Review Detail

Seven Faceless Saints is an intriguing world of magic, war, religion, and injustice within a murder mystery. The story is told mostly from Damian and Rossana’s viewpoints. The characters are complex, and while it is easy to see they will go from enemies to lovers we are still presented with great buildup and reversals throughout.

Rossana (Roz) is driven by vengeance and grief after her father’s head is delivered to her family. Ombrazia is a country at war and her father just couldn’t stand to fight anymore and tried to run from the frontlines making him a deserter. It is further complicated by the fact his former childhood friend was the one who carried out the sentence and happens to also be the father of her childhood love, Damian. She then gained magical powers making her a Disciple (descendent of one of the seven gods) but instead of feeling blessed, she uses her position to help the rebellion.

Damian never was cut out to be a soldier, but as someone born without magic and his father a general, he was sent and has had plenty of PTSD since his return. He is given the job of solving the murder of one of the Disciples, and he will be sent back to war if he fails. He and Roz reluctantly work together to solve the murders which helps keep them in proximity and high emotional situations to hash out their past and rekindle their relationship.

I did find it interesting the author chose for their past to be so wrought by tragedy directed by their actions. It made more work for the author to make it believable because it is easy to understand why Roz would hate Damian in the part he played in her father’s death and less believable that she would so quickly fall back on old feelings. However, the author does a nice job of building their tension and making their makeup swoon-worthy.

It takes a bit of time to understand the magical religious system that is unjust and the mysterious murders. While that is supposedly the focus, Damian is so off-kilter by Roz and his nightmares that the murder evidence seems to fall into their laps and things happen quickly to reveal the murderer and the significance behind the murders instead of any great sleuthing on their parts.

The ending has quick resolutions in some regards while other things are clearly left for the sequel. The author’s big reveal was not what I was expecting and there is high intrigue regarding Damian and what magic he may have unlocked in himself. I look forward to reading the next book to see what happens.