Thanks to Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners for the gifted audiobook!

I absolutely loved THE LAST BLOODCARVER, and have been anxiously awaiting the end to this Vietnam-inspired dark fantasy. Again, the use of medical technology mixed with magic is so up my alley, and I love the tragic love story at the center. I think the duology is best read TOGETHER, because I had a hard time jumping into HIS MORTAL DEMISE a year after reading THE LAST BLOODCARVER. I did still enjoy this one, but not quite as much as book one. The dual narration by Jason Vu and VyVy Nguyen was very well done!

Thank you netgalley for giving me the audiobook arc for this book!
This book was a wild ride! The dual timeline had me hooked, especially seeing how Kochin’s past choices connected to everything happening with Nhika. The magic system was fun and unique! I loved how it blended with science in a way that felt natural.

This book made me think about love, sacrifice, and how far people will go for the ones they care about. The writing was so immersive, and there were moments that absolutely wrecked me. If you liked the first book, this one will hit even harder—I couldn’t put it down.

I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

I was taken by book one of this duology, it was so good. Picking up where Last Bloodcarver left off, book two did not disappoint; I must say that I have a newfound love for Asian fantasy. The two main characters, Nhika and Kochin, had such a beautiful on-page love story. Just the right amount of romance without the graphic spice scenes, the quintessential love conquers all relationship.
The action in this book felt like I was watching a movie, especially the prison break!!!

Jason Vu and VyVy Nguyen were perfect choices to narrate this story. They did a perfect job of infusing emotion into each scene. I especially enjoyed the moments when the characters were having tender moments, and you could feel it in the inflections of the actors' voices.

I really had a good time with this duology.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners, and the amazing Vanessa Le for the ALC of His Mortal Demise

As much as I was fascinated by the first book, apparently this sequel didn’t piqued my interest at all… this book has 2 POV, Nhika & Kochin, but their POVs started on different timelines: Nhika in the present, Kochin in the past. It’s disorienting a bit and I needed awhile to get used to it. And thankfully later in the story, their timeline aligned.

The magic system was the only thing that kept me from DNF, because it’s cool. But other than that, I didn’t really care… on the first book I felt like the romance was artificial and this book still failed to change my opinion on that. Overall it’s just okay, i felt indifference on most of it.

The audiobook also weren’t my fav, not gonna lie… the narrators were good but that’s just it. Still worth to read & listen tho, for the magic system.

I really enjoyed this duology from start to finish. The plot fast paced and extremely unique, the Vietnam-inspired world with a fascinating medical magic system kept me hooked, especially when the main character used her blood and heart-based powers. The series explores grief in a heartfelt way, making me feel deeply for the characters. The romance was compelling, and the cliffhanger at the end of the first book was brutal!!!! But in a good way.
What a thrilling ending!

3.5⭐️ A beautiful ending to this duology. I really liked getting more of Kochin’s story and POV. His growth is incredible and much of the story focuses on if you had the power to undo the past (and in this case, death) even if it cost you part of yourself, would you take it. The dynamic between Kochin, his family, Nhika and the Komine family is so well thought out. This is a true story of forgiveness and love.

The audiobook was also really well done and greatly benefitted from dual narration. I read the first book in print but definitely enjoyed the audiobook version of this one.

I love, love, love dark/gothic fantasy & this was so good! I loved the narrators flow & having duel narrators is always a win in my opinion! I really enjoyed this duology & this was a fantastic conclusion to the story.

This was a stunning conclusion to The Last Bloodcarver duology. Kochin is determined to bring Nhika back to life by using his heartsoothing abilities. In another timeline, Nhika wakes up and is determined to find Kochin. I loved getting both Kochin and Nhika's POVs in this book, and felt like it really helped me understand Kochin's backstory a lot more. The POVs were told on different timelines which just made me root for the main characters to be back together. This book had plenty of suspense, some plot twists, and absolutely gorgeous writing. I listened to the audio while reading along and loved the duet narration. Jason Vu and VyVy Nguyen were both fantastic and brought the characters and their emotions to life in a really immersive manner.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's and Macmillan Audio for the advance copies!

