A fierce and fascinating fusion of fantasy, horror and new weird, Asunder is stitched from dread and wonder in equal measure. Kerstin Hall’s world feels ancient and alive - haunted by eldritch gods and their grotesque whims, scarred by wars not long past, thick with death magic, politics and divine interference. It's the kind of deeply layered world building that feels like stepping into a culture with centuries of wounds beneath the skin.

Prickly, scarred, snark sharp as broken glass, yet with a deeply compassionate heart, Karys Eska is a brilliant lead. Ferain balances her with cheery wise guy charisma masking cunning, and together Hall explores trauma, trust and the brutal calculus of survival - not just between the leads, but across a cast of brilliant side characters. Haeki and Winola add weight, history, grief, humour and friction in all the right ways.

There’s an almost adventure quest momentum to the plot - episodic disasters, false turns, desperate gambles - but the tone runs dark and tense, threaded with the urgency of time running out. This is a road trip through ruin, studded with abominable heralds, body horror and the kind of magic that seeps deep into the bones. The prose is vivid, evocative and deeply immersive.

There is one major plot hurdle that resolves a little too neatly to satisfy but I forgave it almost immediately because the ending is wild. It’s a blood soaked crescendo of horror and consequence, unflinching and exhilarating. Hall pulls no punches - and it’s fantastic.

Karys is a Deathspeaker which basically means she traded with a demon for powers to manipulate the veneer and communicate with the recently deceased in exchange for her soul at some point in the future. She's on a standard job when she gets trapped in a room with a seriously injured man, Ferain, who between them they decide that she can bond his spirit/essence/soul to hers with use of a mythical artefact and she can get him out of the building, get him healed and separate him back from her in exchange for a large sum of cash. It obviously ends up being far from that easy!

This is a dark fantasy with moments of light and hope sprinkled throughout. Karys ends up reconnecting with an old friend from her hometown, Haeki, who ends up tagging along on her journey alongwith a scholar, Winola, she meets when she has questions about using the artefact to split Ferain from herself.

The worldbuilding was brilliant, in a completely separate setting to our own, the characters were all fully fleshed out (even Ferain who literally didn't have a body for most of the book). It was just so good!!

I saw this book around social media for a while, making my interest grow more and more as the weeks passed. Having the honour to read it before it's release in the UK was an honour and a superb experience.

Now, let me start with saying that I didn't really know what I was getting into. I knew there was something with a shadow and sort of deity. And that it was queer, sort of. It was enough to get me intrigued (I'm easy ok?).
I wasn't disappointed in the least.

Kerstin Hall infuses a gothic atmosphere into a very original world. I'm sorry but these modes of transportation! The magic! The Veneer and the beings lurking there! Gosh I was so happy to read a fantasy that felt new. Not that there is anything wrong with more familiar world, but reading something else from time to time is so important to keep the interest high.
The worldbuilding felt quite thorough and dense, but in a approachable way. You do have to accept not understanding everything at first, but I do love being thrown into a world a slowly picking stuff up, so it suited me very well.

Now, for the characters. Our main narrator and character is Karys, deathspeaker and quite lonely woman. She has a complicated family history, a weird and complicated place in society, and, more importantly, she has a new problem in the man she met and saved from Constructs. Events ensued and now Karys has man in her shadow, and need to get him out.
From there, Karys needs to travel, she meets people and travels again.
Frankly I loved her. And I loved Ferain too, as well as Winola and Haeki. They all felt developped, with qualities and flaws, complex relationships and interactions. Loved, loved Karys and Ferain development.

It did take me a while to read this dark lovely fantasy, but I am so glad I have pushed through. The writing is nice, the world original, and I can't wait to have the sequel because what the hell is this ending!

Asunder was such a unique, original and emotional read. After seeing so much derivative and 'samey' fantasy I'm so happy that something like Asunder got published and is now getting some awards attention.

I initially picked this up because of the comp titles: 'Sabriel' meets 'Witch King'. I understand why these were chosen but I don't think they quite match the book, I think I'd describe it more as 'New Crobuzon' meets 'Daughter of Redwinter', though comparisons are quite useless when talking about a book as unique as this. Asunder follows Karys: a girl forced into a desperate bargain with a terrifying demonic entity in order to find work as a Deathspeaker who can pierce the veil and see spirits of the dead. While on a job, she encounters a dying man, Ferain, and binds him to herself in order to save his life (in exchange for some money of course). But things don't quite go as plan and Karys must travel across the continent with Ferain trapped in her shadow, avoiding those hunting her, vicious heralds and all the while dreading the moment her 'master' will call her compact and kill her.

I'll start by talking about the worldbuilding, since it really set the tone for the book as a whole. It was just so wonderfully unique and strange, really unlike anything I've ever read this year and I absolutely loved it. Think biological machines (giant interdimensional spiders as transport anyone?), intricate and scientific magic, powerful warring gods and political unrest. The history of the world was just so interesting (and, perhaps most importantly, really cool) and the sometimes whimsical fantastical elements mixed with the brutality of it made for such a unique atmosphere. I haven't read a book with such a rich feeling world in a long, long time and I can't wait to explore it more in future installments because it feels like there's so much hidden depths. While the world was interesting to begin with, the gorgeous prose breathed so much life into it. I particularly loved how visceral it was at points, particularly in Sabaster's realm which was just so wonderfully horrific.

The characters were another big strength of the book, I just absolutely loved all of them. Karys was a brilliant protagonist. She's not your typical fantasy lead: she's jaded, untrusting, blunt and pushes people away but she's clearly a product of her environment and I couldn't help but love the empathy that she tried to hide and her clear desire to help other people (even if she would never admit it). Her dynamic with Ferain - openly kind, idealistic and with his heart on his sleeve - was just golden. I was kind of apprehensive going in because I thought Asunder was just going to be another romance where they fall instantly for each other, but that wasn't the case at all and the way Kary's and Ferain's relationship grew organically was so heartwarming and wonderful to read. I also really appreciated the side characters- scholar Winola and childhood friend/lover(?) Haeki. They really completmented each other with how different they were and I really liked their devotion to one another despite tensions.

The plot pacing was perhaps the weakest aspect of the book for me. I really liked the beginning set up and high stakes from the start, but it felt like it fizzled out a little in the middle with some unecessary meandering and subplots that didn't really add to the story overall. The ending few chapters were absolute masterpieces of tension, plot twists and emotional stakes (I need the sequel now after that ending!!) but the middle section just didn't really do it for me and was carried by the characters and relationships rather than plot.

To conclude, Asunder is a tense, emotional and entirely orignal story that I'd really reccommend to any fantasy fans and those who like a romantic subplot backed up by a strong story and world (so long as you don't mind a bit of uneven pacing). I cannot wait for more installments in the series, I'm really invested in Karys and Ferain and I'm glad Asunder is getting some recognition.