The Last Necromancer, C.J. Archer, review

The Last Necromancer (The Ministry of Curiosities #1)

Author: C. J. Archer

Pages: 270

Genre: YA, Historical fiction, steampunk

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Summary:

Victorian London: For five years, Charlotte (Charlie) Holloway has lived as a boy in the slums. But when one theft too many gets her arrested, her only means of escape lies with a dead man. Charlie hasn’t raised a spirit since she first discovered she could do so five years ago. That time, her father banished her. This time, she brings even more trouble upon herself.
People are now hunting Charlie all over London, but only one man succeeds in capturing her.
Lincoln Fitzroy is the mysterious head of a secret organization on the trail of a madman who needs a necromancer to control his newly “made” creatures. There was only one known necromancer in the world – Charlotte – but now there appears to be two. Lincoln captures the willful Charlie in the hopes the boy will lead him to Charlotte. But what happens when he discovers the boy is in fact the young woman he’s been searching for all along? And will she agree to work for the man who held her against her will, and for an organization she doesn’t trust?
Because Lincoln and his ministry might be just as dangerous as the madman they’re hunting.

Review:

London, 1889. Charlie Holloway is a young boy of 13 years old that lives on the street, a skinny thief with his little gang. But the real name of Charlie is Charlotte, a young woman of 18, whom father has abandoned when she has try to reclaim her mother’s soul with her necromancer powers, that she doesn’t know to possess.

Now that she has manifested her powers in a police station, mysterious men are chasing her.

Charlie is now at the Ministry of Curiosities, in a big and elegant house with Cook, the cook obviously; Seth and Gus the handymen and Lincoln Fitzroy, the leader. But living in a house full of men is not a problem, if they all thinking that you are a man too.

“I wanted him to touch me, to hold me, to see me as a woman. Yet being discovered terrified me. The devil’s daughter was only good for doing the devil’s work.”
In this first volume, the action and the revelations are all in the beginning and in the ending, and all the book is about the interactions and the friendship between the characters. I can’t put it down!
Charlie is not the same MC of all the YA: she has a terrible past, but she is strong; she lives in the fear of her father, of her powers, and the fear of been discovered as a girl, but she’s also intelligent and brave.
The romance is little, there’s not instalove or love triangle! Lincoln is a dark character, fascinating and mysterious, but I adore Seth and Gus: Seth is sweet and gentle, and Gus seems to be rude and not polite, until the revelation. They are fantastic character!
I love the location and the setting too. It’s a dark London, divided between Necromancy and luxury, with a little touch of steampunk and kick ass girls.
Maybe the idea behind a ministery of curiosities, or paranormal activities is not the most original idea on the planet, but here is really well executed, and I can’t wait to read the other books in the series!
Oh, and we can’t forget about the one thing: finally in a YA book, someone (the author of course) reminds that the girls normally has periods. You know what I mean? Finally a main character that seems more human!

P.s.: the ebook is free on amazon!

Rating: 5/5