![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GraveCovenant.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1\")
By Tobias Youngblood\n\u00a9 2023, Riposte Press, LLC
\nASIN: B0C9W7SPTV
\nKindle version; file size 2817 KB<\/p>\n
By Tobias Youngblood
\n\u00a9 2023, Riposte Press, LLC
\nASIN: B0C9W7SPTV
\nKindle version; file size 2817 KB<\/p>\n
Ilyana is an insectile shapeshifter with a dangerous interest in humans. Ridley is an amateur boxer with a death wish. Iris is a knife-wielding nine-year-old on a mission to find her father. Separate characters, each with their own goals, each struggling to overcome a haunted past. All will all be led to the same place: the corrupt center of The Outskirts, where a horror is waiting to be unleashed on humanity.<\/p>\n
I absolutely enjoyed Grave Covenant<\/em>. Being able to relate to insectoid characters is not something I would have expected. But author Tobias Youngblood did a great job creating the Vilskje, shapeshifting creatures who were never meant for this world. (That story is revealed in Windlyn Vale, GC\u2019s prequel. Definitely worth the read.) Characters Ilyana and Seth, introduced in the prequel, come back into this story and develop more fully throughout the narrative. I wasn\u2019t sure what path either of them would take until near the end, when each was called upon to make a life-altering choice. Nicely done!<\/p>\n The human characters were every bit as intriguing. I found it easy to connect to Ridley, a man tormented by shadows he cannot unravel and a love mysteriously lost. Iris, an extremely mature nine-year-old, was also easy to root for. I loved that she had been practicing knife-throwing for quite some time before her part in the story even begins. She is not your average kid. So, when Iris decides to find her missing father, I knew immediately she would not be easily deterred. (Spoiler: I was right.)<\/p>\n Unexpected side characters add to the story\u2019s nuance, some more expected than others and some neither human nor vilskje. Not all is as it appears in this place. Even when I thought I knew what was coming, I was happily surprised more than once.<\/p>\n The world of Grave Covenant<\/em> is dark, brooding, filled with shadows. Throughout, I felt as though the overarching safety felt by residents in The Outskirts was a thin veneer, layered atop lifetimes of secrets. The unfolding narrative pulls on these hidden threads, quietly weaving them into something even darker as the tale winds toward its climax in both subtle and more evident ways. By the time the Big Bad was finally revealed near the end, I could see how all those earlier events led to that moment. This realization only added to the depth of the story, the journey of its characters, and the richness of the worldbuilding.<\/p>\n Grave Covenant<\/em> is the first book in the Projectionist Series. I look forward to the next volume so that I can see where these characters go from here. A must-read for lovers of dark urban fantasy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Tobias Youngblood \u00a9 2023, Riposte Press, LLC ASIN: B0C9W7SPTV Kindle version; file size 2817 KB Ilyana is an insectile shapeshifter with a dangerous interest in humans. Ridley is an amateur boxer with a death wish. Iris is a knife-wielding nine-year-old on a mission to find her father. Separate characters, each with their own goals,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-SJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4335,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/31\/dragon-apostle\/","url_meta":{"origin":3393,"position":0},"title":"Dragon Apostle","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"May 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Book 2 of The Projectionists Series By Tobias Youngblood \u00a9 2024, Riposte Press LLC ASIN: B0D42BSW2P Kindle Version Dragon Apostle is the second book in Youngblood\u2019s Projectionists Series, and follows close on the heels of book one, Grave Covenant. 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Edward Todd, has settled into an expected post-war role of husband and father, living out his days in small-town mediocrity with enigmatic wife Nancy, unlikeable daughter Viola, volatile grandson Sunny and pragmatic granddaughter Bertie.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GodInRuuins-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":116,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/18\/its-a-love-thang-or-how-i-fell-in-love-with-my-characters\/","url_meta":{"origin":3393,"position":5},"title":"It’s a Love Thang (or How I Fell In Love With My Characters)","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Writers are omniscient, at least within their own worlds. 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