If you are a fan of books full of righteous feminine rage, this is not a book that you will want to meet. After Jessamine is murdered on her wedding day, she makes a bargain with The Deathless One in order to reclaim her kingdom and get her revenge.

Whilst this book is a little bit on the slower side, I appreciated its pacing as it enabled me to fully immerse into the world and understand the setting fully.. I really enjoyed the alternating POVs from the MMC and the FMC as it established the very different places that both of the characters started the story and it was fun to see the ways that their aims aligned and the ways that they diverged.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC of this book!

Ok here we go!! I have a lot to say on this one that is for sure…

The first thing I want to say is that I absolutely flew through this book and I will be continuing this series!!

The FMC and the MMC are my jam and I am so excited for the next book!! Perhaps it was a bit insta-lusty in the beginning, but they developed into something great together. Look at this snarkiness:

(MMC ) ‘ “So far, all I’ve heard is bickering and childish snipes. You do remember I am a god? I am busy.”
(FMC) “You’re a dead god. What could you possibly have to do?”
(MMC) “Stare into the everlasting eternal darkness and dream about a time when I wasn’t dead,” he snarled, leaning forward as anger flashed through him. “And I’m late for that appointment, witch.” ’

Or this bit had me rolling:

‘ “So it’s true you were already researching witchcraft long before you came to me?” His featureless face turned … before he pointed out her books. “Some of these are quite wicked.”
She lunged forward as he pulled down a particularly devious spell book on sex magic … “Keep your sticky fingers to yourself.”
“Why should I do that? Some of these books you don’t remember at all … But you remember this one all too clearly.”
Cheeks flaming bright red … “Can we please go back to my memories?”
“We are in your memories. If you were interested in carnal magic, you should have told me.” He leaned closer … “I would be most interested in teaching you that kind of magic.” ‘

I highlighted so many passages in this book!! The relationship between the two main characters is amazing and I really enjoyed their banter. They were such fun!

Sybil was also a great character who served as a surrogate mother to both of the main characters at times.

Look at this interaction she had with the FMC: ‘Sybil reached across the island and placed her hand on top of Jessamine’s. “Maybe while you’re here you just eat, love. Forget all the rules. You aren’t sitting at a table with officials or nobles or politicians. You’re in my kitchen, and you’re hungry. So eat however you’d like.’

What a sweetie!

Now to some of the things that I struggled with.

The insta-lust in the beginning of the book could have been removed I believe by making the POV solely the FMC’s. The early chapters of the MMC were particularly full of this. I think if we had just had the FMC’s POV throughout the book (or at least the first half perhaps) then the MMC would have been more mysterious, which I think makes sense as he is a god.

I also think that this book needed more initial chapters expanding on the FMC’s life prior to chapter one. The scene needed to be set, relationships expanded upon, etc. I needed this information to realise what the stakes were by the end of the first couple of chapters. Perhaps 50 more pages or so would have been great. There should have also been scenes showing Leon as well and setting up his character prior to the opening of the story.

I also had some issues with the motivation of the FMC. I think because we did not have much of her backstory initially it was difficult to understand her motivations.

I also did not feel anything when there were some deaths early on in the book. The reader does not know the history of the relationships so it is not particularly emotionally striking. I also think the FMC does not really show much grieving in the books which could have added depth to her character.

BUT besides all of that, I can honestly say that this book is such a riot! The sassiness of the characters had me belly laughing and I can’t wait for book 2!!!

Just a heads up, this book is a bit spicy with the smut and there is profanity used.

Thank you all for reading!

I really wanted to enjoy this one. I’ve read other books by Emma Hamm they’re some of my favourites but unfortunately this one didn’t really hit on the same level as Whispers of the Deep. The story was incredibly slow, I found myself around 60% in and nothing had happened. I get the romance is slow burn but so was the story.
Overall 3.5 stars and I’ll probably pick the next one up to see where it goes.

This was amazing. I honestly think I am speechless.

When I say that practically everything was perfect about this book, I mean EVERYTHING.

