Unhinged, Dark, and Surprisingly Tender : Hopeless Necromantic by Shiloh Briar

A chaotic fantasy full of dark humor and surprising heart

Synopsis

Sticks and stones may break their bones, but he’ll just resurrect them.

Four years ago, Sikras ‘Catseye’ Nikabod had it all: a beautiful wife, friends and family, and the endless luxuries that came with being the all-powerful necromancer to the queen.

Now, his brother-in-law is a walking corpse, he’s wanted for tax evasion, his oldest friend, Vessik, has slaughtered thousands of the queen’s people with a skeleton army, and his wife is dead. Sort of.

With the kingdom under threat, it’s only natural for the queen to task Sikras with the totally normal, not-at-all-cruel chore of brutally murdering his dearest friend. Sure. Great. It’s not like he already failed to stop Vessik’s reign of terror twice or anything.

Turns out, it’s hard to kill a monster when you can’t stop remembering the good man he used to be. Harder still when you’re pretty sure his descent into madness is kind of, sort of, hypothetically … all your fault.

Raise a glass. Raise the dead. Just don’t raise your hopes.

Review

4 stars
(And honestly five stars just for the cover!)

First things first: **Hopeless Necromantic by Shiloh Briar is completely crazy.
Absolutely unhinged.

And yet… also surprisingly tender and touching.

Let’s start with the cast because that alone tells you the kind of book this is.

We have Sikras, a powerful necromancer who looks permanently gray and tired and would very much prefer not to be anyone’s hero.

Then there is Ben, a sentient skeleton who exists thanks to Sikras’ magic.

And finally Helspira, a pink-haired demon who has made the daily decision to fight her demonic nature and try — very hard — to be a hero instead of the villain.

This unlikely trio is recruited to help save the kingdom from an extremely powerful necromancer… Vesik.

Who also happens to be Sikras’ former best friend.
And the man who murdered his wife.

Yes. There is quite a lot to unpack there.

Sikras is very much the reluctant hero of the story. He has spent four years grieving his wife and would honestly prefer that some “plucky teenager with untamed magical powers and a heart of gold” step in to handle the saving-the-world part.

Instead, he has been coping with life through a mixture of gallows humor and a truly impressive amount of denial.

Helspira, on the other hand, very much wants to be a hero. She throws all her energy into that goal — even when it forces her into incredibly difficult choices.

Eventually Sikras agrees to help save the kingdom… under a bit of pressure (read: threats of prison for unpaid taxes and possible harm to Ben).

And so our not-so-merry band sets off on a journey that includes dangerous ordeals, difficult decisions, and very real armies of undead.

This book has a lot of dark humor.
A lot of death jokes.

If that’s your kind of humor, you will probably be delighted — I certainly found myself smiling or snorting more than once.

But beneath all that chaos and gallows humor there is also a surprisingly emotional story.

The book explores grief, guilt, abuse, and what it truly means to be good.

Helspira in particular was a wonderful character. She may be a demon, but she often feels far more human and empathetic than many humans. Every day she chooses to fight her darker nature and be better.

Her wonder at simple things — a starry sky, a flower — was both touching and heartbreaking once you learn more about her past.

The story also asks some very difficult questions.

Could you kill your best friend if it meant saving thousands of lives?
Especially if you believe their fall into darkness might partly be your fault?

And what would you do if saving the kingdom meant betraying the people you had come to care about most?

Amid the death jokes, doom, and undead chaos, the book also celebrates friendship — especially between people who don’t quite fit the mold.

Sometimes the so-called “abominations” turn out to be the best people of all.

So yes, this book is chaotic, dark, funny, and occasionally completely ridiculous.

But it’s also thoughtful, emotional, and full of heart.

If you’re looking for a fantasy that feels a little different — something unhinged, funny, and unexpectedly moving — I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

Thank you to Orbit Books for the advanced copy. I had a grand time reading it!

Abominations for life!

Thanks for reading.

Sophie