The Second Death of Locke
A devastatingly romantic epic fantasy about the undying bond between a knight and their mage, perfect for fans of Rachel Gillig and Alix E. Harrow. "Intricately imagined and deftly told, The Second Death of Locke is the perfect pairing of romance, pining, and sprawling epic fantasy." ―Hannah...
- Pages
- 481
- First published
- September 23, 2025
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 14 Litcadians
Reviews
Finished January 4, 2026
You would like him, I think. He would sacrifice the world for her— I suppose we all would, in the end. ~ “Take my freedom, Grey. Everything I have is yours. Everything I am is yours. Take my freedom, and keep your power, and keep my life. If you are here, I want to live. Even if it requires haunting this godforsaken rock for the rest of my life, never being more than an hour’s walk from you at any time—because, honestly, that’s how we would be anyway.” ~ Okay so I completely adored this book. I went into this completely blind not knowing a thing about it or if it would even be something I liked and it blew me away. I will say I am a friends to lovers girl especially when done right and this was friends to lovers in the most delicious way possible. I ate up every second of it. I’m so glad that the reveal about her past was told to us right away and that it’s something both MCs have always known about. It was written in such a way that if felt different than the other times I’ve read this trope and I loved it so much. ALSO 👏👏 round of applause for the author not having the fmc sacrifice all her powers for the male love interest because that is my least favourite trope in the universe. Honestly no notes I devoured this book and loved that it’s a stand alone. I hope I love the others just as much.
Started September 1, 2026 · Finished September 1, 2026
Started May 8, 2026 · Finished May 17, 2026
I wanted so badly to like this book, but I feel it had many shortcomings. For the ages that these characters are, they do not have a lot of depth. In my opinion, Grey remains selfish and I am not sold on the choices she makes—especially in the latter half of the book. And Kieran is just kind of unconditionally devoted to her and that’s his whole shtick. (I’m also never going to understand the mindset of hooking up with other people when it’s obvious you have feelings for someone else. Just like…keep it in your pants, idk.) The worldbuilding and politics of this book are unique, but the follow-through on these conflicts felt lackluster to me. In the end, it feels like nothing is really resolved, just put on a back burner to be dealt with later. Idk.
Started December 7, 2025 · Finished December 10, 2025
Finished October 7, 2025
4.75 stars I'm glad the reveal of Grey's identity wasn't a twist because I could smell it from a mile off. I feel like other authors would hold it over their reader's heads for hundreds of pages. Nonetheless, I did wonder where the book was going when it was revealed and the initial mission was on its way. I was left questioning what was next and that was a delightful surprise. I appreciate the book and the plot is heavily impacted by Keir/Grey but I do wish in some ways, there was more identity to establish the two as separate people and motivations. With the extra chapter included in the Illumicrate edition, I hope that is where we're going with the next book. This really was my only gripe with the book as it was otherwise a stunning read.
Finished January 8, 2026