I actually don’t know what to say.

characters: ♾️⭐️
The characters were so well thought out that I couldn’t put this book down because I wanted to know MORE about them. Jessamine and Elric are my babiesssss, and SYBIL?! I love this woman so much!!!!

the plot: 500000⭐️
The plot was just crazy! It was super interesting and I really enjoyed how you would be kept on your toes, because I don’t know what to expect!

the setting, writing and overall world: 1000000⭐️
I loved practically everything in this book, but what I think was one of the things that I loved most was writing and how it described the setting in SO MUCH DETAIL! It was so immersive and I felt that I was actually there in the story.

I only have one tiny thing to say about this book, and that is the fact that the patrons/gods/goddesses, or more specifically Elric (The Deathless One) kind of (TO ME) weak? I’m not sure how to explain it, but the fact the Elric just allowed his coven of witches to sacrifice him so much just made me think of someone who was weak, not the almighty god that he is. BUT this didn’t take away from the story so I didn’t mind it!!

I would like to say thank you to Netgalley and Canelo for approving this ARC for me to read!!!!!

Three and a half
I have never read a book by this author before so was very excited to get this and I’m undecided about it . It has a very intriguing beginning as Jessamine is murdered and then finds herself in the lands of the Deathless One and he has a proposition for her , help him return to the mortal world and he will support her vengeance ! There’s nothing Jessamine wants more but is she really as he believes a powerful Witch ? Time to learn a few spells !
I found I had issues with the characters although I’m actually very intrigued to know what happens next . I think my biggest problem was Jessamine, a pampered Princess who doesn’t seem to understand what it’s like to live in her kingdom and yet the populace think she’s pretty and kind ? I honestly couldn’t understand why . Oh Deathless One you definitely grew on me as the story progressed although you are a silly male for not realising you are falling in love ! The magic and how it’s shared was new to me although wow those Witches are truly power hungry in every sense of the word believe me . I won’t spoil the ending but the bad guy deserved all he got but this tale is far from over so I will eagerly await the next book
This voluntary take is of an advanced copy and my thoughts are honest and I believe fair

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for letting me read this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! I was hooked and couldn't stop reading for days. The witch and god dynamic of the relationship was very unique and new to me. I especially loved the medieval, witchy and dark magic aesthetic throughout the book.

I found the pace of the book fast enough to not lose momentum as the book progressed. I loved Emma Hamm's writing style and narrative voice! Hamm really allowed readers to explore each character while maintaining the mystery to each one to keep me hooked. I found the book so immersive through the amount of detail that Hamm went into in each chapter. I really liked the use of the third person which presented different POV's. The beginning was really fast paced and set up the book so well.

Elric as a character was a perfect dark, villainous, tempting male main character. Elric has so much depth based on his identity as a god and as a man. I really loved the development of his character as Jessamine returns Elric's humanity.

Jessamine as a character was fierce, powerful and feminine. I loved the progression between her identity as a princess and as a witch. I really liked that she embodied both identities towards the end of the book.

Sybil was also such a lovely character. She embodies the manor and mimics the same 'safe space' energy. I like that she has her own mystery and secrets that were not revealed. I'm really excited to see how she develops as a character in the next book.

Jessamine's and Elric's relationship embodied the enemies to lovers trope with burning passion and temptation. Their chemistry was undeniable and I loved the amount of detail given in each scene that built on their relationship. The 'spicy' chapters definitely mirrored the burning passion of their chemistry and relationship.

The tension, mystery, betrayals and plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat, chapter 36 in particular had my heart racing!!!

Overall, one of the best books I've read this year which made it 5/5*. A must-read for witchy lovers! I can't wait to read The Heartless One next!

Okay, first off I would like to say thank you for NetGallery for giving me early access to this book, secondly I would like to state I read this cover to cover, couldnt put it down because I needed to see now the plot twists ended. And wow, they ate.
Personally I feel the shadow daddy could have been more dark and mysterious, he gave in too soon to his feelings which ruined the enemies to lovers vibe. But overall I had such a fun time and will recommend to anyone!

I will be uploading a review off my reading experience of this book on the 28th on my channel (apologies I wasn't able to upload prior due to back-log)

The concept was intriguing, but it didn’t deliver for me. The first 60% felt like it had no real plot, making it a slow and often frustrating read. I did like the dual POV and that the MMC was truly a main character rather than just orbiting the FMC, his arc was tragic and sympathetic, and easily the most compelling part of the book. Unfortunately, the FMC lacked depth, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about her at all. While the MMC had potential, it wasn’t enough to carry the story, and I won’t be continuing the series.

