The Reanimator's Heart

The Reanimator Mysteries, Book 1

By: Kara Jorgensen

Narrated by: Jack R R Evans

A reluctant necromancer, a man killed before his time, and the crime that brings them together.

Felipe Galvan’s life as an investigator for the Paranormal Society has been spent running into danger. Returning home from his latest case, Felipe struggles with the sudden quiet of his life until a mysterious death puts him in the path of the enigmatic Oliver Barlow.

Oliver has two secrets. One, he has been in love with the charming Felipe Galvan for years. Two, he is a necromancer, but to keep the sensible life he’s built as a medical examiner, he must hide his powers. That is until Oliver finds Felipe murdered and accidentally brings him back from the dead.

But Felipe refuses to die again until he and Oliver catch his killer. Together, Felipe and Oliver embark on an investigation to uncover a plot centuries in the making. As they close in on his killer, one thing is certain: if they don’t stop them, Felipe won’t be the last to die.

©2022 Kara Jorgensen (P)2023 Kara Jorgensen

loved it!

this is such a cute story. it’s paranormal crime/mystery and mm romance. the main plot is quite interesting and the relationship between the main characters develops and flows at a nice pace

the main character has autism spectrum tendencies and it’s nice to see what it’s like through the eyes of the person with them, not just from the outside looking in. it did a great job distinguishing between what seems like disaffective/non-emotive behavior when it’s actually a masking tool to hide very deeply felt emotions. I liked how it allowed the complications of them in every day life to occur but also adding context and still showing the breadth and depth of a whole person

thoroughly enjoyed! it looks like a sequel is on the horizon. can’t wait!

this is one way to get your crush's attention

Audio: 3.5⭐️

Oliver and Felipe are both interesting characters who feel isolated for different reasons—for Oliver, his neurodivergence makes him an outcast more than his necromancy and, for Felipe, he’s so used to putting on the face of fearless, charming investigator he’s become hollow and alienated from those closest to him. Oliver's accidental reanimation of Felipe sets up an intriguing moral conflict for Oliver and forces him to examine his internalized fear. I absolutely adored Oliver and really empathized with his struggles, situation, and conflicting emotions.

Felipe’s inner turmoil and dissatisfaction with his life are more self-inflicted. His job is dangerous and scary, but he doesn’t let himself acknowledge that; he’s so good at telling stories, he can’t help but hide the truth from himself. The fact that he wasn’t killed while putting himself in danger and knowing his life is out of his hands is infuriating and forces him to face the unhappiness he’s been running from. It’s a m!ndf%ck to be alive but technically not, adding another interesting layer to the story and the development of the MCs’ relationship.

. . .The set up for the mystery and the players is well done and the investigation overall is handled pretty well. However, there are some leads not followed and times where the characters admonish one another to not jump to conclusions…only to do so, seemingly to add to the “can’t trust anyone” vibe. . .The engaging MCs, the complicated relationship between a necromancer who hates reanimating and his reanimated crush, and the gothic atmosphere of the Paranormal Society and mystery all combine to make The Reanimator’s Heart an entertaining read.

However, I was let down by the narration. Outside a few characters, there is little in the way of voice acting. There's the feminine voice and the masculine voice so Oliver and Felipe are almost indistinct. While I think the voice works for Oliver, it definitely doesn't for Felipe. The voice is quiet and almost always hesitant in some way like Oliver, but Felipe is a much more dynamic character and his frustration, charm, and conflict aren't conveyed well. Plus a native Spanish speaker with that pronunciation? Yikes. Also since Jack R. R. Evans' voice for the MCs is the same for the prose, it's hard to tell when they are thinking or speaking and sometimes who is. However, the narration is good overall. Evan's has a pleasant voice, good pacing, and good emotional conveyance for many scenes.

Adorable Romance!

A sweet romance with a mystery and creepy magic. I particularly appreciated the representation of an autistic character actually written by autistic author. The authenticity shows! I can't wait for the next book in the series. :D

Sweet and creepy MM paranormal romance

Surprisingly sweet while also having so much death, gore, and creepy sh*t going on.

Necromancer and recently murdered MC that he's tethered to him to keep alive, there's a mystery, some paranormal shenanigans, a dead nun.

Didn't love the narration, but really did enjoy the chemistry and friendship to lovers situation going on.

Weak rep, bad writing

I’m surprised this author has an MFA there was so much telling not showing. It feels like someone took a bunch of “truisms” and vocabulary from Therapy TikTok and made them into a book with what would have been a cool premise.

The autistic character is portrayed not as complex, but as needing protection which made me mad. He seemed able to advocate for himself so why have his best friend describe stimming and how to handle it? Why not have it happen they were in stressful enough situations. But it never comes up again so it was just a lecture for the reader? Basically the book is about how everyone is mean to him, but meanness seems just as much because he works in a morgue and is covered in guts sometimes. That seems kind of legit he probably stinks.

Also the love interest was super mean to him! You pull a stunt like he did you’d better grovel. I saw no groveling. “I love you” doesn’t forgive bad behavior. I’d have thought TikTok would know this.

And then the time period was unclear - which okay there’s a dirigible which basically means steampunk. But gay relationships are frowned on and maybe illegal? But they’re free to be open with no fear? And also the nonbinary side note character uses they/them pronouns. And we get a little lecture about how they are and never really develop the character. It annoys me when young queer (usually white and urban) people act like there’s only one way to be. If it’s magic, make a world where everyone is cool with everyone. And if it isn’t, show people as they were without using modern terms.

The mystery was not fleshed out at all. I have no idea why the bad guys were doing what they were doing or even what the plan was to begin with.

I had such high hopes for this because of the good reviews but I was just annoyed the whole time.