The Beasts We Bury

The Beasts We Bury by D. L. Taylor

The heroine of this fantasy has a special ability with animals, but the power is related to killing the animals. There is a boy involved. The leaders of kingdom are bad. There is a duel where somebody is killed. The heroes have values that respect life and don't like what the leaders do. They work to overcome the badness. It is all the typical young adult fantasy romance. The animal part is a little bit different. There is a funny part where the girl asks the boy if she can kill him. She doesn't want to really do that, but wants to come close to see if he can be summoned. In the end, there is a big battle where a guy splits into a bunch of parts to complete the battle. It sitll doesn't help.