Return from Death

Okay, so to be clear... this book is mainly a romance novel with fantasy elements. It takes place in a magic academy, but at least in this particular volume the romance overpowers the magic and fantasy. It's like Harry Potter if you cut down most of the magic and action scenes, and put relationship and friendship issues in their place. Oriana and Vincent used to be a couple, until she found him dead one day before succumbing to death herself and got thrown back in time to when she was only seven. When she finally gets to meet him again, she goes straight for lovey dovey mode right off the bat and inevitably creeps him out since he doesn't retain the same memories.

That being said, “back at square one” isn't exactly accurate either since Vincent falls in love with Oriana at first sight, which means he already likes her from the beginning. So this book deals with the issue of Oriana trying to prevent Vincent from dying again, while Vincent struggles against the image of him from the other timeline, who Oriana loved. This type of “me but not quite me” conflict is typically used in amnesia stories, so it's kind of refreshing to see it in a time reset story. Since Oriana does things differently in this timeline to ensure Vincent's safety, the story also deals with the possible butterfly effect. Things don't exactly play out the way they did in her previous life, eventually leading to a cliffhanger that puts Vincent in her shoes while also leaving a new clue that she didn't pick up before.

It sounds like we might learn about the mystery of their deaths in the next book, but as I said earlier, this particular volume is mainly about romance. The bittersweet youth with all the unrequited love, misunderstandings, and failure to notice how the other party might be feeling. There's very little world-building, seeing that the book takes place inside the magic academy and barely puts any focus on the magic or the lessons. That being said, the romance is pretty well-written with barely any bullying or toxicity involved. As long as you keep in mind that the book dedicates a large portion to Oriana and Vincent's relationship, it is quite an entertaining read.