and not, ya know, a criminal.

I wish there was more of the supernatural elements from this book, as the main character is able to see and communicate with ghosts/spirits, but it's not super prevalent or explained. I thought the relationships, both romantic and platonic, were handled fairly well. The MC and his brother had a stellar dynamic.

Overall, a very quick and exciting read with great characters, a bit of mystery, and a fast pace.
That and the cover I got is matte black and metallic gold with black sprayed edges. 10/10 would frame on my gallery wall. 336

This is not a book I would’ve picked up myself, but I choose to give it a chance because it sounded interesting enough when it came in my FairyLoot box.

But boy, did it fall flat. The most interesting part is that the main character can see ghosts. We never get an answer to why that is and it wasn’t included enough in the story. It was just added when it was convenient and then forgotten about.

Much of the story developed by the guards being utterly incompetent and messing up time and time again and therefore creating trouble. When they beat up the main character, that belongs to one of the most influential families, without giving him the chance to explain, their punishment was their own embarrassment? Doesn’t people get executed for that?

I also found everyone to be extremely loose lipped in the beginning. They just revealed all their darkest secrets in a room full of people. That didn’t feel believable at all for people that gone through so much trauma.

It was so repetitive, I lost count how many times I was told that the royal insignia was a bull and a flower. A lot of the sentences was also short and choppy.

There was a plot twist towards the end that was really good and I thought my feelings towards the book would pick up. But then Cas started acting like an utter twat and I was just annoyed again.

I didn’t enjoy all the focus on the baby. All he did was scream, burp and piss himself. I don’t want to read about that once every other page. But at the same time he was one of the most well developed characters, because all the other ones were hardly allowed to be part of the story and felt flat.

The ending was also extremely rushed and felt too easily resolved. It was however fun to have a male main character, but that’s pretty much it. 336 On my blog.

Rep: mc with PTSD, gay side character

CWs: implied torture, gore, illness, amputation, human experimentation

Galley provided by publisher

So far this year, there have been only two books I’ve read that I’ve finished an ARC of, and then immediately gone away to preorder. This is the second of those books. (The first, for anyone curious, was Courtney Gould’s The Dead and the Dark.)

Let me start with some context. I’ve spent the last couple of years steadily realising that YA is… no longer for me, shall we say? There’ve been countless books I’ve read that have bored me to death. I’ve skimmed hundreds of pages, I’ve vowed to give up many times. But sometimes? Sometimes all that becomes worth it.

That’s how Year of the Reaper felt. I opened the book up, and within a few pages, I was fully absorbed. It’s cliché—and also somewhat pointless on my part to say, when I read a lot of books like this, for varying reasons—but I read it in a single sitting because I simply couldn’t put it down. Everything from the worldbuilding, to the mystery, to the characters themselves kept me turning page after page. I didn’t want it to end (so. Maybe Cas and Lena can reinvent themselves as investigators? Just a thought, Ms. Lucier).

I think what makes this book great, to me, is the combination of all its factors: world, character, and mystery, the last of which starts quite slowly, so the former two are very important. All of it leapt off the page, coming to life very vividly. Perhaps the clearest of the characters was Cas, as the protagonist, but he was surrounded by a vibrant cast too. And some of the backstories of those secondary characters made me desperate to know more about them and this world.

The mystery is also very well done. It’s kind of drip-fed to you for the first half, in a way that leaves you intrigued and waiting to know more, and then it’s steadily (or. Not that steadily, hahahahaha) ratcheted up in the second half. As more and more things come to light, you think you know who is behind it all, but whatever assumptions you make are smashed with glee by the author. I thought I had it sussed, but then the twist came, and it was one of those ones that genuinely makes your heart start racing.

So if this book is not on your radar yet, all I can ask is that you put it there right away. I enjoy so few YA fantasies that, whenever I find one I do love, I have to shove it down everyone’s throats.

Also I would really just like a five years later epilogue. For reasons. 336 Lord Cas has been missing for three-years. In this time, a plague has ravaged the kingdom and he has long been presumed dead. His return shocks all those who knew him, as does the news that arrives with him, and the new threats all inside of the castle now have to face. An assassin lurks within its walls and a plague dominates outside of it. Who will survive remains to be seen.

I really enjoyed how this author wove historical aspects into something so fantastical and entirely its own creation. I vastly prefer the fantasy to the historical genre, and so I was glad to find it very firmly rooted in the latter.

