<i>ARC Review</i>
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🫑/5

TW - alcohol consumption, death of a grandparent (past, recounted, Parkinson’s, infection), drugs (mentioned incl weed), parental abandonment (past, mentioned), breaking and entering, stalking, serial killers (past, mentioned), murder, blood, smoking (scs), human trafficking incl physical abuse and murder, (illegal) immigration, parricide (scs, mentioned, knife violence), paedophilia and grooming (scs, mentioned), domestic violence (scs, mentioned and some on page), physical violence, drug addicts (sc’s parents, crack, past, mentioned), rehab (mentioned), vaping (sc, mentioned), supernatural sickness (scs, mentioned), house fire (FMC’s home, arson), grief, nightmares, xenophobia (supernaturals and non supernaturals), racism (incl past use of the n word towards a sc, mentioned), suicide (sc, mentioned), parental neglect (scs, past, implied), parental abuse (scs, past, recounted), animal sacrifice (mentioned as an example), imprisonment (scs), kidnapping, captivity, animal killing (scs, rat, for food), gun violence, blood and blood drinking, organised crime, extortion, gore, knife violence

Tropes - urban fantasy / paranormal

Representation - Black MCs, queer scs

I would like to preface this review with this book is <b>outside</b> of my chosen genre. I wanted to give it a try because of the cover, Black MCs and the fact that the FMC is from South London, like me 🤪.

I was immediately intrigued by the setting of this story and the world building. As a London girlie, I was really happy with the London setting, especially the South London setting on page. Often, in my experience, books set in London are subject to "central London" and describe the city through a tourist's lens, usually because the author writing it isn't from here. The setting in the descriptions allowed me to feel more immersed into the story as someone that is familiar with the city however, I think it could go either way if the reader isn't. They could either very immersed due to the detailed descriptions or feel like they're reading filler.

While I enjoyed the setting as well as the bones of the story and yes, I did just rave about the descriptions of London, I do feel like some things were <i>overly</i> described. Like there was just... so much of it. In a way that is unfamiliar to me. I don't know if that's a genre thing but for me, it was a lot and, at times, had me feeling like I was wading through the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the characters.

Scale:
⭐️ - would've DNF'ed / continued out of spite
⭐️⭐️ - shit, but whatever
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - meh, could've been better
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - lit 👅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - loved it, inject this shit into my veins 🤪

🫑 - no smut
🌶 - no point
🌶🌶 - mediocre at best
🌶🌶🌶 - standard smut, hot
🌶🌶🌶🌶 - 🥵 okay, some CW
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 - fuck me 🥵🥵 CWs / filthy with a side of filth - see [book:Poison|51968938] / [book:Room Twenty-Two: Hide and Seek|60900058]/ [book:The Naughty List|202940416] / [book:The Naughtier List|215498039]
<i>TW/CW not to be repurposed by authors / publishers for website / book / content use without permission</i>

This is an urban fantasy book set in London with paranormal elements. Being from London, I loved reading this and seeing what secrets could be found.

I liked the characters of Amy and Gerald and how they worked together, I thought they were very well written. It was so interesting to read about a reaper and how they deal with those powers and responsibilities. Getting to know them and their motives was interesting.

It was fast paced and I found it an easy read. I thought the world building was good with lots of detail. I would definitely recommend.

This wasn’t for me unfortunately. I really wanted to like this but I just struggled with it. I got to 30% before I had to put it away, it could be my mood so I would try it again at a later date. But the first chapter wasn’t the best beginning and it just didn’t get any better for me.

This book has a captivating blend of urban fantasy and contemporary fiction that had me hooked from the very beginning. The story introduces us to Amy, an empath navigating the supernatural underworld of London, and Gerald, a reaper on the verge of his awakening. Together they embark on a mission that delves into the darker corners of magic and morality.
What truly stood out to me was Brown's ability to weave a rich tapestry of myth and legend into a modern setting, creating a world that's both familiar and fantastical. The characters are well developed, each with their own complexities and growth throughout the story. The pacing is tight, which kept me engaged from start to finish.

