The Beasts We Bury Summary, Characters and Themes
The Beasts We Bury by D.L. Taylor is a fantasy novel told through dual perspectives: Amaryllis Cliff, a tormented magical heir bound to a violent inheritance, and Silver, a cunning thief navigating rebellion and espionage.
Set against the looming deadline of “The Assurance”—a deadly ceremonial rite of succession—the novel explores themes of power, identity, trauma, and liberation. The world is richly built, with magic drawn from slain beasts and political machinations that blur the lines between hero and villain. Through its layered narrative, the book raises haunting questions about sacrifice, legacy, and the true cost of survival.
Summary
The Beasts We Bury is a dark, dual-narrative fantasy centered on the convergence of two very different lives: Amaryllis Cliff, the chosen heir and Seconde of a brutal magical dynasty, and Silver, a streetwise thief pulled into a rebellion he doesn’t fully understand.
Their fates revolve around a mysterious and climactic event known as The Assurance, which looms like a ticking clock throughout the novel.
Amaryllis’s chapters begin with a trial by combat against a magical jaguar. Her role as Seconde to her father—the Prime ruler of the Cliff Realm—demands she kill and absorb the essence of mythical beasts.
Each beast she slays grants her power but also haunts her, making her a spiritual host to a growing army of animal souls. Her initiation into this role was traumatic: as a child, she survived the Broken Citadel, a place where corrupted magic twisted her psyche and took the life of her sister Mara.
The legacy of this magic is central to the family’s grip on power—but it comes at the cost of Amaryllis’s sanity and identity.
Meanwhile, Silver’s story begins in the slums, where he lives with two companions, Vie and Rooftop. Silver is recruited by a shadowy figure named Guerre to infiltrate the royal palace.
His mission is presented as revolutionary—a chance to topple the regime that keeps people like him in poverty. Guerre tasks Silver with a three-part heist: first, to steal a critical seal from the palace; then, to use it to plant forged documents; and finally, to carry out an assassination under the guise of diplomacy.
Although Silver initially accepts out of desperation and loyalty to his friends, he becomes increasingly disturbed by Guerre’s true intentions.
As Amaryllis continues to carry out beast rituals for her father, she grows more fragmented. The beasts inside her begin to speak louder, pushing her toward a crisis of identity.
At the same time, she uncovers pieces of her family’s dark past—how Mara may not have simply died but been sacrificed, and how the magical rituals they follow are as much a prison as a privilege.
Silver’s story intensifies as he completes each of Guerre’s missions. He disguises himself as a palace servant, witnesses the extravagance of the elite, and sees firsthand how corrupt and inhuman the ruling system has become.
But he also starts to realize that Guerre is less a liberator and more a power-hungry opportunist. Guerre’s final task—assassinating a noble—pushes Silver to the edge of betrayal, especially when he sees the chaos it will unleash.
As The Assurance ceremony approaches, Amaryllis decides she can no longer comply. During the ritual where she is to be crowned as the next Prime, she publicly refuses to fulfill her father’s command.
The beasts within her begin to rebel, threatening to destroy her as well as the ceremony itself. At the same time, Silver has completed his infiltration and sabotage, setting off a chain of events that leads to a palace-wide revolt.
In the final chapters, Amaryllis and Silver meet in secret and forge an alliance. Amaryllis chooses to release the spirits of the beasts rather than enslave them further, risking collapse of the magic that holds the kingdom together.
The palace burns, the ceremony is shattered, and the future remains uncertain. The last image is a symbolic one: Amaryllis stands on the rooftop at dawn, the beasts roaring within her, as Silver joins her, both unsure of what comes next but determined not to repeat the past.
Characters
Amaryllis Cliff
Amaryllis is a complex protagonist who navigates the painful responsibilities of power and the personal cost of her magical abilities. As the Seconde of her father, she is bound to uphold the legacy of her family, but her journey reveals the internal toll this duty takes on her.
The power she wields is not simply a gift—it is a curse. Her abilities come from the ritualistic killing of magical beasts, each death integrating the creature’s spirit into her own. These spirits, while empowering her, also haunt her, amplifying her trauma and inner conflict.
