Serena’s Review: “Masters of Death”

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Book: “Masters of Death” by Olivie Blake

Publishing Info: Tor, August 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: 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.

Review: After really loving “One for My Enemy,” I’m now fully on board for any books by Olive Blake. So I was super excited when I saw that Tor was re-publishing another book from her back catalog. Plus, the concept of a bunch of supernatural beings all hanging out together and trying to outwit death just sounds like a super fun premise for an urban fantasy story! And while I didn’t love this one quite as much as “One for My Enemy,” it was still a great read overall.

First of all, I do think that the summary of this book given above does mislead radars a bit into thinking that this is primarily Viola’s story. And while she is definitely a main character, probably the second biggest one I would say, I think this is largely Fox’s story. His is the emotional stakes that are truly at the heart of the building conflict with regards to Death and the impossible game that he and the other supernatural beings play. And while I was a bit confused due to this misconception, once I understood the direction things were moving, I was fully on board. Fox, simply put, is a fantastic character in his own right. A snarky, damaged man, a human who has lived his entire life in a supernatural world that he only halfway belongs to, Fox’s story is one of deep-formed loves, both romantic and familial, for beings who only halfway understand him.

I also enjoyed the manner in which this story was told, though I do think that this may be a hit-or-miss aspect of the story for different readers. Similarly to “One for My Enemy,” the story is told in a non-linear manner, with chapters jumping forward and backward in time, sometimes centuries backward. However, I really liked the way these were all strung together. There would be a brief mention of some quirk of a character, and then the story would jump back in the next chapter to show a greater insight into that character’s experiences. You definitely have to be willing to go with the flow, allowing the story to move away from the main plotline at any given moment.

I also really liked the supernatural beings we met and the ways that Blake twisted familiar concepts and beings around from what we typically expect to see. Her take on demons, angels, and even Death himself are all very fresh feeling. Similarly, Viola, a vampire, is not the “Dracula”-like character that we are familiar with, but instead draws from other vampiric myths. I really enjoyed all of these supernatural creatures (and there were a lot of them!), especially as Blake tied their stories to very human arcs of love, betrayal, trust and family.

I will say, however, that there were times when I felt like Blake could have benefitted from a bit more of an editorial touch. Look, she has a great talent for snarky banter, and I absolutely devoured much of it. But there were also times where I felt like the actual pacing of the story was bogged down by pages and pages of almost unbroken banter. I get that she has a real talent in this area, and none of the actual dialogue itself was bad; in fact, almost all of it was excellent! But this was definitely a case of too much of a good thing, at points. A bit of trimming would have made the whole thing read more smoothly and, even better, highlighted the true talent for dialogue she has, rather than perhaps over-exposing readers at times.

As I said, I really enjoyed this book! I think it could have benefitted from a bit of editing and, perhaps, a better explanation of how exactly the game that Death plays works. But overall, it was a really fun read, and I blew through it in only two or three sit-downs. If you’re a fan of paranormal or urban fantasies, this is definitely one to check out!

Rating 8: Quirky and fast-paced, Blake draws readers into a paranormal world full of undead creatures who, nonetheless, live lives packed to the brim with love and loss.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Masters of Death” can be found on this Goodreads list: August 2023 Releases