It’s been a bit over a month since I last participated in this post, but I’m finally coming out of my reading slump. I’m also feeling rather motivated in general, and I’ve felt better about posting. So here’s another First Line Friday!
First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.
What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?
If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:
📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page 📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 📙 Finally… reveal the book!
Here’s the first lines:
“I want you to kill my stepdad.”
I kick my feet off my desk and lean forward, rucking my brow. “Say that again, kid?”
Know what it is? Here’s another hint or two if you’re having trouble.
Still no idea? I’ll give you a little more time to think about it, whilst admiring some awesome pics of books…
Annnd the book is 🥁🥁… Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw!!
John Persons is a private investigator with a distasteful job from an unlikely client. He’s been hired by a ten-year-old to kill the kid’s stepdad, McKinsey. The man in question is abusive, abrasive, and abominable.
He’s also a monster, which makes Persons the perfect thing to hunt him. Over the course of his ancient, arcane existence, he’s hunted gods and demons, and broken them in his teeth.
As Persons investigates the horrible McKinsey, he realizes that he carries something far darker. He’s infected with an alien presence, and he’s spreading that monstrosity far and wide. Luckily Persons is no stranger to the occult, being an ancient and magical intelligence himself. The question is whether the private dick can take down the abusive stepdad without releasing the holds on his own horrifying potential.
What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!
In the middle of a collection of cornfields, in the middle of the country, in the middle of nowhere, a weathered wooden post marked the intersection of two roads:
A skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
My Review
“Have you fallen asleep?” Knox whispered.
Ellery smothered an unhinged laugh. “No. I’m thinking.” “About?”
“You need a tether.”
“I do.”
“A bargain.”
“Yes.”
“To keep the shades from dragging you back.”
“That would be ideal, yes.”
“And I need information. I need this winter to end.” Knox sat up straight. “What are you suggesting?”
Ellery licked their dry lips. “I suggest we make a deal.”
So far, this is the best F.T. Lukens novel I’ve read yet. It brings all the best parts of their previous three novels together – the snappy dialogue, the found family, the creative fantasy elements – yeah pretty much all the best parts!
Otherworldly is another duel POV book, similar to last year’s Spell Bound, but this time it’s in third person. It follows Ellery Evans, a snarky human teenager, and Knox, a supernatural being from the Other World. And I think their Lukens’ best written POVs yet – I was more invested in the resolution of these two’s story than any of the other three books.
I also really liked the side characters here, just like in So This is Ever After. Ellery’s cousin Charley was my favorite character in the novel – she was just so ridiculous and completely unhinged! And her girlfriend Zada was simultaneously an excellent foil for her, but also Charley’s biggest enabler and I loved it. And them as a couple. (Which is something I’m starting to notice with these F.T. Lukens novels – I’m waaayy more interested in the side romances the whatever reason.)
The magic and mythology and worldbuilding was also one of my favorite things about this novel. I love how incredibly intertwined the magic system and the world were with one another. And I called it all being Greek mythology inspired super early on (as the goddess that Knox serves is basically a combination of Hades and Demeter, and the other two “major gods” are of the sea and sky, so I think that speaks for itself). It was really satisfying to see that I was definitely right by the end of the book with a certain character’s “special journey.” (*cough*Orpheus&Eurydice*cough*)
I will say that there were a few things that I thought were a bit lacking. Ellery jumps into danger far too often here, and I never felt like we got a satisfying explanation as to why. Sure, characters are constantly harping on about how Ellery works too hard in trying to make their family and friends happy, but there is a difference between that and putting themself in deadly danger to save a complete stranger. And this is something the novel doesn’t seem to understand.
I also thought that Knox and Arabelle didn’t get enough moments together before Arabelle (who it was clear was going to get fridged from the get-go) kicked the bucket. Knox is extremely emotional about her passing, but I had trouble believing it because they have two scenes together. The first is when they meet at the very beginning of the book, and the second is when they finish making the McGuffin together and she gets offed. It would have been nice to have at least one scene where we are shown Knox and Arabelle’s relationship in between this, instead of reading Knox’s internal monologue after the fact.
But those are pretty much my only major gripes with Otherworldly. Like I said, it’s F.T. Lukens’ best novel yet.