As she progresses through the story, Amaryllis grapples with the violent nature of her powers and the emotional burden of being a tool of her father’s regime. The brutality of her tasks, like the jaguar battle, exposes her vulnerability and deepens her sense of disillusionment.
Soon she experiences a breaking point, where the voices of the beasts inside her become overwhelming. Her eventual rebellion against her father during the Assurance ceremony marks her defiance not just of him, but of the oppressive system she is trapped in. Her arc is one of self-discovery, as she learns to confront and potentially free the spirits that have been bound to her.
Silver
Silver, on the other hand, represents resistance from the streets and the lower classes, a stark contrast to Amaryllis’s noble birth. He starts as a desperate thief, struggling to survive in a corrupt and dangerous world.
Silver’s background as an orphaned runaway adds layers to his motivations, driving his desire for freedom. His involvement in Guerre’s heist scheme shows a man willing to take risks, but as he completes each mission, Silver begins to question the true nature of Guerre’s intentions.
His role shifts from mere thief to a reluctant hero when he uncovers Guerre’s plan to replace one tyrant with another. Silver’s moral dilemmas grow as the plot unfolds, and his loyalty to his friends Vie and Rooftop adds depth to his character.
By the end of the novel, he has transformed into an active agent of change, working with Amaryllis to dismantle the corrupt regime from within. His skills in infiltration, deception, and sabotage come to the fore, culminating in a rebellion that he plays a critical role in sparking.
Guerre
Guerre’s character is that of a manipulative mastermind whose true motivations are hidden until later in the novel. Initially, he recruits Silver for a series of high-stakes missions, promising liberation, but as the story progresses, Guerre’s deeper, more authoritarian desires are revealed.
He seeks to seize the throne under the guise of liberating the people, but in truth, he desires to replace the current tyranny with his own. Guerre’s control over Silver and his increasingly sinister actions highlight the corrupting influence of power and the dangers of misplaced idealism.
His ultimate betrayal is pivotal in the plot, as it pushes Silver and Amaryllis into an alliance aimed at overthrowing him and the entire system he seeks to uphold.
Mara Cliff
Mara’s presence is felt mostly through flashbacks and visions, as she is a key figure in Amaryllis’s past. The mystery surrounding her disappearance is central to Amaryllis’s emotional journey.
As Amaryllis uncovers more about her sister’s fate, it becomes clear that Mara’s own involvement with the Broken Citadel’s magic may have been part of the reason for her disappearance. Mara represents a tragic loss for Amaryllis, a reminder of the cost of their family’s cursed legacy, and her memory propels Amaryllis to confront the dark forces that bind her to her father’s world.
Vie and Rooftop
Vie and Rooftop are Silver’s closest allies, each adding a layer of depth to his journey. Vie is his confidante, constantly concerned about the dangerous path Silver is on, while Rooftop serves as a more pragmatic figure, helping Silver with his street-smart tactics.
Together, they embody the family Silver has created for himself, offering both emotional support and practical assistance in his missions.
As the story progresses, their loyalty to Silver becomes strained, especially as they uncover the true nature of Guerre’s ambitions. Their eventual participation in the rebellion underscores the theme of collective resistance, showing that even those on the fringes of society have a stake in dismantling the corrupt systems that govern their world.
Themes
The Price of Leadership
In The Beasts We Bury, power is portrayed not only as a tool for domination but also as a deeply corrupting force. The main characters, Amaryllis and Silver, are both entangled in power structures that exploit their abilities, each in unique ways.
Amaryllis, as her father’s Seconde, has access to immense magical power derived from ritualistically killing beasts. However, this comes at the cost of her humanity, as she is haunted by the spirits of the animals she slays, and the power she wields serves to enslave her, both spiritually and emotionally.
As the story progresses, her internal struggles mirror the larger political corruption within her family. This highlights how those in power are often the most vulnerable to moral decay.
