4 STARS
“What’s dead is dead and all shall die”

Investigators arrive to a superstitious island to solve a brutal crime. Among them is a lowly slave desperate to prove her worth and a soldier with dark dreams. Neither are prepared for what they find.
First of all, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the E-book ARC in exchange for my completely honest review.

Dream of Death City paints the picture of a dark and gothic world in this tale of uncovering mystery.
"Black blood glistened over the stones on the beach, and gulls screamed as they took their fill of whatever rotted flesh the citizens of Death City had left behind.
The whole world stunk like death."

What I liked:
**Dust-caste Thora and Low-investigator Diem Lakein are two characters well fleshed out and developed. It was easy to sympathize with and root for Thora, even with the mistakes she makes, she is a very likable character.
**The dark deadly world coated in mystery was gripping from the first chapter. It sucked me in and showed me this imaginative world that i could not only see, but feel.
**The touch of magic and romance. Although i would have loved to see more of both, personally.


What I disliked:
**I would have loved to learn more about the religion and customs the culture has surrounding death, marriage, holidays, etc. Those sorts of things tend to give an extra layer to the world-building that can add so much to a story.
**There were a few times I was picturing the scene only to read something that completely changed the way I was thinking it "looked" and it threw me off and ripped me out of the story. Some of the scenes were a little hard to follow/confusing.

Conclusion:
Prepare yourself to pay attention and dive in, this isn't an easy light hearted read. Give yourself time to read it in one sitting because you might not want to put it down. It is beautifully written and it draws you into the world and makes you feel everything the characters are feeling. A fantastic debut for Nwosu that will leave you beyond excited for book 2! And did i mention the map and artwork? Overall, it is a darkly beautiful book.

Dream of Death City is the kind of book that takes a little while to settle in, for the world-building elements and character elements and plot elements to really mix together into something special. But when these ingredients do finally start working, you get quite the literary kick.

This fantasy mystery story takes place on the outskirts of the highly restrictive country of the Red Kingdom, where a brutal caste system controls much of the lives of the citizens who live under its rule. Thora is a member of the Dust Caste, the bottom rung of the system, and works under Diem, a recently-demoted lower level investigator for the kingdom's main investigatory body. Both are sent to Death City, at the far end of the control of the Red Kingdom, to investigate a missing woman from the highest caste, but everything is not as it seems in this strange world...

I found myself greatly enjoying this book as I kept reading, with my appreciation of the (very strong!) characters and the utterly bizarre and potentially post-apocalyptic fantasy world that the story takes place in. Readers who like dark, gritty mysteries and are willing to wait for the narrative to pick up after some quality world-building will be greatly rewarded.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review Dream of Death City by PJ Nwosu! For those who don't want to stick around for the full review, just know that this is a fantastic book that everyone should read, and I'm leaving giving it four stars!

Dream of Death City is a dark fantasy/mystery read that will be published on the 18th of November. It is the 1st book in the Red Kingdom series. It's 523 pages long and was published by Small Heart Press. My ARC was courtesy of Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op.

The Red Kingdom has people divided into certain classes. Thora (a Dust-Caste slave) is owned by the Investigation House, a part of the government. She is tasked to assist with some investigative work with Diem. As they get to Death City, a place where the Red Kingdom holds a less power, Thora can taste freedom, even if she cannot have it.

I had no expectations going into this book, and then I ended stayed up until 4 am reading it. The book is fantastic! You'll start, and then you'll lose yourself in the world PJ Nwosu built up. Truly fantastic world-building! I could picture the giants and the places, but there was never too much of it. It always felt like it belonged to the text and not like the author was forcing it down.

I was a big fan of Thora. She makes hard decisions, takes action, and puts herself on the line for her beliefs. She has a goal, a position no other Dust Caste could ever hope for, and she works hard for it. That being said, despite her being clever, she makes mistakes. She miscalculates, speaks out of turn, and she loses a great deal while trying to get the job done. Sometimes the price is too high.

I was also a big fan of the other characters. Diem, the viceroy, and all the people around them were easy to picture and could be understood. The layers of corruption in the Kingdom were also interesting. I'm sure we'll see a clash coming in the following books.

All in all, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in dark fantasy!

The world-building in this book is extensive, but I was very confused at times. It wasn't always clear and the rules of the world didn't seem well-defined. I enjoyed the gothic vibes the story gave me, but that's all I really remember from the book. The rest of it didn't get absorbed well. I'll probably give it a reread at some point, and hopefully it leaves a greater impression (good or bad) on me.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Small Heart Press for gifting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I literally don't how to describe this book, save for visceral screaming.

