Disclaimer: I received an eARC for review consideration through NetGalley, on behalf of the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A fantasy book full of rebels and power hungry leaders, ancient magics, automatons, and a girl just trying to find her brother by any means necessary.

Karis is trapped on an island and forced to work for the Scriptorium, a group of monks searching for the way to reanimate the automon army. She is pretty much an outcast on the island with only one friend, Dean, who is one of the guards. Until she finds Alix hidden in a cave and reanimates him.

Karis has one mission, and one mission only, to find her brother. Everything she does is with that in mind. All she wants is to be reunited with him, and it doesn’t matter what she has to do to make it happen. She uses Alix to help her find the records, and uses her friendship with Dean to help them get away. Once she knows where he is, her only plan is to get there as soon as possible, regardless of what dangers may lie ahead.

Her love for her brother is admirable, but her singlemindedness puts her and her companions in trouble repeatedly. She’s even willing to put her friends, and the world, at risk to achieve her goal. It’s pretty selfish.

Under it all, I think Karis is a good person and truly means well. And there is growth in her character. She also appears to be Asexual, though this is never clearly defined, but she refers to herself as not feeling attraction for other people a few times.

Alix isn’t human, but in a lot of ways, he is one of the more human characters in the story. He feels hurt when he learns the truth about his creation, he feels love towards his creator “father” and towards Karis and his other friends. I was rooting for a happy ending for him throughout the story.

The remaining cast of characters, namely the pirates and rebels, were awesome and fun and I liked the two romances that ensued.

While this wasn’t my favorite fantasy, I did enjoy the characters and story. And the ending was hopeful and fun, even with a hint that the villains, or others like them, could rise again.