🎧 Audiobook: His Mortal Demise Book #2 The Last Bloodcarver

✍🏾 Author: Vanessa Le- I read TLB and gave it 5 ⭐

📅Publication date: 3/18/25 | Read: 3/18/25

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, Mystery

Tropes: magic, a quest, steampunk, slow burn romance

🗣️Narrator: JaSon Vu and VyVy Nguyen voice all the characters with standouts from Kochin and Nhika. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrators paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 10:58

🌎 Setting: Theumas and Yarong

👆🏾POV: dual 3rd person

⚠️TW: death, war, imprisonment

Summary: After the death of his love, Kochin sacrifices his morals, his powers, and his heart in order to resurrect Nhika.

👩🏾 Heroine: Nhika-19, was a bloodcarver-can alter human biology with just a touch.

👨🏾 Hero: Ven Kochin-a heartsooth-can heal any wound except death.

🤔 My Thoughts: I loved book one, so I had high hopes for this one. It was about war politics and a quest. Kochin and Nhika spent most of the time apart and there was little romance. It focused on their medical magic system and creating technology. I loved Kochin's time home with his brothers and Nhika and Kochin's HEA.

Rating: 4/5 ✨
Spice level 2/5🔥kissing and fade to black

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners, and Vanessa Le for this ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

First of all, the narrators did a great job bringing the two main characters to life. After the events that took place in the first book, we now find Kochin alone, completely devastated. He is willing to do anything to bring Nhika back, even if it means losing parts of himself. I liked that they were given dual POVs and were able to tell their memories of past events and what they were feeling at the time. We were able to follow Kochin on this journey and experience his state of mind as he fought to bring back Nhika. We also got to see Nhika's journey and how, after being disregarded for so long by others, she finally found a group of people who cared for her.

Thank you to Fierce Reads for the e-arc and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

What an ending!
This sequel picks up several months after the end of the first one when Nhika wakes up. Kochin is nowhere to be found. No one has seen him. But then we switch to right after the end of the first book. So we have a dual timeline, now and then. Kochin steals and keeps Nhika in a life preserving casket while he tries to figure out how to bring her back from death. I'm not going to lie, having 2 POVs and having 2 timelines was a little hard to keep track of. It was really necessary though because Kochin went through so much to save Nhika and his story was so interesting.
Nhika was so determined to figure out what had happened to Kochin through this whole book. Her loneliness at being the only Bloodcarver/Heartsooth was so prominent in the first book and you could really tell she wanted to believe that connection between her and Kochin was still there and he was ok. I loved her connection she kept with the Conmi family (I don't know how to spell it since I listened to the audiobook). They really cared about her despite having purchased her for their own means in the first book. Kochin had such a rough go of it in this book, but he learned so much about his heartsoothing and himself and really gained confidence and an amazing outlook on things.
Despite the format being a little muddled, I loved following each character and watching them come together in the "now." The ending was so well done and exciting and also thought provoking. I think it turned out perfectly and well wrapped up.
There were 2 audiobook narrators - one for Nhika and one for Kochin. They both were fantastic. Nhika's narrator was bright and really pulled you into the story and Kochin's narrator felt a little brooding, but that's how his character was in this book. They both really fit their parts and kept the intrigue alive.
I really hope this series gains more fans with the release of this one, because I don't see it around social media a lot, and it's so unique!

The narration on the audiobook was great! I didn’t listen for the first book so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Loved seeing where the duology went, especially after the cliffhanger from the first book!

This is such an excellent YA fantasy duology with such a unique magic system of bloodcarvers/heartsooths, who can manipulate peoples bodies, usually to heal but also to harm.