Dream of Death City by PJ Nwosu is a fantasy mystery that follows the many crimes that haunt Death City in the much oppression Red Kingdom. This book follows the life of Thora and her very uneventful life at the Investigation house, working as a servant. But things change when she helps investigate the disappearance of a Sun noble girl. Mix that up with some Nordic inspiration and dark fantasy, and there you have Dream of Death City.

Honestly, this book had me confused at times. With the complicated plotting and society system. Though I did like the world building, as it was a breath of fresh air compared redundant worlds we often see scattered through the deluge of fantasy. But at the same time, I feel like I can't completely tell you what this is about.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! I thought the gothic worldbuilding of this book was lush and lovely — but when it came to the actual plot and pacing, there were some elements that could have absolutely been improved upon. Still, I'm excited to see what this author writes in the future!

Thora is a dust caste worker, a lowly skivvy, in Investigation House in the capital city of the bloody Red Kingdom. However, she’s had a taste of – not freedom exactly, but perhaps a little more autonomy than she’s usually given, as part of a long-term investigation (and yay, you can read about that in the free short story, Pyres in the Long Night). Now back to drudgery, she’s chaffing at the bit to escape once more and to prove herself worthy of an almost unprecedented rise in status, from dust caste to Investigator. For that, she’s going to need a big case – and one has just arrived on her superiors’ desks.

Thora is dispatched under the command of Investigator Diem (someone else we’ve met before in that prequel story) to Death City, a remote island outpost at the edge of the kingdom. Death City is harsh, but also somewhat free from the tight restrictions of City of Pillars, where Purge House wields terrifying power and a fondness for pyres…

Diem and Thora are there to find a missing girl, daughter of an important Sun Noble. But strangely, despite requesting the investigation, he seems to be doing everything he can to block progress. Can Thora untangle the mysteries laid out before her, prove herself to her superiors, and rise above her status? Or will the strange lures of Death City change her dreams?

I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘teaser’ prequel introductions to this new series. This is officially the first book in the series, but it draws heavily on the background we got from Pyres in the Long Night – you don’t have to have read it, but given the number of hints about the events of a certain dark night, you might want to find yourself a copy after reading this! The prequel novella, A Pale Box on the Distant Shore, also introduced the location of Death City, and a few of the other characters here, although they’re more in the background this time. Again, it’s not necessary to have read those first, but they’re both really good so you might want to!

Dream of Death City is a brilliant blend of the very bleak – harsh living conditions, terrifyingly rigid societal rules, and all-too-real nastiness of the case under investigation – but also hints of the fantastical. Early on we get a better glimpse of the ocean giants that were hinted at in Pale Box, and then there’s the magic of the Crooked Beat.

The story, while predominantly a mystery in a fantasy world, is mostly about Thora’s struggles with her status in the world and how events start to shift her dreams and thinking. It’s easy to root for her and to admire her dogged determination. There’s no simple outcome; the story, like life, is far more complex than that. I just hope there’s more from both Thora’s story and other explorations of this strange, dark new world, to come.

I loved this- such a rich and gothic world with a real sense of history that’s carefully laid out by the setting in a way that doesn’t feel forced, and the focus on ordinary, everyday characters (especially the Dust caste) was really refreshing. The mystery felt a little muddled at times, but overall I loved it and can’t wait for more books set in this world.

I went into this book completely blind, but it took me exactly one page to realise that this book would just click for me on every single level. These days, it’s rare for me to get so sucked into a story that I completely forget the time, but Dream of Death City accomplished exactly that and completely entranced me from the very first page.

Welcome to the Red Kingdom, a brutal and dark fantasy world where your caste decides your fate in life. The brutal Red Reform Laws ensure that the wealthy Sun-Nobles keep thriving off the poor, while the lowly Dust-Caste slaves suffer and remain oppressed. Anyone even thinking of stepping out of line will be swiftly and brutally punished by the Purge House’s Red Warriors, but that doesn’t stop Dust-Caste slave Thora from daring to dream of a better life for herself.
When a young Sun-Noble daughter disappears from her tower in Death City, Thora seizes upon the chance to improve her lot in life and convinces Investigation House to put her on the case as assistant-investigator. Along with the recently demoted Low-Investigator Diem Lakein, she is sent off to the wild, icy Thousand Island Frontier. Neither are prepared for what they find in the strange Death City, though, and they must do everything in their power to survive the dangerous web of conspiracies.