I was really interested to see how this one is going to go since it's so different to previous books by this author, and I think seeing Emma Hamm branch out from what they’re known for writing was one of the main reasons that I wanted to give this one a go, as well as how genuinely interesting the plot sounded.

Going into this book I was reminded a lot of the Bewitched series by Laura Thalassa. There are a lot of differences between the two (medieval setting not modern, FMC wants revenge not the MMC, the main characters don’t have a shared past & there is no magic school). But the general vibe and way that the two main characters acted here but reminded me of it so much that it was hard to look past, and really hard not to compare them either.

One of the main angles that really intrigued me and had me thinking that this could have been a stand out book was that there was a whole kingdom infected with a mystery plague. No one knew how it came about, they didn’t know how to cure it, but it also didn’t seem like it was impacting things as much as we were lead to believe (at first)
I just found it so hard to believe that it had been around for so many years and no one had made any progress on learning more about it or trying to cure it? it just seemed like the kind of thing that some crazy rich member of the court would have been digging into, like I fully thought that there was going to be a creepy examination room or something where a bunch of tests were being done to try and fix it, but nope, the princess was the only one trying to find a cure and she was trying to use magic (that she didn’t even think she had) to do it.
I think I knew from this moment that there was going to be too many plot issues and potential pacing issues for me to fully enjoy and get into the story, and I was kinda right.
This book is a little bit of a hot mess, but it isn’t totally bad or unenjoyable…

My two main issues were that the pacing just fell off and got really weird after the 40% mark. Things had been super fast paced and interesting, and it just seemed like after she got some answers things declined rapidly and got super boring.

It also meant that the characters just kept repeating the same things over and over again and being super ANNOYING. I think Jessamine repeated over 10 times that she wasn’t a witch, didn’t want to make any deal with the deathless one and didn’t want to be near him, and that she wanted revenge more than anything else.
He kept repeating that he wanted revenge on all the witches and those that wronged him, how badly he wanted a body and wanted her to just accept her fate was tied to his. YET he had a complete personality change maybe 25% in because he went from wanting to use her for revenge to just wanting to use HER because oh she’s had a bath and looks really good kneeling in front of him… ew.
I knew that there was gonna be some kind of romantic element here between the two of them, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so sleazy and gross. There was no chemistry between the two of them early on so it just felt weird when it was suddenly shoved in there.

Again, this one wasn’t bad, it was just a hot mess and a little bit weird at times, but still enjoyable and i think there will be a lot of readers who will really enjoy this one!

I have never read an Emma Hamm book that I disliked, and though I am not fond of insta-anything, this one hit the mark in everyway.

I loved how she didn't just make Jessamine all powerful and kick-ass in her quest for vengeance. She let her try, fail and fight to grapple with who and what she had become, keeping her relatable and it gave her a stronger tether to her humanity. Her character arc was beautifully written it was a pure pleasure to watch her become a powerful force without immediately getting there.

I could write a whole review on The Deathless One, but I will simply say "chef's kiss" - no notes. He was the perfect morally grey shadow daddy that it's utterly obsessed with watching the woman he coverts burn the world around her.

I was literally giggling and kicking my feet, while also clutching my chest.

Jessamine really goes through a lot from the very beginning - about to be married, killed at her own wedding, only to be brought back to life by the "Deathless One." From there, her journey of discovering what it means to be a witch - and specifically a gravesinger - begins.

I've read quite a few of Emma Hamm's books, and I'd say this one is definitely for readers who enjoy slower-paced fantasy with more focus on characters rather than constant action. One thing I liked is that, despite Elric being called a god, the "gods" in this world feel more like powerful magical beings who were once closer to mortal, rather than untouchable deities.

This book also has the potential to dip a little darker than her previous works, which I think would be really exciting, I’m curious to see how the series continues. So far, this first book feels more like an introduction or even a prequel to the bigger events still to come.

