Bonesmith

Wren has trained her whole life to become a valkyr, one of the warriors who hunt the vengeful dead in the Dominions. A rigged qualifying trial costs her that future and her father's respect. She is exiled to the Border Wall, the last line of defense against the Breach, a wasteland where the restless dead roam free.

When a prince from the rival House of Gold is dragged into the Breach, Wren sees a chance to reclaim her name. She crosses the wall with Julian, an ironsmith from a house the Dominions tried to erase. The two settle into an uneasy truce that neither of them wanted.

What starts as a rescue turns into something larger. Wren and Julian find signs that the living and the dead are being pulled into one conspiracy, and that the Breach hides more of her family's history than she was ever told.

The pace stays fast, and the bone magic is specific and a little gruesome. The pull between Wren and Julian sharpens the less either of them trusts the other. Bonesmith opens the House of the Dead duology, a young adult fantasy built on grief made literal: a ghost has to be cut loose twice before it stays gone.