This is an interesting fantasy read, with Death as one of the characters. It is a humorous rendition in Terry Pratchet style.
Unfortunately, it often felt more awkward than funny, the language was simple, and the characters stereotyped. This could be intentional, but it just didn't feel right to me.

DNF @ 10%

The prose in this book just felt very amateur. And the humor was not funny or landing for me. I could tell this wasn’t the book for me.

It’s always difficult to write a review for a book that hasn’t delivered what you expected, it doesn’t make it a bad book.
This just wasn’t for me, I didn’t find it even remotely funny and some of the attempts at humour were in really poor taste in my opinion.
I’ve read a number of books based around this concept and I know it’s possible to bring something different to the table each time, but this just felt lacking. Obviously this is just my opinion and I hope that others will enjoy it more.

Emma is at her wits end. Unseen and unloved, she feels helpless and alone. The only thing that she feels that she can do is to take her own life by climbing up the Liver building. What she doesn't count on is her flatmate, Mark reading her final letter and coming to try to dissuade her from her choice to complete suicide.

Events take an unexpected turn when Mark proclaims his love for her and the fact that they end up plunging to their deaths. Inexplicably, both Emma and Mark don't die and due to a quirk of fate, their sand timers have gotten a little damp and some of the grains of sand have gotten stuck leaving them in a state of undeath
Not dead, but not alive and unable to cross the River Styx into the afterlife. Not knowing what to do with the two souls Death sets them up as assistants to help jhim collect the souls of the dead as he's getting on a bit and it's all getting a bit much.

Now, I wanted to like this book, I really did, but unfortunately it missed the mark for me.

It's true what they say, comedy is one of the hardest things to write. Sometimes, it can work well, sometimes it just doesn't land, and for me it was the latter.

I think one of the things that didn't help this book was the fact that it was marketed toward fans of Pratchett, Gaiman etc. Unfortunately, this was already putting the book on the back foot and would invite comparison with those books, and unfortunately, the authors mentioned had already hit their mark and set up a marker to which to judge against. Now, I know that this isn't fair, but there will be comparisons made and some of the Descriptions of death's home etc are going to put people in mind of those other books.

Which I have to say is a shame, because there are some really good ideas in there, such as War being a woman, or Death subsisting on dead food brands, such as Marathons. In addition to that, Jon Smith writes really well. His dialogue is good, he writes good characters and his prose is good.

However, I failed to be invested in both the characters and the story. There was just something missing for me and it failed to draw me into the book, subsequently not getting its hooks in me.

This book is a fast and easy read. If you like light hearted and comedic style horror books then this is for you. I'm giving three stars because the characters could have had more depth and the plot could've been developed more. I did enjoy reading it though.

A tepid attempt at copying a conceptual style to try and milk the nostalgia it might evoke in others, from what I can tell. Sloppiness in the narrative that an editor might have caught is plain, and the concept is muddled at best.

I was very, excited to read this book! I love comic fantasy and the premise and blurb gave me PTerry vibes. It’s always fun to see new takes on death.
Unfortunately, the writing style wasn’t really for me. I found myself distracted by the descriptive style - it was just a bit too expository for my taste. The author also used switching perspectives, but in a way that I found confusing - the two protagonists’ perspectives were interchanged without warning or notice. There are tons of creative concepts here, and I wish I had enjoyed it more for them!

This was a beautiful satirical piece, made better by the fact that it was set primarily in Liverpool which meant I could really see the streets and locations. I loved the characters and the dry humour.

When Emma and Mark almost die but don’t quite, they end up having to reap souls for Death. I think this premise had a lot of promise but it took a bit too long to get to the main plot. I also wish it had some more humor based on the synopsis.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get into this book and DNF'd at about 30%. The writing style was fine, the story just didn't grab me the way I'd hoped.

I thought this sounded quirky, and I was looking forward to reading it. Maybe it was too different for me, because I didn't enjoy it. Sorry, hope others like it more.

This is a fun and heart warming read. Of course the characters being from my home city helped a lot. I enjoyed the references to places I frequent a lot. This book managed to deal with some heavy emotions and issues whilst putting it in a more light hearted way.