I definitely recommend this to fans of Lukens’ previous works, as well as fans of YA fantasy in general. It’s a fun story, and a quick read, so I encourage anyone interested to at least give it a try.
As always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope that you all have a fantastic day/night!
See ya ~Mar
Some of My Favorite Quotes Out of Context
“Have you asked them yet?” Zada said, tapping her fingernails on the laminate.
Charley shook her head. “Not yet.”
“Whatever it is,” Ellery said, removing Charley’s grip from their wrist, “the answer is no.”
“The dishwasher.”
“Hot weird guy?”
“What?”
“What–“
“I love the way you think, my darling dearest. Your brain is as sexy as your body.”
“Babe,” Zada said, drawing out the vowel, “not in front of the kid.” Ellery frowned. “I’m seventeen.”
“You’re right. Their poor innocent ears cannot handle the depth of our love and longing for each other.”
“I’m literally only four years younger than Zada.”
“Four significant years, El.”
“I’m not human,” he said. “Well, I may be more human now than normal because of the missing magic.” He waved his hand lazily. “But in my limited experience, I think you can feel unhappy about your situation and still acknowledge the challenges others have. It’s not one or the other.”
“I hope this isn’t too frightening,” Knox said with a grin. “I don’t know if I can handle it.”
“We’ve seen worse. I think we’ll be fine.”
“Maybe,” he said, catching Ellery’s hand in his. “As long as you’re brain. here, I’m sure I’ll be okay.”
“Didn’t you have enough rowdy adventures at the ice hockey game? There was blood.”
Knox blinked. “Is there blood at frat parties?”
“Only the good ones,” Charley said, wistfully.
“You need help.” Ellery said, deadpan.
He wanted to remember.
But he was not created to do so.
“Not that I’m complaining,” Charley said, twirling A pencil through the red strands of the ponytail she’d gathered to keep it out of her flushed and freckled face. “Because it’s great that the spring or summer or whatever we’re in has returned. But it’s so hot in this kitchen, I could die.”
She fanned herself with her hand.
“You’re literally complaining.”
“This must be it,” Charley said, leaning over both Lorelei and Hale to look out of the window.
“Did the warning sign give it away?” Hale snapped. “Or was it the literal magic radiating from that spot?”
Carry On meets Arthurian legend in this funny, subversive young adult fantasy about what happens after the chosen one wins the kingdom and has to get married to keep it… and to stay alive.
Arek hadn’t thought much about what would happen after he completed the prophecy that said he was destined to save the Kingdom of Ere from its evil ruler. So now that he’s finally managed to (somewhat clumsily) behead the evil king (turns out magical swords yanked from bogs don’t come pre-sharpened), he and his rag-tag group of quest companions are at a bit of a loss for what to do next.
As a temporary safeguard, Arek’s best friend and mage, Matt, convinces him to assume the throne until the true heir can be rescued from her tower. Except that she’s dead. Now Arek is stuck as king, a role that comes with a magical catch: choose a spouse by your eighteenth birthday, or wither away into nothing.
With his eighteenth birthday only three months away, and only Matt in on the secret, Arek embarks on a desperate bid to find a spouse to save his life—starting with his quest companions. But his attempts at wooing his friends go painfully and hilariously wrong…until he discovers that love might have been in front of him all along.
My Review
“The prophecy doesn’t mention true love’s kiss or long hair or guessing names.”
“You pulled it out just to tell us that?” Lila crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow.
Matt’s lips twisted into a frown. “I’m making a point.”
“Is the point that you’re pedantic?” Bethany asked, fake smile plastered on her face despite looking a little green around the gills. “Because we’re aware.”
“You have vomit in your hair,” Matt shot back, stuffing the scroll into his pack.
Out of the three F.T. Lukens novels I’ve read so far, I think So This is Ever After is my favorite. (When I read Otherwordly hopefully soon, I’m thinking of doing a tier list.) It’s got my favorite tropes of theirs – sassy humor and protagonists, found family, and a reasonably well-developed romance.
I liked Arek. I also think he’s the best of all of the Lukens’ leads I’ve read (so far). He’s kind and a teeny bit sassy, and he has no idea what the heck he’s doing. I also liked that he could hold his own, as opposed to Tal from In Deeper Waters, who frequently annoyed me with some of his whining and incompetence (even though he did get better by the end of the book). But he was also more engaging of a main character to follow than Rook from Spell Bound, who was kind of boring to follow the perspective of.