This book picked right up where that massive cliffhanger left off. There was a lot of jumping between Kochin and his 6 months ago to present journey and Nhika in the present to slowly reveal what happened to get to present day, so I was on the edge of my seat the whole time waiting to find out what happened!

I enjoyed Kochin’s story through the war and felt that this had more of a focus on him in this book vs Nhika, who more of the focus in the first book. I enjoyed getting to see his POV and his journey!

The romance was light be so sweet and I really enjoyed it.

I loved this duology and definitely recommend!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for this audiobook ARC of His Mortal Demise.

I want to preface this review by stating I did not read the first book in this series and honestly didn’t know this was a sequel. I would DEFINITELY recommend reading the first one first. I was super confused until I realized that this was a sequel.

Overall this book was super interesting and has a very unique magic system! That was probably the best part about this book.

The characters are definitely intriguing. It was interesting to watch Kochin pretty much go dark in his quest for love.

Again, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read the first one, but it definitely seems like a series that’s worth reading!

I loved the first book in this series and was so excited for this one. I wanted to love it more than I did, but I enjoyed it a lot. I liked that so much of this book as told from Kochin, that really rounded out the story. I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the narrators, they really brought the characters to life. Kochin starts this book determined to find a way to use his heart soothing abilities to bring Nokia back to life. He is determined to find a way because he doesn’t know what his life is without her and he can’t life with her sacrifice of her life to save his. When Nhika awakens she is surprised to find the world at war and is frustrated to not be able to find Kochin. This book is beautiful and it will definitely stick with me for a long time. I’m good with this series being over, but I wouldn’t mind another story told in this same world.

His Mortal Demise is the stunning conclusion to The Last Bloodcarver series, packed with secrets, mystery and an ever sweet romance.

I absolutely loved the first book and this one just as much! I enjoyed seeing Kochin's POV of the happenings after book one and the dynamics of his character evolving throughout the book. Nhika, the FMC, is back and seeking the answer to a question that haunts her. How is she here?

Jumping back into this action packed, fast paced series was an invigorating adventure as we get a more in depth view of the science and magic of heartsoothing/bloodcarving.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for providing the eALC.

I had such an amazing time reading this book! I loved the first book, and with the way things ended, I was looking forward to seeing how they were going to back from that. Though I didn't remember if it ended with Nhika's death, or with her waking up.

How this story was told, alternating between Kochin's perspective, starting from 6 months ago and slowly progressing to the point where Nhika's story starts when she wakes up alive, was fantastic. The mystery was how he figured out how to bring her back, and where he was, if he'd survived it. Loved it!

This was more his story then hers, which was great, since she did go through a lot there. That he's working through his grief and his hope to bring her back, and his family and the guilt he feels having been duped, it was fantastic.

I loved that last 3rd of the book, where answers were had, and it was just a matter of dealing with the bad guy. I really enjoyed how that worked, we don't see it playing out like that very often, and I'm glad that things were resolved like that.

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by Vanessa Le!

4.25/5
This was a great duology.
I am such a sucker for dual POV and with how book 1 ended I loved the way it was portrayed. There is more about their world and I enjoyed learning about the magic and the island. It builds on the found family. I absolutely loved this ending and happy that I got to read this interesting story.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Young Listeners
For the opportunity to listen to the story!

4.5 stars

I really liked this sequel and conclusion to The Last Bloodcarver. The magic system is so different from other fantasy systems popular now; it is a healing, health based ability and we really get to see it in action in this book. The story combines science and inventions with fantasy and magic.

Duology series are becoming my favorite because you don’t get that lag that can happen in the middle book of a trilogy. This sequel is told alternately from Nhika and Kochin’s POV after the events of the first book and on two different time lines. We discover along with Nhika what happened to get to the present day. These two are smart and determined plus I love the character growth they go through.

The narrators for each POV were well cast and I think added to the experience.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

I have followed and loved the whole series and this absolutely did not disappoint! The narrator was perfection in giving voice to this series! Thank you so much for allowing me to review!!