Cas was our initial eyes into this world, and his status allowed us unbarred access to it. His privileged upbringing did not deter from his compassionate side showing and, through this, more than just the way of life for the wealthy was witnessed. The plague knew no such status and so neither did Cas's explorations.

The focus was split between plague and assassin and so death featured heavily within these pages. So too did a romantic focus. This latter was not my favourite but I loved how the other two aspects were explored and the twists that were continually revealed throughout this.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Makiia Lucier, and the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, for this opportunity. 336 For those of us who can straddle the lines between dark death, wry humor, and quick fantasy—this one's for us. And for anyone who's ever been interested in the Black Death plague.

Concept: ★★★ 1/2
Plot/Pacing: ★★★★
Humor: ★★★★★
Enjoyment: ★★★★★

Cas is on his way home. He's got a lot of PTSD and some new scars. He's the sole plague survivor of a POW labor camp for the enemy. He's also got an interesting and upsetting new ability to see ghosts of the recently dead. And he's got a horse. (That last one is the most important, as he's also scant broke and is trying to get home.)

Cas is dealing with a lot, obviously.

The last thing he needs is a random girl stealing his one horse out from under him.

Luckily, the girl gets stuck and needs some help—so now Cas has a horse AND and a girl...and still a bunch of emotional baggage. Cas would rather not have two of those three things, but hey, no one's ever asked for his opinion on the matter.

Cas is on his way home to his family's city estate and desperately hoping his brother made it out of the plague times alive. But when he gets home and is returned into the royal fold as the official Lord Cassia once more, Cas discovers more things have changed than just his own backstory—the royal court is now in residence at his own family's estate. And they've brought the enemy with them.

Now embroiled in an assassination plot, armed with baggage, and working through a bizarre interest in his horse thief girl—who is revealed to be the court's historian AND half-sister to the king, to boot—Cas has a lot on his plate.

He'd really just like the quiet life. But needs must, and Cas is nothing if not a wry utilitarian. There's things to be done.

Wow. I'd like to start by saying that Year of the Reaper is a book that I should have picked up a LONG time ago. I loved it. The fact that I picked it up at all was by chance—Fairyloot included it in their book box and it arrived on my doorstep. I feel compelled, obviously, to read those books. I would have never picked up the U.S. version based on its artwork... and what a shame that would have been, because this book was my vibe to perfection.

Macabre reading fans, rejoice!

This novel could have been depressing. It also could have used the Black Death inspiration as a shameless plot device and not done the topic justice. Year of the Reaper did neither of these things. In a true slice of grace, the author managed to write a novel that paid homage to the horrors, grief, and lingering fears of a generation dealing with extensive and unaccountable trauma while somehow maintaining a thread of hope and dose of wry humor. This was so, so deftly handled, I'm a bit in awe considering this novel's standalone status and shorter page count.

Pick this one up if you can! It's a gem in the genre.

Blog | Instagram 336 3***

A lot of YA fantasy books seem to be about royals or royal kingdom settings and I’m a bit over it now. This was also set after a plague (inspired by bubonic plague) and Lord Cas, who was been wrongly imprisoned the past 3 years, is making way home, to find that everything he knew has changed. His castle has become a refuge for the Royal Court, things aren’t adding up and his brother who he once trusted is keeping secrets from him, and an assassin is targeting those closest to the Queen.

At first I found this book intriguing; why can Cas see the spirits of dead people!? When it’s not an ability he had before? What truly happened to the royal procession on the way to Lord Cas’ home? What is his brother and the Queen keeping to themselves?

Sadly I guessed very early on what the outcome would be and was a bit disappointed in how it played out. This outcome or “answer” to one of my questions, was also done SUPER quickly that I don’t feel it was given justice.
One of my main questions was how Lord Cas has this interesting ability (when he never had it before) and there was no answer given to this.

Some of what the other characters went through I feel I wanted answers to, and just didn’t get them. Or they were just put as a side note and not explored. These characters especially went through the worst possible hell and I just felt a deep sadness for them that I am sad this wasn’t explored further, or they weren’t given justice as an outcome of this book.

On the plus side this book is very fast paced and did start off well. Despite guessing the ending, I still wanted to see how this played (even though it was rushed and the character was not given the justice she most definitely deserved).
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