This is not to be dismissed as simply YA fiction. I loved it from the first page. It’s urban fantasy of the highest standard. The mix of modern London and African mythology is handled masterfully. It’s what used to be called a rip roaring adventure through the streets of present day London into the London below we all dare to dream is there. However it is more than that again, the relationship between the two main characters is beautiful and the window into the lives, experiences and hardships facing young people cannot be praised enough. I do not not imagine I am the original target audience for this book, as a ww in her late 40s but I will be forever grateful it crossed my path. If you’re a fan of urban fantasy with a mythological twist, think Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Ben Aaronovitch and Nevin Jones I am confident you will enjoy this. I will be buying the book when it comes out and gifting a few copies too. I already can’t wait for the next one!

I thoroughly enjoyed this urban fantasy that had a genuinely compelling duo of characters sitting front and centre.

The world building is superb, vibrant and involving, the story itself rocks along, some political undertones but mostly a whole lot of fun.

Hope there's more.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

A supernatural thriller set in a London with a secret Downstairs filled with Otherwordly creatures, this urban fantasy is more focused on political machinations than the blurb might suggest.

While it starts out as any regular supernatural offering, it quickly ups the stakes with this complex political plot, so if that's not your jam then you may find yourself not enjoying it as much.

Brown's writing is descriptive and familiar. If you've spent time in London, the prose brings it to life on the page, traversing the streets of Camden Town and Covent Garden. This is in a way a love letter to the city - it feels alive, the pulse of its streets palpable and as if it's a character in its own right. The intertwining of non-eurocentric mythology adds levels to the plot and creates an intriguing world.

if you haven't spent any time in London, a lot of the location name drops may go over your head.

And while I felt some of the wording and description was clunky and overdone, overall I really enjoyed the story and especially liked how well written Amy was as an empath. I whizzed through it in just a few hours, and will absolutely be looking out for more from the author in the future.

A unique fantasy novel, best gone into blind.

I will say, I found this linguistically complex in a way which frequently disguised clear meaning, and detailed to such a degree that the story lulled. I'm not sure Brown is the author for me, but this is nevertheless a unique take on urban fantasy, and aura-reading.

DNF @ 10%. There was an entire chapter at the start of this book where all that happened was the character made a meal? It was just so dense, and also the Reaper jerking off to come into his power... literally. The MC kept putting herself in dangerous situations with no real reasoning of having an effect on it at all. She literally follows a Vampire into a bathroom knowing she's going to feed on someone and then just does nothing about it? I don't know it just didn't work for me at all.

The Reaper - Jackson P. Brown

I was lucky enough to get an eARC of this through Netgalley. It caught my eye, then I saw that Samantha Shannon had loved it and I was sold, so I was thrilled for the notification that I was allowed to read it early!

An Urban Fantasy, set in London (we love a London setting) with heavy BIPOC rep and some queer rep too (this is more subtle.) I really enjoyed the premise of this book. The Grim Reaper finds a human empath with extraordinarily refined abilities and they team up for a mission.

We have the supernatural world, witches, warlock, vampires, werewolves, basilisks. We have corruption and politics. We have characters who feel isolated due to their abilities. This was a fun book to read.

I felt like it could have done with more depth to it. London felt like a setting rather than a mercurial character. I liked our characters, rooted for them, but didn’t emotionally connect with them, they didn’t quite leap of the page for me.

That said, I enjoyed this book, I think many of you would enjoy this book when it releases on 10th July. It’s a strong debut by Jackson P Brown and I look forward to their future works!

3.5/5

3.5 stars

I have mixed feelings about The Reaper, but I enjoyed my reading experience overall. I think the premise is excellent, and I was very excited when I started reading because the plot and characters felt new. I also loved that the characters were in their mid to late 20s and beyond. It is always nice to read about people closer to my own age! I am absolutely picking up the next book because this series has a lot of potential.

By the end of the book, I felt attached to the characters. Everyone had their own problems and motivations, making their actions more realistic. The different genres interwoven into the story meant that the characters encountered many challenges, from the magical to the political. I personally enjoyed the political elements because they added another layer of interest to the story. Again, this felt like something different and inventive, which I appreciate.

There were a few pacing issues throughout that took away from my overall enjoyment. Some parts felt much too fast for the gravity of the situation, and other parts were slightly too slow. However, this is a debut and the first book in the series, so there is room for growth. I can't wait to see what happens in book 2.

I got to 50% and I just can’t find the energy to finish this. I’m a little bit disappointed in myself as I rarely dnf but I’ve just had a day off, normally that means me reading but this just didn’t keep my attention. Literally picking up my phone halfway through a sentence.
After a weird start, things picked up (although an entire chapter about making breakfast should have been my warning). This had so much potential and I liked the characters but the plot collapsed into a mess of political shenanigans.
I do think that the author has potential, there were some great ideas and lots of originality.