Matt, following the trend of deuteragonists in these books, was the more interesting character. Yep. Just like Sun and Athlen. I’ve always liked wizard characters though, and I wasn’t more interested in what was going on with him than Arek. Which was a first for me regarding Lukens’ MCs.
The rest of the party was also great. I loved their dynamic with one another, they all had a good rapport, and it was easy to tell from the dialogue how much they all cared about each other. I also really liked how they riffed on D&D party dynamics: there was a paladin (Arek), a mage (Matt), a bard (Bethany), a fighter (Sionna), a tank (Rion), and a rogue (Lila).
My only real problems with So This is Ever After are a couple of smaller things. The first: the stupid communication problems. Just, like, talk to each other? Please?! But this is a YA novel, and seventeen year olds are notoriously bad at communicating IRL, so it made sense and honestly didn’t bother me that much.
My other issue was the pacing. I like a good ol’ fast-paced novel, but parts of this book were almost too fast-paced. Like, it was pretty much action, action, action, with little time relegated to giving the characters moments to breathe and develop. Again, this wasn’t too big a problem for me, but it still irritated me somewhat. Other than these things, I didn’t really have any problems with this book.
So yeah, I totally recommend this book, especially to fans of F.T. Lukens’ other works. If you haven’t read this one yet, definitely pick it up. I also recommend So This is Ever After to people who like medium to fast paced YA fantasy novels with a sense of humor. Also, the LGBTQIA+ rep is pretty good, so if you’re into books with that, what are you waiting for?
But yeah, as always, thanks so much to everyone who continues to read my blog posts. I always appreciate it, and I hope you all have a fantastic day/night!
See ya ~Mar
My Favorite Quotes
I’d been envisioning what it would be like to behead the Vile One since the old wizard had shown up at my door the day after I turned seventeen and told me my destiny- that I would be the person who ended the dark shadow of evil that ruled our realm. Well, okay, not that specific second because who believes a drunken stranger with a crooked hat carrying around a humming staff? No one. That’s who. At least, you shouldn’t. That’s unsafe.
“Yes, um, well, give me a moment.” I pitched my voice low. “What do we do?”
“Opening the door seems like an appropriate action,” Rion said, completely seriously. “It is time for breakfast.”
It took every ounce of my limited restraint not to roll my eyes. Rion’s earnestness didn’t deserve my ire. “Yes. But what if he’s here to kill us?”
“You,” Bethany said brightly. She had her harp clutched in one hand, the other on her hip cocked jauntily to the side. “If he’s here to kill anyone, it’s you. Not us.”
I did roll my eyes at that. “Thanks, oh so helpful.”
“There are thousands of prophecies in the world,” he said. “Not all of them are true. This one happened to be. I’m marking it down in my records.”
“Wait, what?” Matt asked again, his voice a screech. “You keep data?”
Though I echoed Matt’s outrage, I felt like he missed the bigger issue. “Do you mean to tell us there was a chance we could’ve failed?”
I’d never felt more betrayed in my life. The one bedrock of this whole journey was the prophecy, and it could’ve been wrong? My entire world tilted. “We could have died? What the fuck?”
“You didn’t,” the wizard offered helpfully. “This prophetess has a ninety- five percent accuracy rating. It’s quite astonishing.”
“Barthly?” Matt asked, his tone mirroring my own incredulity. “The evil wizard who used dark magic, usurped the throne, and kept our realm in shadow for forty years was named Barthly?” He flailed his hands. “Barthly!”
Harlow squinted. “He did not prefer to use his name.”
“Well, would you? If your name was Barthly?”
“But you continued to work here. Why didn’t you find another job? Somewhere else? Like in the village we stormed through?”
Harlow wrinkled his nose. “Find another job? That pays well? In this economy?”
“You were literally hanging out of a window this morning, trying to escape,” I said.
Happy Tuesday everyone! It’s been a bit since I’ve last done this post, but I’m happy to finally be doing it again.
For anyone unfamiliar, Tasteful Tuesdays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it. That’s it, that’s pretty much the point of this post.
