THE FINAL STEEP

In Hayat’s fantasy novel, a necromancer and a ghost prince have seven days to discover the truth that will save their kingdom.

Teyra Tepes is a second-class necromancer who feels too much. After failing her Academy exam—because she weeps for dead souls instead of commanding them—Teyra is forced to accept a dull existence performing minor magic and struggling to make the rent for her grandmother’s tea shop, The Final Steep. Teyra’s grandmother believed that caring for the dead was the only true way to perform death magic; now, her grandmother is gone, and Teyra is alone—except for Lenore, the snarky raven familiar bound to serve her family for generations. When a spirit on the brink of turning into a poltergeist bursts into her shop, her safe, tedious routine is upended. After illegally anchoring the spirit, whom she names Ash, Teyra discovers that he’s none other than the last Thornwick heir. Ash, who’s spent the last five years lost in the darkness between life and death, secretly survived the fire that killed the rest of his family, only to be murdered by Seraphine, the woman he loved, on the night of his coronation. All this violence has stemmed from a prophecy decreeing that, according to House Greythorn, a Thornwick on the throne will destroy their kingdom of Athergard. Despite Teyra’s magical efforts, Ash has only seven days before he dissolves into nothingness and thus must find the original prophecy, expose the truth, and vanquish the growing threat lurking beneath the Palace’s opulence in a week’s time. To survive, Ash and Teyra form an uneasy truce with Seraphine, bargain with the Moth (the mysterious leader of the Night Market), and navigate their undeniable chemistry.

Hayat has crafted a sprawling kingdom rich with vivid, sensory magical sensations and visceral, uniquely constructed creatures. (“The head was the worst. It was made of seven skulls, melted and merged into a single mass.”) The genuine respect and care between Ash and Teyra in this text is striking. While Teyra is instantly and implausibly willing to sacrifice her safety for an unknown spirit, as the duo spend more time advocating for each other and supporting each other, their connection grows genuine and propulsive. The unusual source of Teyra’s magic is compelling, and it’s refreshing to focus on a heroine whose strength lies in pure empathy and compassion. The character of Seraphine is similarly intriguing, as are her journey toward redemption and her struggle to separate doctrine from truth. However, the text feels unbalanced in its limited attention to the wider political stakes and implications of how Ash has suffered in the past, and what his return means for the kingdom. The layers of secrecy and the shakiness of Ash’s memories ensure that the timeline of the Greythorn conspiracy reads as muddled, even as this gothic romantasy novel’s key mysteries are conveniently revealed by helpfully verbose adversaries. Inconsistencies in the counting of Ash’s limited days leave even the tight, seven-day timeline feeling repetitive.

Love proves to be a magic stronger than death in this gripping, if overcrowded, fantasy romance.