I would like to thank Cornerstone Books and Jackson P. Brown for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. What drew me to this book was the idea of the grim reaper reimagined working alongside an empath in a part of London, but not the one we know.

The plot sets its own pace and is easy to follow. I really enjoyed the first part of the story as it introduces both characters, their personalities and backgrounds altering from the viewpoint of each and telling the story from different perspectives. The characters themselves are intriguing and cover a wide spectrum of supernatural races which I found fascinating.

The authors world building is very detailed and atmospheric especially her reimagining of ‘underground London’ which was particularly detailed and easy to imagine yourself there. From the houses to the streets everything is built with an otherworldly feel which fits perfectly with characters and mood.

I did however struggle a bit later on in the book as it got a bit political for my personal tastes and I got confused as to where it was going. This book does deal with real world problems so I applaud the author for tackling them in her own way. The ending I found was a bit anti climactic but still good fun.

To summarise, an enjoyable supernatural book with a good plot, amazing places and fascinating characters. I’d say this is for the young adult audience and they would maybe feel more connected to the characters. I myself had fun reading it.

Thank you for an early review copy of The Reaper.
The book follows Amy, an empath with Jamaican heritage and Gerald, who is essentially the grim reaper. The story incorporates the mortal world of London as we know it along with a mirror image "below" that houses ghouls, warlocks, witches, vampires and all manor of other worldly beings.
We are introduced to Amy following the death of her grandmother as she stumbles upon Gerald undergoing some sort of transformation in a London street. He follows her, and impressed with her heightened empath ability, invites her to work with him. So follows a chase through the Downstairs as they work to keep this hidden from us mere mortals.

I took my time reading this, often leaving it for a few days and coming back to it. I found it easy to follow but also didn't have the urge to want to pick it up and finish it quickly. A number of things were confusing. The first scene when Amy meets Gerald and the certain action that is occurring seemed a little out of place and I expected some sort of explanation of this at some point in the story but it never came (excuse the pun) It then felt like a pointless scene with no real purpose. I expected maybe more spice (and just to be clear this book does not need spice) as it is quite a graphic scene but there was none.
The chapter numbering was quite confusing and the chapters towards the end of the book from Ulrich and Hollows POV didn't really serve a purpose. I didn't feel like I gained anything through reading them. Obviously there had to be some POV as Gerald couldn't enter and I found that to take away from the suspense of finding Amy. The element of adding in current political issues was insightful and brave but almost wasn't enough. i wasn't sure if it was trying to be a dark fantasy novel a political middle finger?
The twist at the end, while I didn't see it coming, I also felt it was anti climatic. That particular character wasn't given much air time in the book, i didn't even see them as secondary and honestly my first thought was it was another character. I wanted some sort of relationship to form between Amy and Gerald and was disappointed when, although it was very vaguely alluded to, nothing happened. The ending also hasn't given me any real urge to read a book 2, unless this is more like a series of different events within each book (similar to Rivers of London)

I do want to be clear that I received a very early version of this book. The punctuation wasn't great and the layout wasn't ideal, especially when a large group of characters was talking in one scene. It also means that some of the above may have been addressed or amended since the time of me receiving it.

Despite all the above, this has the potential to be brilliant. Both Amy and Gerald are brilliantly written characters, both likeable, despite your urge to remember that Gerald is the creator of death. I found their relationship and interactions interesting and intellectual and the inclusion of small segments of Amy's Caribbean heritage a really great addition, she is unlike a character I have met before and that was refreshing. The background characters were also enjoyable to meet and learn about and the attention and detail to their different elements was really well done.
I liked the introduction of the downstairs and the detail to London and it's counterpart. It had a really great mix of plot and setting/surroundings. I think I would purchase the book on release because I would like to see and read the changes since the early edition I have. In terms of the cover I have seen two different ones. The above, which to me gives futuristic Ready Player One vibes which I don't think is in keeping with the genre of the book. the other one showing Amy in the foreground and the Reaper at the back is perfect and I think is a perfect representation of the both of them.
I would definitely pick up this book to read once published and would potentially look for more from this author in the future.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This is a fantasy novel set in London, and London is incredibly vividly realised in this book. We follow Amy who is an empath and uses her powers to research and document the supernatural residents on London. We meet her initially observing a couple of vampires. However it’s not long until she encounters an aura like nothing she has ever experienced before and she’s compelled to follow it. This leads her to Gerald, a reaper. Amy finds herself immersed in supernatural culture beyond anything she has ever imagined when she starts helping Gerald.

