Review:
I first spotted this title on Goodreads and admired how unique it sounded. A reluctant necromancer? The only books on necromancers I had read were Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers Trilogy, so I was very excited to read this book. When I saw it on Netgalley, I knew I would have to read it. After reading it however, I was confronted with some conflicted thoughts.

The cover of Ward Against Death did not play into my decision to read the book as much as usual. Usually, I am choosing a physical book and I am drawn to those which catch my eye. This book was online though and I did not see the cover every time I read it. For these reasons I am unsure of how I feel about this cover. On one hand, it is not the kind of cover I am usually drawn to. On the other hand, this cover does have a sense of uniqueness that can be lacking in many covers. Altogether I am unsure with this cover and how much I like it.

Ward Against Death is set in multiple points of view. At times I found it to get a little confusing trying to remember who knew what and who was keeping what from others. As for the characters specifically, I did not find them to be all too great. I thought Celia was too pushy, always bullying Ward around. Ward on the other hand, I felt was not too strong, and he let himself get pushed around by Celia too often. I didn't like how he never put his foot down on anything with her. As for other characters, I did not find any stand out characters, mainly because for a good portion of this book, the characters were on their own.

The story line of this novel was okay. It was not my favorite because at times it just felt too slow for my tastes. By the end of the book, the plot had sped up. The writing in Ward Against Death was a weak point for me as well. I found myself feeling lost and confused about recent events. Also, there were quite a few terms used that I didn't understand, because I felt they weren't quite as well defined to the reader as I would have liked. Apart from these factors, the rest of the writing and plot were fairly good.

Though Ward Against Death was not my favorite book, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books with a historical feel and a twist of fantasy thrown in. I give Ward Against Death a 3/5 overall.