Death Bringer

Death Bringer by Derek Landy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A little note at the beginning of this review. I feel that Melancholia St. Clair has one of the most interesting character arcs I've ever read. That arc goes past this book, so I wouldn't necessarily call it a spoiler. She is a semi-side character (I guess that's what you would call her), but she is not flat, which is what tends to happen in other books. I appreciate that characters in this series are given a chance to grow for the most part. Definitely in this book, it's not just the main characters that have change in their lives.

I am convinced, the Necromancers are basically high school mean girls that are in a giant popularity contest with the each other and everyone else. They don't care about what is actually going on in the world, just who is going to be the Death Bringer, and there are two different options, Melancholia and Valkyrie. Each side is doing what they can to convince everyone to join them and be on the "cool" side. It's all very dramatic in a weird emo way.

Valkyrie's internal dialogue is disturbing and yet at the same time hilarious. I have a feeling that I really shouldn't laugh at those little conversations, but gosh dang it, I just can't help it. It's always satisfying every time someone learns who Darquesse is, or even Lord Vile. It doesn't matter what side the characters are on, no one expects the truth, and everyone is thrown when they learn the true identities.

One downside for me was the romance. I'm not a romance person anyway, and Valkyrie's issues are just too much for me. Personally, if I'm going to see one of her boyfriends (I guess Caelan would be called that) interact with someone, I want Fletcher and Valkyrie's dad. On second thought, let's just get a full book of the dad. I would not be mad.

Author: Derek Landy
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's

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