Amy and Gerald are great characters and really easy to root for. They are both nice people, naturally curious and open minded towards others. They both have a unique experience of the world given their specific powers. I found them both likeable and I was vested in their success. They work really well together and their powers complement each other perfectly. I did find Amy was very fast to trust Gerald which was a bit jarring. I understood it was because of her passion and desire to understand the supernatural and Gerald was able to open doors for her, but I was feeling like she should be a bit less trusting that early on!

This was an interesting take on reapers that felt quite different to other books exploring this. It reads quite like a crime novel due to the particular jobs we join Gerald for. I enjoyed what I saw of the supernatural in this book and would have happily had even more of this as we got glimpses into werewolves, vampires and witches to name just a few.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. - Freya, arc & monthly book box pick reviewer (athenafreyag on Instagram)

The Reaper is an urban fantasy set in London, with a Jamaican empath and the kindest Reaper in history of Reapers. I truly enjoyed this book, and I believe that it definitely deserves more hype.

Amy is our empath. She has grown up with her grandmother who she inherited this gift from. Now that her grandmother is gone, Amy is lonely and a bit lost, so she goes out and observes any supernatural beings she can find. She has notebooks (colour-coded, too!) with her findings and observations throughout the years, which she writes as letters to her grandmother as a way to stay close to her and share with her what she finds. Amy is brave but also logical. She takes risks but backs away when she realizes there's nothing she can do and chooses self-preservation. Whereas I sort of understand that maybe some people think "well if she isn't doing anything, why go and check it out?", I didn't see it like that. Amy is a curious woman, with morals and survival instinct. She wants to see and discover, but she also doesn't want to die. I liked that about her. I also liked that she wasn't judgy. She didn't judge or look down on any supernatural being, no matter their appearance, way of living, or job.

Our Reaper, Gerard, is a conundrum. He is so kind, gentle, and polite; he talks to every being with a smile and genuine sweet politeness that he is literally melting hearts everywhere! I loved him! And I found his character development fascinating. It's not that he goes from selfish and evil to a moral teddybear, no. He grows as a person. He realizes that there are plenty ways to be a Reaper that don't include torture after every mistake. He feels deeply, especially regret, and due to his teachings while growing up, he beats himself up for every mistake. A scene between him and his best friend was soothing, self-reflective, and I loved how Gerard learned to forgive himself and go on.

Blythe, Gerard's best friend, is a delight!! He scowls at every turn, and it feels like the one thing he likes is Gerard even though he scowled at him, too, haha. I loved him so much!!!!

The worldbuilding was inclusive and fascinating. The way the author weaves different backgrounds and incorporates them to an urban fantasy set in London was truly interesting. I'd love to see what more worlds this author comes up with. However, I'd like a faster pace and more suspense during mystery solving.

Other than that, this was a great read!! More people should be talking about it! I believe that there is a book two planned, and I will certainly read it as soon as possible! What a marvellous debut!

Sadly I didn’t love this, I started some time ago but the book just didn’t grab my attention like I love a fantasy to do. I did finish the book but again, it took some time sadly. The plot was good, I thoroughly enjoyed following the characters and the amazing world building.

I didn’t enjoy the political side of the story I didn’t expect it if I’m truly honest but it’s not something I very much enjoy in a fantasy.

I really believe this will be well loved by many once released but was just not personal favourite unfortunately

What made The Reaper so fun was the unpredictability of it all. Amy’s naivety and Gerald’s intense sense of duty create a unique chemistry between them. It feels like a partnership made in chaos, but their dynamic really works.

This one moved a bit slow for me and I just couldn't get in to it. Gave it my best try and I usually enjoy dystopian novels, but this one just didn't get me.

I don't tend to read books that have vampires and the like, I hadn't realised that this book had them in. However, they fit into the story, so weren't a distraction.
Overall, the story focused on the two main characters, but with some side stories adding to the depth.
It felt like a bit of a romance developing between the two MC's, but it wasn't dwelt upon thankfully. Too many books lose their way by adding in romance to the story.
I think I'd like to read the follow up please.