Title: Masters of Death
Author: Olivie Blake narrated by Steve West
Length: 15 hours 2 minutes
Genre: Fantasy, paranormal, romance, LGBTQ
Is this book part of a series? No, this is a standalone novel
I discovered this book via... my local bookshop. The cover and premise caught my attention.
Published: August 8th, 2023
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 house 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 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 her ghost-infested mansion, 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 high-functioning 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.
Honestly, I finished this one a while ago but have been on the fence about how I really feel about it. On the one hand, the premise is great and it has wonderful characters; however, it's also a bit of a jumbled mess as far as writing style goes- I believe this was purposeful as it did add a little something. I like my stories to be more tidy, to have an even flow going from one part of the story to another... this isn't that. This is drama and chaos and side stories that get tied up together toward the end when it seems like someone tapped the author and was like "wrap this up already, we wanna publish". The part where we catch up with each of the characters seemed rushed considering the amount of time we took on everything else. It's dialogue is often overdramatic (made even more fun with the help of the wonderful narrator that definitely understood the vibe here). That said, each side story was one I would have wanted to read as a full novel, each character was one I genuinely wanted to know. I was riveted by the going-ons with this group. Seriously, if we made little novellas about these characters, I would read them all.
The cast of characters was unique and charming. What does a ghost, a demigod, a reaper, a sharlatan that can see Death, a demon and an unwilling vampire have in common? They all got roped into this. It's fun and sassy with fabulous, often thought provoking lines... but it's also sometimes exhausting. I saw one review that talked about how this wasn't meant for people that wanted a plot laid out on a silver platter on page one. Lord, isn't that the truth. The first third of the book you are enjoying the ride, but don't really know where the car is headed... you're just happy to be going. Or that was my experience.
The chaos got to be a lot sometimes, but I loved it anyway. I enjoyed the ride, even if I still feel like the ending was rushed and maybe a tiny bit of a let down considering the amount of work we took to get here. The writing style is not one I would normally choose for myself as I can often get lost in the subplots and find the experience exhausting, but it was so good!
Then there's Blake's portrayal of Death as a long suffering "papa". I love when Death gets a bit of a makeover. You see them portrayed in a different light (my favorite is still "Suzy" from Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poor. I think about this book a lot, actually). The whole scenario was just charming.
This is a fun read, but it is no way a fast or smooth one. There are twists and turns, much like a written roller coaster... but if you stick with it, it's worth it. For me this was a four star book.
As far as adult content goes.... well, this one has a bunch of foul mothed reprobates so obviously there is going to be a ton of language. There's some violence and sexual content as well- not too very explicit, but something to think about. I would say it's geared toward a mature audience but could actually be labeled as New Adult without it being entirely incorrect.
The book is out! Have you read it?
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