I am absolutely floored by the depth and breadth of the world building. As someone who struggles to visualise while reading, it’s rare for me to have a fully immersive reading experience. So imagine my wonder and excitement when I opened this book and discovered P.J. Nwosu’s incredible ability to transport me into her world. From the peculiar speech patterns in the dialogue, to the vivid and evocative descriptions of the uncanny settings, to the fascinating death worshipping culture with its elusive magic and finally to the all-encompassing oppression of the strict rules upholding this hierarchical society. The world building just bleeds through into every aspect of the story and creates a unique flair that will completely entrance you. What an incredible experience.

But that’s not where these author’s talents end, because the character work was also simply outstanding. Diem and Thora are incredibly compelling characters to follow, because they both dare to dream of a better life in a world where dreaming could result in death.
This is not the story of heroes or rulers, but the story of average citizens trying to survive in a harsh and restrictive world. Both of them have mysterious and dark pasts, which are slowly revealed throughout the story. And even though they have both done less than savoury things in order to survive, you can’t help but fall in love with them.
Thora’s journey was especially gripping to me, as we see this seemingly demure slave trying to gain a sense of agency and create something for her own. She might appear compliant on the outside, but when you get a peek inside her mind, you realise that she’s a force to be reckoned with.
Diem is also a fascinating character in his own right though. His past is haunting him, making his inner conflict and struggles very believable and captivating.
The character development throughout the story was so well done and I loved seeing how these characters’ individual journeys played into the overarching story. Also, it was a joy to see the slow build up of trust and love between these characters. Their relationship is unexpected, complex and bittersweet, but I absolutely adored it.

Finally, throw in a riveting mystery plot with lots of jaw-dropping twists and turns and a satisfying resolution, and the whole picture is complete. This book just ticked all of my boxes and it’s absolutely a new favourite for me.
This is the type of reading experience that I am always on the hunt for. I am completely satisfied with this entire story… and yet I am left hungering for more.
If you enjoy dark fantasy stories with rich world building, compelling characters, riveting mysteries, strange and macabre settings, thought-provoking themes and incredibly immersive and unique prose, then Dream of Death City is the book for you. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Small Heart Press for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Feel free to read the review on my website: www.lyjimenez.com/book-reviews/a-book-review-on-dream-of-death-city-by-pj-nwosu

Dream of Death City by PJ Nwosu is an adult fantasy novel, the first in a series of Sherlock Holmes-esque mysteries set in a dark fantasy world known as the Red Kingdom.

Two investigators are sent to Death City, an icy frontier surrounded by sunken ships, black pyramids, and drowned death gods. Thora, a Dust-caste slave, is desperate to prove herself as something more. To do that, she and Diem need to solve a mystery involving a Sun-noble girl who seems to have gone missing.

I want to start this off, as usual, with the good things. The best thing? A visual cohesiveness I don’t think I’ve seen before. It sticks faithfully to its color palette and death-themed motifs, giving a creepy and bleak atmosphere from start to end. You have rusted ships sinking to the bottom of a frigid sea. You have a dark moon whose dazzling red lights signal the coming of a death god. Frozen bodies are unearthed. Pale moths pick at dead whales along the seashore. “What’s dead is dead and all shall die” after all is a refrain you’ll be reminded of relentlessly (too relentlessly for my taste because you will hear it on every other page sometimes).

What I like about it honestly stops there. As a writer, I personally think that the vibes and aesthetic aren’t something to sleep on. After all, they’re one of the things that will give you the book’s unique feel.

The one another okay thing is the mystery itself. A girl is missing and though the characters do believe that the girl’s father loves her, he is, for some reason doing everything it takes to stall the investigation. It’s a good conundrum to start and the stakes are raised slightly. But it soon flatlines until its resolution. I wanted to feel the paranoia you get from a good mystery where you don’t know where something is going and where you just want to flip the page and know more. I didn’t have that feeling. I don’t even have a clue as to where the series is going by the end of it.

Dream of Death City makes a grave mistake from the beginning: the leads. As mentioned, Thora is Dust-caste (a slave) and Diem, the investigator she’s assisting, is Moon-caste (a free man). And I never got invested in them or in their relationship. There’s nothing in the first few crucial passages that make me attached to Thora in any way. In the first chapter, I had no idea who Thora was, what it meant to be Dust-caste, what the stakes were, etc. So although it started out with a building on fire, it did little to get my attention. There’s nothing remarkable about how Thora reacted to her situation and not enough set-up to let me follow the scene.