Some parts did feel a bit confusing or inconsistent, but overall, I'm intrigued. It would be cool to learn more about gravesingers and what it truly means for Jessamine to be one.

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for the arc ♥

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78457A princess who will do anything to save her kingdom, betrayed by the very one who was supposed to help. Death was supposed to be her end. It was only just the start. An old God, tormented and tortured and trapped at the hands of those who had once worshipped him.

He offers her a chance, a way to return to a world so that she may seek her revenge, the only thing he requests in payment, his freedom, which only she can grant.

I didn’t know quite what to expect when going into this story, and it’s so much more than what it appears to be. It has such deeper levels that I wasn’t overly expecting, especially given some of the reviews I had caught before reading. Because this isn’t just a story about revenge, it’s about a girl who learns the meaning of freedom and strength. The growth that she goes through is beautifully written that even though the book slows down during the middle, it doesn’t seem slow. It’s a needed transition as Jessamine goes from running for her life, to finding safety. The book rises and falls as what she goes through rises and falls. As she learns and growns we get a steadily moving pace, but as she starts to seek out the truth, the pace of the book speeds up.

Jessamine isn’t the only one who goes through development, though; so does the Deathless one. He grapples not only with his own demons, but also the distrust he has of the very beings he’s supposed to trust. He goes through an arc of learning to trust, slowly watching as Jessamine grows from who he frist met, to who she is at the end of the book, someone capable of standing at his side. But it’s more than that, he grapples with his desire to use her to return to the mortal realm, and wants to return so he can feel the world with her.

Their relationship is something beautiful to read as well, is there ‘insta’ lust as some would call it? For most, the answer is perhaps yes, but truly we can feel attracted to people the moment we see them. The relationship isn’t based on that lust though, it’s this tug and pull, and it’s mutual, growing respect. She doesn’t cower before his power, doesn’t give him what she wants, because she has the strength to realise that, despite her growing feelings towards him, that he is a God who can not be trusted. It’s a slowly growing bond that honestly tugged at my heart, and the longing, and teasing, i just ate it up.

It was beautiful to see her realise that the only one she could perhaps trust was him, in her biggest moment of need. To see her truly accept her bloodthirst and need for revenge, it was so well written.

The side characters, but especially Sybill are amazing as well, i spent the whole time wondering whether she was indeed someone we could trust, and im still a little undecided, but the bond that she develops with Jessamine, and the strength she portrays as well, as someone who struggles the way Sybill does, was beautifully done, and her finding her courage was chefs kiss.

My only critique? The only downfall? I wanted more of the Shadow Cat, and Nyx best be in the next book more.15825

Thank you to NetGalley and Emma Hamm for the ARC.

Plot 4/5
Characters 3.75/5
Ending 3.75/5
Interest 3.75/5

Overall 3.75/5

-The premise of the story seemed really interesting but unfortunately, when I started reading the book, I couldn’t really get into it. I love the idea of the undead princess romancing the deathless god and the whole revenge plot and trying to retake their kingdom, but there were moments that felt either unnecessary or too much. I could t really follow the story perfectly.

-The characters were alright. Elric was fun at times, I have to say that but as a whole everyone kind of irritated me. It was a lot of back and forth and no real evolution. It just felt like Jessamine changed because she was being influenced by Elric and I do think that was on purpose but she was just very on and off. I do wish that we were able to see more of her before she died because I don’t feel like we knew her at all and her changes kind of went I noticed because of that.

-I didn’t really know what I was expecting for the ending. To be honest I didn’t really try to guess. It felt like it really ended off at a point where Jessamine fully lost control to Elric and is now seeking full revenge, and that doesn’t really seem like who she really was. So is the real villain actually Elric? I have to admit that I am curious as to what happens next but I can’t be too convinced as of right now.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for ending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of the book intrigued me - but unfortunately I don't think it was executed well. I ended up DNF-ing this one

The book does start with a LOT of action, but this soon trails off into monotonous chapters, which feel very repetitive - and frankly, I got very bored. The language also threw me and it was very repetitive. Additionally, at times the story felt very disjointed and I often was left wondering "how did we even get here?"

I found it difficult to picture some of the world too, and I don't think enough was expanded on to help the reader visualise what's going on.

