I have loved Olivie Blakes other books and wanted to love this one two but unfortunately this one was not for me. I had to force myself to read it and even then gave up at 60%, there didn’t seem to much of plot it was just constant dialogue. The characters had a lot of long conversations which did the seem to further the plot and left me feeling bored.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Todotcom for an advance copy of this book in exchange of my honest review*

First and foremost, I want to say this is my personal opinion and I don’t have the truth about books. If you feel like you might like this novel please read it, as I’m sure many people will enjoy it. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of those people.

I’m not really sure how to describe <i>Masters of Death</i> by Olivie Blake. <u>Sadly I couldn’t even finish it and decided to quit the book after 50%.</u> It is <b>chaotic, messy and has no plot </b>whatsoever.

I was really hoping to like the book. I heard amazing things about Olivie’s past books and I was really excited to read it. At the beginning, the story and characters seemed quite funny and I was hooked for the first 15% of the book. However after that, everything started to go south quickly.

<u>The characters are a mix of cultures and folklore that don’t fit together.</u> We have Death, Greek gods, asian vampires, ghosts, faes, demons, and a whole other bunch of creatures that only talk, and talk, and talk over a game that the author never explains. The plot stays the same for half of the book and one of the reasons why I quit it was because I didn’t know what the book was about.

<b>The author’s style </b>was also really confusing. Is she writing a fiction book? Is she writing a theater play? Does she even know? The tone and style of the book change a few times without a reason. She also includes some extra notes between dialogues as if the reader was stupid. There's no need to explain every little detail; we get it, your characters are really deep and intense. To me, <b>her style comes across as pretentious and tedious.</b>

What looked like an excellent idea was no more than a <b>mediocre execution</b> and it saddens me to say that I’m not sure if I’ll try another book by the author as I don’t feel like I’d enjoy them as much as other books.

2⭐/5⭐
🏳️‍🌈 Rep: L(GB)T – Main and side characters

My review:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I wasn't sure what to expect of Masters of Death, but a story of love really wasn't on the list!

This has a cast of characters that we spend time with, and is a story that spans hundreds of years!

There's demons, a reaper, angels, a range of other immortals and mortals.

There are aspects that you just have to trust in the storyteller to explain something when you need to know more, and that pays off!

This is a great story, told with comedy, longing and love.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan.

Masters of Death is a fun, manic frolic filled with angels, demons, vampires, ghosts, mortals and even Death, himself. It's masterfully written though chaotic, picking up random strings of the story from various angles without a linear progression. It's filled with sarcasm and all sorts of grandiose dialogue and pronouncements that might boggle the mind if you try too hard to make sense of things. It's a wild roller coaster ride of multi-dimensional scope and I don't feel comfortable saying what this novel is about as tidbits of plot are sprinkled casually, though with great purpose, throughout.

I found this a fun distraction but did grow weary of the many exasperated ways characters uttered, "Fox". It felt as if that one name was mentioned for pages and pages. This was pretty much my only niggle. Fox is exasperating but that just gave more depth to the vast array of characters and the role they play within the wide web of narration. Fun, crazy, fully distracting. Masters of Death was just what I wanted, thank you.

I’m so sad that I didn’t love this one. It took me a really long time to get into and it turned out to be very different that what I was expecting. I’ll try this author again, but this didn’t work for me.

I like stories that use Death as a character and I thought Olivie did this really well. There was a big cast of characters and this definitely had a found family feel to it. However, the story did feel a bit all over the place - I think there was so much going on with the different characters, timelines and sub plots that it was hard to properly get to know any of the characters and I didn’t really care that much about any of them. I did still enjoy it but I much prefer Olivie’s other books.

Thought the concept of this sounded so interesting, and perfect for spooky season, but unfortunately I wasn’t a fan of how we were left in the dark about some things, and I couldn’t massively warm to Viola or Fox.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

I think I have to accept that Olivie Blake's books are not for me. One For My Enemy bored the crap out of me and this book was just.... no.

I don't get her obsession with adding random playscript formations to her books that have nothing to do with theatre or screen or acting or anything. It happened in One For My Enemy too and it always feels out of place and weird. Maybe if it came exclusively at the beginning as an intro but to do it every 100 pages. Yikes.

There's just too much going on with too little explanatin. It's a lot of flowery prose and bleeding timelines and backstories, and I just don't really care. I have no anchor in the story so I don't care enough to push through the annoying style choices to the story.

The synopsis also sets up Viola to be a main character, if not the main character, and she's really not. The book is about Fox and his long lost boyfriend and that is well and good but not really what I signed up for.

The only thing I liked is that depending on where you get bit, you can become different kinds of vampires, so Viola is an answang because she was bit in the Phillipines. That's a great idea. And it's kind of the only one.

1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 for Goodreads.

Ive been looking for something similar to the Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, my all time favourite novel ever since I read it for the first time in 2019. I believe I’ve finally found it.

With a similar interjecting narrative-style as Alone with you in the Ether, this felt much more refined and better edited. There was definitely classic Blake-esque emotive writing but it flowed much better, with aspects of stream of consciousness, but in a more understandable way. It wasn’t overdone.