Consider Kaz Brekker in Six of Crows. Morally gray, yes. But Kaz’s character introduction immediately set up who he was and proved to you exactly how clever he could be. As for Thora…eventually, you might care about how she wants to be more than a slave, but I think that that information comes in way too late. She’s also described by fellow slaves as a “battle axe” but it remains just that: a description. I’m not given enough reason to believe that.

Diem is more of a shadow of a character than even Thora. I can’t get a grasp of a personality. Even his internal conflict is hard to pinpoint. He’s a jaded detective and… what does he want?

One could argue that he wants to be with Thora. However, the romance also falls short. I don’t know why they want each other. I don’t even know why they should be together. There’s no chemistry and the romantic subplot does nothing to convince you that this was earned. I understand that as members of a different caste they could not speak freely with one another, thus depriving us of any cute banter or any opportunity to accidentally brush hands. But couldn’t we have Thora speak freely to Diem in private? Couldn’t there be subtler ways to show attraction and chemistry?

Then there’s the matter of the prose. I do like how they all speak in a consistent way, a way that does make me believe these are people from some other place. But there are some word choices I wouldn’t have made. A building was described to have “hummed” with “screams.” And the skittering sound that little forest creatures made “wafted” from the underbrush. A little strange and a little hard to imagine.

And last, let’s talk about worldbuilding and themes. They overlap in some ways but it’s hard to see how they mesh together. In the Red Kingdom, there are three castes: Sun-noble, Moon-caste, and Dust-caste, with sun at the top and dust at the bottom. I do appreciate that the caste system does have ramifications on the story. People don’t care as much when Dust-caste are the victims of crimes but when it’s a Sun-noble, everyone scrambles to help. It also affects the romance since it’s illegal for Diem and Thora to have romantic relations.

But then you have the death gods and illegal magic (known as the crooked beat) and so on. Sure, the death gods are the reason why they adapted the Red Reform (which established the society you see now). But how do the themes of memento mori come together with social class? What do all the motifs do for the storyline? What does that mean for Thora and the journey she has ahead? At some point, it starts to feel like the deathly atmosphere really is just atmosphere and it gets harder and harder to know what this is all really about.

CONCLUSION: Props to PJ Nwosu for the vibes. Dream of Death City did teach me a lot about how to have a solid vision of how a world should look and feel. And although the case started out with a good conundrum, my lack of investment in the leads kept me from staying interested.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for this arc!! I ended up enjoying the book much more than I thought I would- the world building is exquisite, for one, and I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series

I honestly just finished this book and still have no idea what I just read. It fell a bit flat and I forgot it as soon as I finished. Interesting concept though!

Thanks, Netgalley, and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!
Loved the story. A very strong start that gives an unexpected story boost at the beginning. After that, the plot develops gradually but keeps this intriguing pace that makes you follow through all the way until the end. The world-building is done well. The two main characters are very fitting teammates and both are not devoid of some great mistakes, but that only makes the reader feel both of them very close and sympathize with them. Definitely a story worth reading!

To be honest I'm not sure what I think or should write about this book.
I have read many books in my life but none were like this one. 
The only comparison that comes to mind would be one of the classics, from the old school writers, who wrote in a language where you always had to wonder what they meant by that. 
Don't get me wrong, the way the book is written is of course very interesting and definitely took a lot of work, but unfortunately I'm not the right audience for it.

This book was listed as dark fantasy on Netgalley and the blurb was promising, but despite the fact that the book was uniquely written, it had too many descriptions and details, and dragged on too monotonously, so I lost interest in the story very fast.

The story describes very dark times in human history.
The world is divided into noble classes and slaves.
It is very similar to the Medieval Inquisition times where people were afraid to speak their free opinions or even think about them without being punished.
Only in this story the described world is called the Red Kingdom.