Emma Hamm never misses! I loved this book, it’s fast paced, kept my attention and the chemistry between the characters was amazing. I really enjoy that there’s a strong plot tied with the romance to give this book balance. Definitely need to add this to your TBR!

The premise of this book really piqued my interest - a political monarch marriage that ends in betrayal and murder, ultimately leading to the princess making a deal with a God to save her kingdom? Sounds like my cup of tea. Unfortunately, the execution of this just didn’t hit the mark.

The pacing was the biggest issue for me - the action in this book was immediate and then just trailed off to monotonous chapters.

My biggest issue was the naivety of Jessamine; she wants to save her kingdom without even having the understanding of what they are going through other than the plague. I couldn’t connect to the characters and had a complete lack of interest in the romance aspect.

Overall, there is just a huge sense of ambiguity and not a lot going on.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 💐

DNF: 41%.
1.5 stars.

The premise sold me on this book initially. I loved the idea of a dead princess being given a second chance at life by the god of death, and intending to exact her revenge on the person who killed her and reclaim her kingdom. I made a lot of notes while reading about why I think the blurb generates more excitement than the book gives, which I'll try to summarise below.

We're initially promised that a princess makes a deal with the god of death for vengeance and to save her people. The first deal she made was that she'd destroy her kingdom and rebuild it in the MMC's name if she was given a second chance at life, but when approached, the FMC claims to owe him nothing and refuses to work with him? That felt strange to me, particularly as she also acknowledged that she didn't know how she'd manage to take back the throne by herself, and anyone who would've helped her was dead. Even if she didn't want to see his end goal come to fruition, I thought it'd make more sense that she'd work with him up to some point, at least to get Leon off the throne first. Instead, for the first 15%, she wandered aimlessly in the streets and ate food from bins...?

The MMC was described as a known trickster, and dangerous, and nightmarish, but I didn't see that at all. Instead, I felt like he was more of a hopeless romantic. He was falling for her as early as 23% in (so definitely NOT a slowburn), despite the fact that she was refusing to summon him fully into the world, something he'd wanted for hundreds of years, no? Instead of dwelling on his budding attraction, he should've been infuriated. Why he is even labelled as the bad one confused me as well. The history info dump made me feel like actually, it was the witches that were constantly taking advantage of him and his generosity in giving them power?

I thought the FMC would've been this badass, female-rage type character, but she wasn't. It was repeated over and over that she wanted to save her kingdom, but her actions didn't really match that. Instead of working hard to try and figure out what went wrong and how she could exact this revenge, she complained it wasn't possible to learn what the MMC and Sybil were trying to teach her, and had very little confidence in herself. How could she (and by extension, myself as a reader) expect to believe that she'd succeed if she didn't believe in herself, and didn't have enough determination? (41% in, by the way). Her attraction to the MMC was equally annoying and didn't make sense to me.

I didn't really mind the writing itself, but it was also difficult for me to picture the world. There was a lot told but not enough explained or expanded upon.

Overall, disappointing. I don't think the premise and the actual story aligned, and if that is an eventuality in the remaining 59% of the book, I wish it had started much earlier.

4⭐

I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The premise immediately drew me in. From the infection spreading across the land to the menacing presence of a god with shadows, the story offers a fresh and intriguing take on dark fantasy. The characters were well crafted and easy to connect with, and despite the book being shorter than what I typically read, the pacing felt spot on.

I especially appreciated the development of Princess Jessamine and the Deathless One’s relationship. The slow burn dynamic and underlying tension between them kept me engaged from beginning to end. My only critique is that the conclusion felt slightly rushed; however, this did not take away from my overall enjoyment.

With its compelling storyline and undercurrent of vengeance, this book makes for a strong start to the series. I look forward to seeing how the story continues in book two.

This is a beautiful written book and I would highly recommend and will be buying a copy for my shelfs

The Deathless One by Emma Hamm is a dark and enchanting fantasy filled with betrayal, power, and unexpected romance. Jessamine is a strong and determined heroine whose journey captivated me from the very first page. The worldbuilding is rich, the atmosphere is haunting, and the bond between Jessamine and the Deathless One is both compelling and unforgettable. I truly enjoyed this book and rated it five stars.