In classic Blake form, a lot of characters are introduced at the start but they’re better developed and more memorable than her previous works, i very much enjoyed all of their interactions, dialogue (sometimes beautiful, sometimes a bit cringey, but in a comforting way), arcs and interconnected meanings to the overarching story. I really did grow to love them, feel and laugh with them. It’s important to note that the overall story and timeline is non-linear, so there are time jumps, multiple perspectives and interruptions in narration, but I still really enjoyed the flow of the story, so this was expertly done and didn’t feel jarring or jagged at all, instead it expertly built up thé suspense and atmosphere, making up for the lack of overall descriptive imagery.

Blake has really perfected the masterful act of slowly building a story when you get to know the characters, in this dreamy and lyrical, the modern day world meshed with the fantastical. You have to wait in confusion and wonder, and work before their secrets and backstories are revealed to you. The story moves with few cliff hangers yet you continue reading simply because you’re eager to know the rest. My favourite kind of storytelling! The most enticing kind, where loose ends are like that for a reason, and slowly they weave together to provide you the most satisfying answers because of the sheer time taken on reaching their conclusions. I got progressively more invested in the story and the characters, with the slow unravelling of important details always making me itch to keep reading!! If you’re not into that sort of thing, this book may not be for you.

As mentioned, less descriptive imagery and setting, leaving a lot to your own interpretation and imagination, which was one of my only critiques, however I would note that this did not take away from the story for me. Perhaps I just have a vividly active imagination. In any case, because of the non-linear story this book will be really good on a reread.

I also loved the original portrayal of Death. Truly a gorgeous exploration of what it means to love in all different shapes and forms! Other tropes include a trial/game, and an unreliable narrator, two more of my favourites!

Truly Blake at her finest.

I have tried quite a few times to read this story, unfortunately, I found the continual use of parentheses and the overly purple prose to be very distracting. So much so that I quickly realised absolutely nothing of the plot was being absorbed by my brain and had to keep stopping to re-read sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph in order to have any idea of what was happening in the story.

The author's voice is very much an acquired taste and simply put it was not for me. DNF at 12%. She's a huge success so I'm sure many people will love this book.

I initially loved this story…what wasn’t there to love with such a diverse cast of characters- a vampire estate agent, a demon, an angel and a reaper but also the grumpy ghost of the murder victim. ( of course there was also the the werewolf , siren and of course Death amongst others) So a murder mystery with an other world twist but then I got to The Game and I have to admit I lost my way a little and the story lost a little of its shine for me. An intriguing novel of love and loss, murder and revenge but above all the meaning of immortality. I will certainly be reading the back list of this author and look forward to more to come. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

“Hello, children. It’s time for Death”

In this story, a vampire is responsible for selling a house. However, the house is haunted by a ghost that has no idea how he died. They receive help from a demon and contact a medium, but this medium is really the godson of Death. The problem is that Death is currently chained to an addictive game of immortality, preventing him from helping humans move on to the afterlife. All of the characters are somehow interconnected to this game to which there’s only one rule: don’t lose.

We follow along in a story about the faults of humanity, the complexity of relationships and the truth about facing our inner demons.

Masters of death is a modern fantasy book written by Olivie Blake, the author recognized for her recent success with the book The Atlas Six. The recommended target audience for this book is 15 years and older, as it deals with heavier themes.

Masters of Death is dark and slow-paced, intricately developing the story as if piecing together a puzzle. The witty dialogue takes hold of the reader as we grow attached to the characters. The flashbacks slowly unraveling the character’s motivations and truths keep the reader on their toes. The direction of the story is difficult to distinguish until the very end, when the narration has subtly carried us into a revelation that leaves the reader with a bittersweet feeling of satisfaction and emptiness.

The characters in this story are complex, each with their own reason as to why they’re connected to the game of immortality. They’re flawed and all face struggles of their own, but this is what makes this otherwise improbable story hit closer to home than you would expect. The book heavily relies on the dialogue between these characters, which in many books could be viewed as a flaw in the author’s writing. However, the dialogue in this books helps us understand the dynamic between the characters while we get unknowingly discern the pieces of the story that lead us to the resolution.

The story told is not linear, which contributes to the overall mystery of the book. The reader will be confused and will yearn for clarity as one question answered leaves them with five new ones. If you’re looking for a book filled with action and a clear direction of where the story is going, then this book maybe not be the right one for you. However, if you’re looking for a story with lyrical prose and various perspectives that deal with acceptance, love and hardship, then you’re in the right place.

A critique of this book is that it lacks descriptions of the environment. This may not be essential as the story focuses on thoughts and feelings, but it can affect the reader’s ability to engage in the content. As the story jumps in the timeline, it’s easy to get tangled up in past perspectives. Descriptions of the setting could help the reader be absorbed into the story as the context becomes more comprehensible.

Overall, this book was an emotional read that became one of my personal favorites of the year. Olivie Blake describes feelings in a way that makes you feel understood, while telling a story that may seem absurd, but in the best way possible. Life is full of ups and downs and one day, we’ll all meet Death. Until then, we need to take care of each other and value the beauty in mortality, as we’re all fighting our battle.

