Mistress of Bones (Mistress of Bones #1)

In Medina’s emotionally charged debut, a teen necromancer must hold her own against the gods in a battle of life and death. Nineteen-year-old necromancer Azul del Arroyo has the power to wake the dead—all she needs are the bones of the deceased. Having resurrected her sister, Isadora, once when Azul was 10, she seeks to bring Isadora back a second time following Isadora’s sudden death upon the sisters’ adventuring to the land of Lord Death. But when Virel Enjul, a devoted Emissary of Lord Death, catches Azul attempting to gather Isadora’s remains, he enlists her assistance in helping him hunt down another necromancer he’s pursuing. Along their quest, the duo become embroiled in a deadly political struggle involving a marquess, a count, a witch, a child king, a dead queen, and the queen’s former lover. Multiple alternating POVs that shift between various timelines prove challenging to unravel, but confident prose, strong characterizations, and imaginative Spanish-tinged mythology blend to deliver a rich and intricately crafted fantasy world. Descriptions of powerful characters struggling to navigate the actions of brutal yet self-sacrificing gods further enrich this sprawling series opener. Ages 13–up. Agent: Dorian Maffei, Kimberly Cameron & Assoc. (Aug.)