WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

She’s heiress to the throne. The throne her father stole from him.

Nizzara has always been able to perceive spirits better than the average caster. When she enters a deadly tournament to end her betrothal, she’s determined to win without succumbing to the addictive spirit magic she channels or taking a life in the duel ring. Finding herself outmatched, Nizzara must face her fear of power and team up with Dagen—an enemy who is half-ghost and all charm—to survive the tournament.

Dagen, the last King of Zarr, was killed by Nizzara’s father ten years ago. Now a half-ghost—able to phase between his human and spirit form—he is stuck in another realm, hunting wretched souls. When his keeper offers him a chance to reclaim his freedom in exchange for Nizzara’s soul, Dagen takes the deal.

There’s only one catch: she must freely give it to him by the tournament’s end or his own soul is forfeit.

MY THOUGHTS (spoiler-free):

“Everyone dies, Dae. The happy ones are those who choose to live in the meantime.”

I picked up Vesselless because I saw someone review it on TikTok and thought that this book ticked off so many boxes on my bookish checklist. Okay, fine, most of all I was in it for the doomed half-ghost romance. But there’s so much more about this book that I really like, so let’s just list them all, shall we?

A heroine that’s as badass as she is bookish

Nizzara is the heiress to the throne of Zarr. A throne her father stole 10 years ago by killing the then-King and has been ruling with a violent fist ever since. But while Nizzara puts on a cold and wicked façade in order to survive, inside she is just biding her time until she’s on the throne and can make some changes. But first, she needs to get out of her betrothal. Because which husband is gonna agree with her plans to free all slaves? So to do that, she needs to win the King’s Duel, because the winner gets one wish granted.

I loved Nizzara’s duality. She’s a soft and bookish little nerd at heart. She cares deeply about people and she loves to read. But she acknowledges that she also has a violent side to her and is quite the skilled fighter as well. I quite liked Nizzara, she didn’t fit neatly into one single box and that made her feel more real.

A half-ghost hero

Dagen is… well… dead. He has been for 10 years, ever since Nizzara’s father killed him and stole his throne. Ever since then, he’s been “living” as a sort of half-ghost who serves the god of death by hunting souls. And one day, the god of death asks for one specific pure soul, namely that of Nizzara’s. If Dagen can bring back her soul by the end of the tournament, he’ll have back his freedom. Sounds good right? Get freedom and get a little revenge on the side? Well, the catch is that the soul needs to be given to him freely, not taken. So charm instead of violence is the way to go. Good thing Dagen’s got plenty of charm.

I loved that this book is dual POV so that we also got Dagen’s POV. In it, we see that he is more than just a flirty charmer. He also has a big heart and was actually a pretty great king. Even now that he’s dead and has a limited amount of time, he still wants to make sure his people are taken care of. He may think of himself as a monster (and granted, he does crave souls) but he’s really more of a cinnamon roll. His only downside? The fact that he calls himself a shadow daddy. Like, no! A reader can call a character that, but a character calling themselves that kind of gives me the ick. (But fine, as a reader I can admit that he is, in fact, a shadow daddy.)

Slow burn and all the chemistry

I loved the way the romance progressed in this book. As the story starts, Dagen and Nizzara are strangers who think they are enemies because of the circumstances they are in, but pretty soon they get to know each other and find out they really do have a lot more in common than they thought. The banter and flirtiness are quite fun (as it often is when 2 people can mind-speak to each other) and once the feelings start to come out, the tension is so thick it can be cut with a knife. And Dagen is only half-ghost… meaning you get all the yearning and pining that you might expect from a ghost romance, BUT since he can become corporeal when he wishes, you also get all the… fun that comes with that 😉

An intricate world with bonded spirits

This world building was so unique. I loved how spirits were incorporated into the magic system, where people can bond with a spirit to harness magic. And not only that, but there are different realms, politics and gods and goddesses to deal with. It’s quite a lot and I have to admit, I was often a bit confused by it all. I think part of it was personal: I read this book over a long period and that often makes me forget little things that the author did mention. But I also read some reviews by other readers who also mention they felt a bit confused about it all. So I do think it’s something the author can improve upon. But that in mind, I still got most of it and it didn’t impact my enjoyment of the story as a whole. And there is so much still to discover in the next books.

A heinous, yet slightly understandable, villain?

I had mixed feelings about the king of Zarr. Which is great, because so does Nizzara, so that part definitely came across. I hated him most of the time. He’s an awful person, a terrible king and an even worse father. He does some despicable things. And yet, Nizzara also still remembers a time when he was better. At the end of the book, I just wanted to get to know more about him. He served as a great villain and yet he also felt like a pawn and we’re setting up for even greater villains to come.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I had a few issues with it (like the worldbuilding which is confusing at times and the ending which felt a bit rushed) which kept me from giving it a five star rating, but in the end I had a great time reading this one and am already eagerly anticipating the second book. I highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a romantasy featuring a half-ghost, a badass yet bookish heiress, a deadly tournament, a doomed romance and a unique magic system featuring spirits!

Tell Me:
Have you read Vesselless or will you be reading it?