This week I’m gonna be looking at a cover of a new release. It’s Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew.
A seductively twisted romance about loyalty, fate, the lengths we go to hide the darkest parts of ourselves… and the people who love those parts most of all.
Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she’s just inherited — to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement — Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead.
Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family’s property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can’t really live, either. Not while he’s bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There’s only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line.
He needs to kill Wyatt.
With Wyatt’s parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter — the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who’s sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.
Book Covers Rating: 🌱🌱🌱 • 3 1/2 vines
So, the thing that most attracted me to this book was its cover. It’s just so good. Now let’s get into what I think makes it so gorgeous.
First off, I love the green background. Green is one of my favorite colors, and I just adore the shade used as the backdrop. I also love the entwined hands wrapped in vines. I normally like nature on book covers, and this one is no exception. The vines seem to imply that the two characters are bound together in some way, though not necessarily in a good way. Because vines by their nature can be very intrusive.
I also like the font used for the title. It’s pretty and a bit whimsical, but it’s also in all caps, which makes it seem harsher. It’s also great how the font for both the title of the book and the author’s name are in white. It really makes them stand out all the more on the cover.
All in all, I think that this is some pretty solid cover art. It’s quite eye-catching, and I think it’s gonna get a bunch of people to pick it up and check it out. It certainly caught my eye.
So yeah, here’s another Tasteful Tuesday. Have you read Your Blood, My Bones or any of the author’s other work? What did you think of it? What do you think about the cover art?
Anyway, as always, thank you to everyone who reads my posts. I hope that you have an awesome day/night!
It’s been quite some time since I’ve participated in this post. Like a couple of months kind of some time. But I’m eager to get back to it. So let’s jump right in!
First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.
What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?
If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:
📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page 📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 📙 Finally… reveal the book!
Here are the first lines:
They had tried to destroy the Will, but that proved to be beyond their power. So they broke it, in two ways. It was broken physically, torn apart, with the fragments of heavy parchment scattered across both space and time. It was bro- ken in spirit because not one clause of it had been fulfilled.
Can you guess the book? Here’s another one (or two) if you can’t guess…
Still not know what it is? Look at these gorgeous pics of books while you think about it…
Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world — where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets.
This is another thrilling, triumphantly imaginative series from Garth Nix, the best-selling author of The Seventh Tower, Sabriel, Lirael, Frogkisser, and the Troubletwisters series.
What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re most excited about?
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!
It’s been a while since I’ve done a Majestic Monday. And since I’ve decided to bring back Weekly Wrap-Ups… well frankly, I just can’t do a double post day. Sorry, but I’ve tried before and it just doesn’t work. So, I’ve decided to move the post to a different day. And thus Tasteful Tuesdays was born!
For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays – or Tasteful Tuesdays now, I guess – are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.
This week, the book that I’m admiring is one from my TBR that I’m moderately excited about. It’s also a new release: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow.
No one in Eden remembers when Starling House was built. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the house – and its last lonely heir – go to rot.
Starling House is uncanny and ugly and fully of secrets, just like its heir. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but it might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden.
It feels dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.
But Opal isn’t the only one interested in the house, or the horrors and wonders that lie beneath it. If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it. She’ll have to dig up her family’s ugly history and let herself dream of a better future. She’ll have to go down, down into Underland, and claw her way back to the light.
This is a sweeping gothic fairytale from Hugo, Nebula and Locus Award-shortlisted Alix E. Harrow.
Cover Rating: 🪶🪶🪶🪶 • 4 starling feathers
The book cover for Starling House is absolutely gorgeous. First off, I love the colors, so much. The purples and greens and blues and yellows on the black background are so pretty. It’s also an awesome contrast. I like contrast.
I love all the starlings on the cover, too. I’m not sure how much the actual bird is related to the book, but I love their inclusion, as well as how the shadows make them appear similar to crows. It makes it all seem a bit sinister.
The bright yellow keys and flowers are also beautiful. I adore how much they all stand out on a cover primarily made up of darker, and cooler, colors. They’re all very eye-catching, which makes me think they’re quite important. My favorite thing about the cover art is definitely the birds, though.
What do you like about the cover? Have you or do you plan on reading Starling House? What did you think of it if you have?
Thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have a majestic and tasteful day/night!
Oh my gosh. It’s been waaayy too long since I’ve done this post. Not to mention how MIA I ended up being last week, to boot. Ah well, it’s in the past now.
For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.
This week, in honor of a spinoff and sequel releasing next week, I’m gonna gush about one of my favorite books. Again. That’s right – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab!
A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab
Kell is one of the last Antari–magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.Kell was raised in Arnes–Red London–and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
Cover Rating: ❤️🩶🤍🖤❤️ • 5 colorful hearts
The Fragile Threads of Power is releasing next week, and the new covers for the first trilogy have already come out, so I thought it was past time to gush about the original ones. Especially since I much prefer them to the new ones, even if they now match the one for the new book.
This cover (and the covers for the rest of the Shades of Magic trilogy) incorporate the “colors” of the four Londons featured in the series. It’s also a unique art style, and it conveys the main mechanic of the novel.
I love the way the colors are used here – to Kell’s red coat, to differentiate the two Londons Kell is traveling between, and even in the letters of the title. I even like the way that the negative space looks, despite the emptiness. It makes the universe of A Darker Shade of Magic feel very vast.
Do you like the cover art of the Shades of Magic trilogy? What are your favorite book covers?
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
Good morning/afternoon/any other time of day everyone! It’s been a… month, I think, since the last time I did a Can’t-Wait Wednesday? Yeah. And there’s a couple of books releasing in the coming weeks, so I thought it was time to do it again.
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.
This week’s book is:
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner!
I’ve had my eye on this one for a couple of months, ever since I saw the cover like in… April? May? Yeah. It’s so good. And the premise sounds fantastic. How could I not be interested in it?
Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows.
As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing them and enjoys it. But all this changes when Kissen is tasked with helping a young noble girl with a god problem. The child’s soul is bonded to a tiny god of white lies, and Kissen can’t kill it without ending the girl’s life too.
Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, the unlikely group must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favor. Pursued by assassins and demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning. Something is rotting at the heart of their world, and they are the only ones who can stop it.
Are you looking forward to Godkiller? What books are you excited for coming out in the near future?
As always, thank you all so much for reading, and I really hope that you have a awesome day/night!
Even after centuries of practice, it never grew less unsettling when it happened this way – sloppily. Gorily. Murder had never been his favorite method of disposal.
*Now newly revised and edited with additional content, this hardcover edition will include new interior illustrations from Little Chmura and special illustrated endpapers from artist Polarts.*
There is a game that the immortals play.
There is only one rule: Don’t lose.
Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the mansion has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on.
Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though he is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death.
When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with the ghost infestation, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few mindfulness-practicing creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.
My Review
This is the story mortals tell about a man who was the godson of Death, who they say eventually learned my secrets and came to control me, and who still walks the earth today, eternally youthful, as he keeps Death close at his side, a golden lasso tied around my neck with which to prevent me, cunningly and valiantly, from taking ownership of his soul.
Before I get into the review proper, I can explain! My previously unexplained absence, that is. I just… needed a little break. A vacation, as it were. (Especially cuz I hadn’t really had one in the almost-year that I’ve been blogging.) But I’m back now, and with another book review at that!
Masters of Death was something that I was pretty excited for – it was even on my list of anticipated books coming out during the third part of 2023. So yeah, I was pretty excited for it.
But it kind of fell flat for me. Just a bit. I know the reason – it was a couple of different things, actually. As much as I enjoyed many things about this book, there were almost as many things that I didn’t much care for.
The Characters
I really, really liked a lot of the characters. Fox D’Mora was a fun protagonist to follow, and his relationship with his adoptive father made him easy to root for. I liked his dialogue with the other characters, and how, throughout the novel, the mask that he displays to the world is slowly pulled off.
Death was probably my favorite character, however. Even though he didn’t get as much pagetime as I thought he should, whenever he was in a scene, he absolutely stole the show. His relationship and dialogue with Fox was extremely endearing (and entertaining), and I wish that there was more of it.
“Let me guess. This is her husband?”
“Fiancé,” Fox corrected in a blandly guiltless tone. “He passed just before they could be wed.”
“How fucking convenient,” Death remarked with a sensation he often experienced but had not felt prior to Fox’s guardianship. It was a mix of things. Not anger, exactly. More like disappointment.