On the other hand, Silver’s experience reflects the manipulation of the disenfranchised by the powerful. Although he starts as a thief, Silver becomes embroiled in a larger plot orchestrated by Guerre, a figure who cloaks his own quest for power under the guise of revolution.
Guerre’s manipulation of Silver exposes the dark side of political ambition—where even those with seemingly noble aims may be driven by a desire to replace one tyrant with another. The novel critiques the way power consolidates itself, whether through brutal magical rites or deceptive political schemes.
It reveals that those who wield power often become blind to the damage it causes, both to others and to themselves.
The Trauma of Identity
A recurring theme in the novel is the psychological toll of living within a system that demands violence, and how it fractures the sense of self. Amaryllis, especially, suffers from a loss of identity as she is forced to absorb the spirits of the beasts she kills.
This magical bond, meant to empower her, instead erodes her sense of self, as she begins to experience the beasts’ emotions and memories. Her identity becomes increasingly fragmented, and she struggles to distinguish herself from the very creatures she is commanded to destroy.
The violence and ritual that define her role as Seconde not only change her physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. This leads her to question her place in a world that asks for such sacrifices.
Similarly, Silver’s journey also highlights the trauma of survival in a world that demands moral compromises for the sake of survival. As a thief, he is constantly forced to confront his own worth, and the idea that his skills, honed in the slums, might be used for a larger political agenda challenges his sense of self.
Both characters are pulled in different directions by the expectations of those around them—Amaryllis by her father’s oppressive vision of power and Silver by Guerre’s manipulative plot. Their struggles are emblematic of how identity is shaped, warped, and sometimes shattered by external forces, leaving them to grapple with who they really are in a world that constantly demands they be someone else.
Revolution and the Breaking of Traditions
As the novel progresses, both Amaryllis and Silver find themselves at the heart of a revolution—one that threatens to upend the established power structures. The Assurance ceremony, which was initially set to solidify Amaryllis’s role in her father’s regime, becomes the focal point of a larger rebellion against oppression.
Amaryllis’s public defiance during the ceremony marks a key moment in the narrative. It symbolizes not only her rejection of her father’s cruel system but also her desire to break free from the cycle of violence that has defined her life.
In doing so, she challenges not just her father’s authority but the very notion of divine right and magical power that has been passed down through generations. Silver’s role in this rebellion is equally pivotal, as he moves from being a tool of Guerre’s manipulative schemes to becoming an active agent of change.
His infiltration of the palace, originally a mission to steal and sabotage, eventually serves a greater purpose: to aid Amaryllis in dismantling the corrupt system from within. The alliance between Amaryllis and Silver represents the merging of two different forms of rebellion—one born of personal anguish and the other of political necessity.
Together, they ignite a revolution that threatens to dismantle the established order. This illustrates how personal and political uprisings are often intertwined, with individual struggles leading to collective action.
The Burden of Magic
The magic in The Beasts We Bury is not a simple tool or force for good; rather, it serves as a metaphor for the corrupting influence of power. Amaryllis’s magical abilities, acquired through the brutal initiation in the Broken Citadel, are rooted in a form of corruption that extends far beyond the realm of simple sorcery.
The magic, which is initially intended to protect and empower her, becomes a source of torment as it demands increasingly violent sacrifices. This burden of magic mirrors the way power in the real world can slowly consume those who wield it, transforming them into something unrecognizable and deeply flawed.
The spirits of the animals that Amaryllis kills do not simply empower her; they haunt her, serving as a constant reminder of the price of the power she holds. This idea of magic as a corrupting force is reinforced by the way it is treated by other characters, such as Guerre, who manipulates others through deception and magical control.
The Broken Citadel, where Amaryllis first learns the ways of magic, is depicted as a place of corruption. Here, the line between life and death, the living and the dead, becomes dangerously blurred.
The ultimate realization that magic itself, like power, is inherently corrupt, underscores the novel’s bleak view of those who seek to control it for their own gain. It is only when Amaryllis and Silver reject this system of power and magic that they begin to find a path toward liberation, both for themselves and for those they seek to protect.