This was a strong start to the Mourners series, it does a great job in bringing you into the world and how the characters worked in this universe. I enjoyed the alternate history going on and that it uses the dystopian fantasy element. Aminah Fox has a strong writing style and am excited for more in this series.

Another five star read this month!

This story is set over a century after the American Civil War, where the southern states became a separate nation. The head of the government is called the Apostate and his followers the Apolites. We get introduced to Elide (the FMC) at the most important moment of her life: all twenty-one-year-old Apolites have to take an aptitude test to be assigned their place in the pseudo-religious society. 
But nothing goes as planned and she is initiated in a deadly organization where she discoveres that nothing is as it seems. 

I love the dark academia setting in this story. The author did a really good job at describing the details of the school and city. 
It took me a while to get into the magic system but since it's all new for Elide too we get to learn right with her. The different types of magic were very well developed and presented through the story. All the different powers were similar but unique at the same time. 
The Mute representation was very thought out. In the beginning we get to see how hard it is for Elide because not a lot of people know Sign-Language in her little village. But as soon as she arrives in the big city she's able to communicate more because most people learned Sign-Language at some point in life.
Elides grows so much during the whole book. She starts as this shy and naive girl and turns into a strong woman who stops at nothing to change the world.

If your looking for a fast paced book with a fantastic plot: this is your book.

The book was published in 2022 and I can't believe I've never heard of this book before.

All in all a very good first book for a series. I can't wait to read the next book: The Harlots, which was published this summer. 

Thank you to @victoryeditingngc and @aminahsfox for the free copy.

When I started the book...I was confused by landscape, the titles and roles of the people, and kind of felt like I had missed a prequel or something that gave a better explanation of where I was in this world. I found myself using the search feature a lot to get a better understanding of people, places and things. After about 25% I felt I had a better grasp of the situation.

I did like the story and the author's writing style, but the story that started out pretty strong and pretty different kind of fell into cliched tropes as we got to the 70% mark. If Elide was supposed to be as strong as the Apostate then why was she putting up with his BS, type of thing. The end of the story was a let down and left me thinking I wasn't all that interested in exploring Harlots.