Member Review

Firstly, I would like to thank the publisher, Pan MacMillan, for approving me to read a digital ARC of Masters of Death by Olivie Blake. As always, the following views expressed are my own and honest opinions.

Summary:
Masters of Death stars a motley crew of beings including angels and demons, vampires and ghosts, as well a half-gods and nymphs. Viola Marek, both estate agent and aswang (a shape-shifting vampire), calls on the help of Fox D’Mora, godson of Death and fraud medium, to help deal with the ghost problem in the mansion she’s trying to sell.
Things take a turn as they are all drawn into the immortals game, where the only rule is ‘do not lose’, in order to win mastery over death and stop the King of Demons gaining the power for himself.

Thoughts:
Masters of Death takes readers on a journey into the weird and oftentimes obscure world of the undead and immortals. Throughout there is a dry sense of wit and humorous banter between characters. The humour came naturally and often gave me ‘Good Omens’ vibes, which to me is always a good thing.
The pacing was well set and I found myself gripped by the story. As it progressed gradually secrets and past events were revealed to us, building up a picture as to how the characters have ended up in such a precarious position, playing immortals game for mastery over death. Although, some aspects are never fully explained, it is not frustrating but expected in this strange realm of beings and creatures who defy logical comprehension.
The story does sway into romance at several points throughout and though this isn’t my preferred genre, it was done well and worked with the story overall. If anything it added an extra level tension, with both loves and life on the line at the game tables.

The characters were for most part that morally ambiguous shade of grey that I am so particularly fond of. Each were flawed yet likable on different levels. However, I feel the story suffered slightly due to having such a large cast of characters and from switching focus.
In the beginning we were mainly following Viola, Tom (the bothersome ghost) and Isis (Viola’s demon best pal). I really enjoyed the dynamics of this trio and the bickering between Viola and Tom. Unfortunately, for me, as the story progressed these three characters seemed to be pushed aside to make way for Fox and Brandt. Though I liked these two, I wasn’t as invested in their story and found myself longing for more of Viola, Tom and Isis, who were still present but now on the sidelines.
Then there is Mayra and Cal, who are just as intriguing but never get much time in the limelight. Most of what we know about them comes through Fox’s story and I would have loved for more time and depth to have been given to these two.

My other issue was the ending. This may sound odd but it was too wrapped up and in my opinion, too sweet and happy. There is no harm with leaving a few things left undone or leaving some characters a little unfulfilled or even sad at the end. I felt it went a little overboard and veered into becoming slightly saccharine but this is mainly down to the fact that, to me, it jarred with the feel of the rest of the book.

Overall, Masters of Death is a really fun read which pulls you in with its cast of immortal beings and undead creatures. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy with a dose of humour or is fond of ‘Good Omens’ as the tone of the book produces similar vibes and smiles. Whilst there were a couple of areas which, in my opinion, the book fell short on, overall it was a really enjoyable story and easily earnt four out of five stars.