Ruinous Creatures

Overall Rating: 4/5

Blessed be the triune goddess.... Adela is the matcher's assistant. She has always been able to hear the skulls, the thoughts and the emotions of the creatures that once lived ... she cares for them, anointing them with their choice oils... bedazzling them for the day where they will be matched with the novitiates of the Spinner, of the Pupil, of the Huntress... for when the magic that resides in old bones will be given a purpose again through these novitiates... She herself has always been told that she is forbidden from forging a bond with a skull... this has been the way of the matcher....

Then we have Kian, a novitiate of the Huntress... who is intent on using his possession in Her Holy Order to initiate his own revenge for what happened to his parents so long ago, intent on bringing disorder and chaos and tumbling their way of life to the flames by destroying what gives the Triune their power. The skulls.

And then their world changes when Adela touches the skulls that her mentor has always left alone...has always told her that they do not need the same care that the other creatures' skulls do.

And when she touches them, she finds out that they are phoenix.

The touch of her bare skin somehow awakens them... And with the phoenixes' awakening comes a swirling path of sudden destruction.... her mentor's dragons rebel, the creatures are thrown into a frenzy... And she suddenly finds herself in an unlikely relationship with someone who was once bent for revenge... This is a stunningly unique and amazing standalone full of a beautiful magic system that I yearn to know more about. My only issue was the sudden "romance" zing with not much context or buildup towards it.

Special thanks to Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, as well as Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review!