Til Death Do Us Bard

I think it is hard to describe an action packed book with necromancers and a haunting ex wife as “wholesome” but here I am, doing just that! Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black feels as a fluffy D&D campaign. We have Logan, our fighter, who is retired from fighting monsters to live with the love of his life, a bard named Magpie. He calls him Pie, which is unfortunate because no one understands him when he bellows “where is my Pie?”. And he does do that more frequently than you’d think. Anyway, because he lost his Pie, he has to resort to a granny grave robbing necromancer and his newly ghost-surrected ex wife to try to find him. There might also be unicorns.
I absolutely love Logan! He is a bit grumpy, loyal and one-minded, but I adore his logic. He is disabled from an earlier fight, and the disability rep is done very well. It doesn’t suddenly disappear and reappear (which happens so often in books!), and it isn’t a huge deal or plot point, no magical healing at the end and just *chef’s kiss*. Loved it! The supporting characters are epic too, I especially loved the Countess and her undead horse and dog. A waving skeleton cracked me up. Yes, this book is quite funny and has allllll the banter which I LOVE, but it also has deeper themes. The relationship between him and his ex wife are aggravating, sweet and so very human, and his relationship with Magpie is of course the best, the ultimate sunshine x grumpy to rule them all. Bards. Sigh. They’re truly the best if not a touch dramatic and over the top and annoying and just love them, Magpie in particular. Of course he’s in over his head and of course the plot extends more with plot twists and epicness. There is a lot of action, but I felt like it was more about the characters, so it’s actually a perfect match for me. Excellent pacing. Nice monsters. Cute unicorn farms. I can’t think of a single I thing I disliked. Seriously, this book pulled me out of a two month reading slump. Go read it if you like epic characters, D&D, sweet queer relationships, and if you like a little action and a little romance and a little character development at once. Or if you like T. Kingfisher or TJ Klune. 10 out of 10 recommend this one!

I received a free e-arc through Netgalley but it hasn’t influenced my opinions.