With irreverent tones reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Christopher Moore, this was a decent read and fairly well-balanced with dark humour and more serious notes.
I found the two main characters a little irritating, particularly Mark, but some of the side-characters brought some additional depth. Some of the one-liners felt a bit stilted and over-the-top.
Pacing-wise, I found the second half of this book more enjoyable with a good twist.
While enjoyable, sadly I don't think this quite lives up to the authors cited earlier.

Thank you NetGalley and Balkon Media for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Fifth Horseman tells us the story of Emma, unhappy with how her life has turned out, and Mark, her flatmate. After a not so successful attempt to end it all, Emma and Mark are faced with the reality that comes once one ceses to exist. However, not being alive is not what either characters had in mind. With a mix of ancient Greece and Christianity, Jon Smith explores what happens after life through the main characters, their relationship and the new setting they find themselves in.

After reading the book, I can only say that it was not what I was expecting. The story left me wanting more, and sadly, I read the last few chapters out of the desire to finish the book. Although there is some comedy, it is often a one off, and there seem to be plot lines that do not really contribute to the main plot.

It may well be that I am not the intended audience for this book, or simply that my expectations had mislead me to believe the book to be different. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this book to people who like pondering about the afterlife and like comedy sprinkled in with the inevitable sense of existential dread.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and give my opinion of it.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was a very easy read. The humour is on the darker side but not to the extent it’s distasteful. I found myself laughing as the characters were reacting and saying things I know I would be thinking myself.

This book also didn’t shy away for the harder realities of death and I felt it dealt with these with a good balance of humour and empathy.

5 stars from me and I would happily recommend this book to family and friends.

When Mark and Emma don't quite die, they find themselves being trained to be Death's assistants.
Described as a dark comedy, unfortunately I found the story fell flat for me and I struggled to see the comedy within. The book itself was well enough written but I did not particularly like it.

Wow, this was so far from what I had expected. I was hooked by this novel being for fans of Gaiman, Pratchett and Aaronovitch, but wasn't convinced.

There were some comedic scenes and funny one-liners, but overall I thought it just didn't hold up to the works of the three authors mentioned above.

The Fifth Horseman by Jon Smith follows Emma, who is fed up life, and decides that chucking herself off of a building is definitely the way to go. And then we get fucking Mark. Her flat mate. Also standing on top of this building trying to convince her to rethink her decisions and maybe being like "Don't do it I love you!!" which who does that?! Mark falls from the building on accident... and Emma definitely made the jump. Instead of hitting the sidewalk, the pair get picked up by Death... on a horse because he is cool like that.

Their hourglass froze, with just enough life in those final moments. They are now literally caught between life and death, and Death has no freaking idea what to do with them. Naturally he takes them to limbo, and makes them his apprentices.

I love that Death was living his best afterlife in his cottage by the River Styx, and that he was pretty much living in nostalgia of the past. How does death become to old to do his job? He was definitely getting too old for this shit. Jon Smith did a great job finding humor in death, and creating a fun and imaginative world. it has been a whole mess of fun. The cover drew me in, but the humor kept me reading.

The book is a wonderfully fun read. It tackles some darker themes such as death, suicide and the growing hold that greed has over society as a whole. However it takes them on in a light hearted way that supplies plenty of laughs without losing the message along the way.

The book is written in a lovely tone that flows and is extremely easy to read, and before you know it you have devoured chapter after chapter! It also has a nice cast of characters, the great banter between Emma and Mark, the 2 main characters, the cantankerous old Death and his lovely and charming assistant Veronique, are all great additions that makes it a really nice read!

I am a sucker for Death being personified and turned into a character, especially one that subverts the standard expectations in some way and humanises him.

If you love Jasper affords, you’ll love Jon Smith. This book is equal parts dark comedy and fantasy fiction, with plenty of the absurd thrown in for good measure. You’ll be taken on a journey of blended fiction, myth, and English life, and enjoy every minute of it. I’d definitely recommend this read