“In any case, I have a number of things to do, so I’m going to leave you with this: try not to take it personally when I see you again. It’s bound to happen, after all, and I’d like to be able to keep it friendly between us, if we can. We’re both simply fulfilling our purposes, aren’t we? You’re a mortal, and in death. It could never have gone any other way.

But, If Fox is to be believed, then it isn’t the worst thing to meet an end. To have lived is, as he tells it, reward enough in itself”

Olivie Blake's writing style is definitely an acquired taste.

I've previously loved the Atlas Six & Paradox but sadly this one wasn't really my type. I liked it don't get me wrong but I think it was far too long and I just prefer for more to happen in a book, a bit more action. Nevertheless it was an interesting read, I do have One For My Enemy to read next so I hope I'll enjoy that more than this one!

I love Olivie Blake and everything she’s written so far and this was no exception, such a great read , I mean I love any book that features Death, so that’s an auto read for me , this fast paced, addictive and unique , a simply fantastic offering from an amazing author

Masters of Death is a stunning and complex novel.

It's like an intricate puzzle box.

We can see several characters, each of them presented fairly openly and honestly. These are the pieces of our puzzle. Then it's as if they move around a central mechanism, like a clockwork work of art.

Images are shown that make very little sense when we first see them but our pieces keep moving, rotating at different speeds and in different directions and slowly, slowly, we see those images again but they're revealed to us in a different way, the positions of the players are different, we've seen more of the mechanisms perhaps or we just have a new understanding about how each piece fits together and those random, confusing scenes we saw the first time we moved through them now make more sense. Not perfect sense, because our perception is always at least slightly flawed, but enough to understand what is unfolding, and what has already unfolded, and those pieces keep moving in their little dance, more scenes that were previously hidden come into play and they help us understand the ones we've already seen, and they help us understand more about the players, the pieces, the characters. We begin to see them in a different light as they twist and turn, showing new sides of themselves and as their relationships to each other shift and change.

But the heart of this mechanism is still unknowable, the game at the heart of the puzzle box is something we know about from the way everyone moves around it, but we don't see it, we don't understand it, we can't possibly know it, until, towards the end of our drama more things move into new positions, mechanisms unfold, unseen panels can now be seen and everything clicks into place to show us the heart of the puzzle, the central mystery, and with it the prize, a collection of truths. Truths about what it means to be alive and what it's like to live forever, truths about desire and secrets, and, beneath all of these, truths about love. It's extraordinary and it is beautiful.

And that was what it was like reading Masters of Death.

This was thoroughly enjoyable! Masters of Death was all kinds of fun with an impressive assortment of sassy, engaging characters and a clever plot! Not quite 5 stars like One For My Enemy but still a really good read,

Olivie Blake has once again created a story that has a perfect plot and brilliant characters. Olivie has masterfully intertwined paranormal beings within the modern world and made it feel like it could easily be part of our reality. As the story unfolds, we go on an emotional journey that explores relationships and what it is to truly live and love. This book also reminds us that life is full of ups and downs no matter who we are.

Olivie knows how to write her characters and it’s such a pleasure to read her books just to meet the new characters that’s not to mean I don’t love her story telling as much in fact they’re on par. Olivie has such a way of writing realistic characters, each with realistic depth and motivations. This was another excellent book from Olivie and I can't wait to see what comes next.

What a bizarre and fun ride this is. Vampire estate agents and fraudulent mediums alums was enough to draw me in, together with the sardonic voice of death, this is quite the ensemble cast! Some real laugh out loud moments as well, it's good fun with a message.

First, the formatting on the ARC was really poor. I get that I'm getting it for free (thank you!) but the chapter titles had so many characters missing that I thought I was playing Hangman at one point.

Anyway, on to the book itself. It didn't work for me. However, lots of people will really like it, so don't mind me. If you like your fantasy imbued with humour throughout, this may be for you. But I don't. Possibly because I'm the type of snarky curmudgeon who whines about formatting in ARCs.

Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of humour in a book, but this felt like a supernatural version of 'Friends' with undead characters endlessly firing snappy zingers at each other. As I write that, I'm realising lots of people will be thinking that actually sounds great. And, well, for you it might be, As I say, don't mind me.

The other issue I had with the book was the dialogue. Characters have very long conversations and I mainly wasn't following what the hell they were talking about. Or sometimes who was even speaking. At one point, I honestly completely forgot which characters were having a discussion because it had gone on for several pages and I'd totally zoned out.

I honestly think there's a big audience for this book (Pratchett or Gaiman fans should check it out) but, in the style of my ARC:

I D_D N_T L_VE IT

I do not know how to categorise this book at all - urban fantasy or magical realism just don't do it justice at all - but I absolutely loved it! Sweary Death, creatures and ghosts and angels and reapers and godlings, the comedy duo of the Archangels Gabriel and Raphael (I could read an entire book of them being dicks!), romance and high stakes gambling against Death, and the godson of Death - so many wonderful strands, all woven together into an absolutely joyful romp!