I think the book is perfect for all classic fantasy lovers.
It has a mystery murder topic and a little touch of romance in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF pretty early on. Between the huge blocks of description, the lack of grounding the characters in terms of location/relationship/background, the repetition (seriously, it IS possible to indicate that the world has a distinct way of speaking without using the same few words in every...single....line of dialogue).....it just wasn't worth it to keep reading past chapter 5.

pj nwosu made one thing very clear: she’s one hell of a writer. you get completely immersed in this fantasy world where your caste decides your fate: a life of marvelous riches if you’re a sun-noble, a life of almost mediocre circumstances if you’re a moon-caste, and a life of ungrateful servitude and slavery if you’re a dust-caste. as a woman, furthermore, you’re always someone’s property no matter what.

we’re following thora, a dust-caste woman who belongs to the house of investigation as a slave, aiding investigator diem in quite complex cases such as bringing down corruption and those who don’t obey the red reform laws and the king of the red kingdom. our two main characters then find themselves in the midst of a peculiar case of a sun-noble’s daughter’s disappearance, where the father both overimposes resolution yet at the same time stops it from happening. it’s safe to say that he’s suspicious from the get go, especially as multiple young girls are vanishing and someone is working particularly hard to cover it up. it’s up to thora and diem to uncover this mystery in death city, a place where slavery has been abolished and women actively partake in the practice of the crooked beat – a sort of witchcraft that only women can feel in their heartbeat as a gift from the eleventh daughter.

i have to say that as much as i’d like to give this book 5 stars, the predictability was too eminent in the plot. the plot twists aren’t true to their nomenclature, and while what really happens is morally wrong – and a crime – the author builds the fantasy element of the story only to then have no real purpose when push comes to shove.

loved the characters, loved the world building and setting. i wish the second half of the book had gone differently. will still read the rest of the series :)

4.5

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to the ARC of this book !

This was an absolutely fantastic read. I originally was interested for two reasons, the dark and Gothic vibes from the cover, and the mystery element. Both of these lived up to the hype !

The investigation in this book was a slow burn but engaging and intrueging! And our MCs were so well written that it was both heavily plot and character driven.

The world building is also well done and has those dark vibes that were promised in the books cover. Would definitly love to read more from this author !

"What is dead is dead and all shall die."

Dream of Death City is a huge memento mori. This book is highly atmospheric. It is dark, it is full of death and red at the same moment. This book feels like its cover and I love it.

Thora, the main character, is a Dust-caste, a slave with no bright prospects with no rights. She is bright, brave, and proud, but in her world, it leads to pyre burning. She cannot speak without permission, she cannot love who she wants and she cannot escape. Once slave, forever slave. Diem is a low-investigator, he is a free man, but still too low on the ladder. He is the first person who treats Thora like an equal. As you can see - they are no chosen ones.

This story is raw, strong, and without miracles. In this book, we can see characters fall, bleed, and break. PJ Nwosu made a fantastic job with worlbuilding and character development. I can only recommend Dream of Death City to all lovers of high fantasy. This series can be the new Game of Thrones of this decade.
5*

Thank you Small Heart Press and NetGalley for an eARC!

I received an ebook arc of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

This was a darker feeling epic fantasy/dystopian style novel. The first in a series. I thought the concept was really interesting, having a culture so obsessed with death. The death giant was a really cool imagining.

This is a wordy book. Like, lots of words. Everything is described so well, which is great, but found myself skimming descriptions a lot.

In the beginning you get dropped into chaos and have no idea what’s going on. The main characters, Thora and Diem, already know each other but I couldn’t grasp on what level. Are they friends? Best friends? Co workers? Acquittances? Do they wave when they pass in a hallway? I got nothing from them. Until around 30% in when Diem is like, “I dream about Thora.” And I was like oh! Ok..
There was not a lot of dialogue up until around 20% of the book. I think it hindered me from getting to know and care for these characters. Like they were in a bubble, and I was definitely outside the bubble.

The language is very different. The word “true” is used in almost every sentence of dialogue of every character. “True, reckon, hankering” are words you see a lot. Also..
“What’s dead is dead and all shall die” x100. It’s said.. a lot.
It got a bit repetitive. Viceroy Bearin is a longer-limbed insect man. If you read it you’ll know..

The pacing was a bit off for me. It seemed like a lot of slow parts, but by the end there was a lot of action. 50% and 70% I remember action happening.

Not a lot of romance. In fact 1 out 10 level of romance. I wanted more. But I’m just a romantic.

I liked the book, but I don’t think I liked it enough to continue in the series. I didn’t really enjoy the ending much.

Such a rich, dark fantasy with vivid imagery, compelling characters, and a twisted world that makes your spine shiver. P.J. Nwosu's imagination knows no bounds and it pays off so well in this book!

Thank you Victory Editing for a digital ARC copy of Dream of Death City.