“Papa,” Fox warned, arching a brow in expectation. “What did we say about the cursing?”
Death lifted a hand, dutifully snapping the rubber band he wore on his wrist for the reward (if such a thing could be said) of Fox’s indulgent smirk. “I still don’t see why this is necessary,”
Our leading lady was Viola Marek. I actually rather enjoyed her character, even though she was technically not like other vampires. Her arc was one I found incredibly relatable to follow, despite the fact that she was an ordinary woman with extraordinary circumstances. Or perhaps that was the reason.
I also really, really, really liked almost all of the other characters. There are too many to discuss here, though, so I’ll just talk about the two that will pertain to my review later on. I really enjoyed Tom, and his and Viola’s begrudging friendship with each other was fun. Brandt kind of sucked as a character, though. I didn’t really like him that much.
The Plot
There is a game that the immortals play.
It is played around tables that open at dusk, and close at dawn.
The stakes are impossibly high, and yet laughably low.
There is only one secret: The more you have to lose, the harder it is to win.
There is only one rule: Don’t lose.
The plot was pretty interesting, but it was also one of the slowest that I’ve ever read. The summary is also written a certain way that implies the story to be a little different than it actually is. I get that they were trying to attract readers without giving too much of the plot away, but I feel slightly lied too.
I enjoyed the plot that we did get to see, to a degree. The buildup during the first half was great, and really pumped me up for the second part of the book. Only, the second half of the book fell somewhat flat. I didn’t find the immortals’ game to be all that interesting, until the very, very end of the novel, and it took up so much pagetime.
The Romance
For me, the romance in Masters of Death was its weakest aspect. I just wasn’t really interested in any of the couples. Not to mention that there was at least one romantic relationship too many.
Scratch one thing, actually. There was one couple that I was pretty invested in – Viola and Tom. They were just super cute together, and they had the most natural romantic chemistry out of everyone. But I didn’t like any of the other couples.
I found Brandt, Fox’s love interest, to be annoying as a character, so I found them hard to root for as a couple. (I hated Brandt, actually.) And as for Cal and Mayra – they were just one couple too many, at that point. Yeah, they were really sweet together, but this book just wasn’t long enough to develop all of these relationships to the way they should’ve been.
The Writing
I found Blake to have a rather dry wit (that I enjoyed), and her prose was very strong. She tells a story very well. And the humor is on point (did I mention that?).
A few parts of the book were too much for me. I thought the book was overly written at certain times, which is something that I never appreciate. It forced the story to move a bit slowly for my liking, which is one of the biggest reasons for my rating.
Final Thoughts
“Everything’s a game if you play it right,” the second figure said.
“But strictly speaking, this is no longer a game,” said the first figure. “Now it’s a war.”
And then everything went dark.
Masters of Death is a rather intricately woven urban fantasy by Olivie Blake. I personally found it to be a kind of mid, slow moving book, but it’s something that I think a lot of other people would like.
As always, thank you to everyone for reading. I hope that you all have a fabulous day/night!
Yay! Last week was better for me! I got in four posts (aside from the weekly wrap-up of course). It was a huge improvement after the week preceding it.
I honestly don’t have much of an intro this time. ☹️ So without further ado, let’s jump right into the wrap-up.
Monday 7/17: Majestic Monday
Last Monday, I did the first Majestic Monday that I’ve done in a long time. It felt great, and I’m excited to post more of these in the future. For those who don’t know, Majestic Mondays are when I gush over covers that I like.
On Wednesday, I finally posted another Shelf Control. Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books languishing on our bookshelves created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies.
Last Friday, I once again participated in First Line Fridays. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.
Yesterday, I finally posted my review for the entire first series of Emily Rodda’s Deltora Quest. It’s a series of fantasy books geared towards children/middle grade. I rated the entire series as a whole ★★★★☆, but I also rated each of the eight books individually.
I want to do at least four or five blog posts, aside from this weekly wrap-up. I’ll be doing my usual weekly feature participating, of course, but I also definitely want to do one and hopefully two book reviews. I’m also considering doing a new post this week.
So yeah, I just want to keep on keeping on, basically. Wish me luck! 🤞
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day/night!
