This book was so much fun, it was about not quite dead people unwiling to admit that they care for others while they so totally do.I loved it so much, the premise was unique and hilarious, also quite sassy and sarcastic.

Masters of Death is a standalone novel from Olivie Blake, the author of the Atlas Six series which has been immensely popular. If you loved the Atlas Six, you will really love this, as Olivie’s trademark writing style is very similar in this one, which I believe is a rerelease of her earlier work.

Fox is the godson of death, but he is an ordinary mortal with an unnaturally long lifespan. He works as a fake medium, plaguing death for information to give his clients (and often impress them enough to sleep with him). Then we have Vi, who is a vampire estate agent with a ghost problem, namely that the former occupant of the house hasn’t vacated to the other side. She comes to Fox for help and that sets off a chain of events that involves angels, reapers, demons and fae.

I really liked this, I am a fan of Olivie Blake’s writing style anyway and I found this book a chattier, less cerebral undertaking than the Atlas Six. I loved the little nods to fairytales from other cultures and Greek myths and although the story wasn’t complicated, it all came together very nicely. Blake is really good at having an ensemble cast of characters and bringing them together for a common purpose.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes their fantasy to be intelligent, with great dialogue. One of my favourite reads of this year.

I loved the premise of this story; books with Death as the narrator always sound like they’re going to be fun.
The amount of flowery language used in this story skirts at the edges of pretentiousness, which made the reading experience harder than it needed to be. I prefer a read that I can glide through rather than one I have to concentrate on, but that’s just personal taste. The banter flew, but some of it escaped me (this may have been to do with issues in the eARC formatting, which made the snarky, rapid-fire dialogue difficult to follow in places) and this combination of challenges caused me to put it down at around 20% and pick up something else.
I picked it up again a couple of weeks later, and made it to 32% before the mix of multiple additional characters and extensive navel-gazing that followed almost every piece of dialogue just felt like too high a mountain to climb.
I loved Blake’s One for my Enemy, but this one is definitely not for me. Officially a DNF.
With much appreciation to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity.
2 stars for the banter and wit.

Love is PAIN.

This book is confusing as all hell but the constant is heartbreak. Masters Of Death boasts a huge cast of various supernatural and mythical characters, mostly speaking in riddles and playing fast and loose with their morales.

Fox the godson of Death is at the centre of this tale, though by writing in third from multiple perspectives Blake draws an intricate plot with vampire Vi, ghost Tom, godling Brandt and several other important characters.
Each and every one of them was loveable, all with different personalities but hiding similar desires.

At its core Masters Of Death is about love; what it costs, how it hurts and the lengths that every being- human or otherwise- will go to to experience it.
For that, I forgive the vaguery and meandering blip I stumbled upon at the halfway mark.

I will say though, I am not at all a fan of the overuse of parentheses throughout Blake's writing. Considering the purpose of brackets, it frequently undermined the storytelling by inferring that swathes of content were of little value to the reader.
It left me feeling the author wasn't confident in their work- this novel was first published in 2018, I intend to pick up Blake's newer works and I really hope this habit was quickly ended.

I also didn't care for the illustrations, I'm not an art loving girl anyway but I couldn't see the relevance and they weren't to my taste.

Grammar irritations aside, I very much enjoyed how the characters storylines wove together into one albeit slightly difficult to understand premise- the immortal game.

I recommend to fantasy lovers. I should mention that in general I cannot stand reading romance. Well, Masters Of Death has a tonne of it in all walks of representation and I loved it!

I’m not sure how I feel about this author. I loved the Atlas Six, hated the second one. With this book I fell in love with her again and it was heading to a solid 5, then it lost me in the last third, and I never got back on track with me….I just didn’t understand what was going on, it was like it turned into an entirely different book I felt.

Sorry…the first two thirds it’s a solid 5, then a two so I’m balancing with a 3 star..

My thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

So, the biggest standout element of this novel for me was the characters. I did not hate a single character. They were all super fun, entertaining, interesting, and layered. It didn't matter the amount of page time they got I genuinely just enjoyed every character big or small. But I would have to say my favourite character was probably Marya. I just really liked her a lot!

Along with these amazing characters was some genuinely hilarious dialogue. The dialogue in this book is witty, smart and laugh-out-loud funny. I found myself laughing on my commutes to work watching the comedy of errors type conversations happen. That doesn't mean this book doesn't have its impactful and emotional moments. Blake is still able to bring out her beautiful prose and poignant moments with just a lot more laughs in between. I am pretty sure I highlighted one beautifully written sentence on every other page!

I also loved how Blake structured this story. This book is told through multiple POVs, multiple narration styles, and different time periods. At times you don't know why you are meeting this character until 50 pages later. This was written in such an interesting way that I couldn't put it down and would feel sad if my bus pulled up to my stop and I had to carry on with my day.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Masters of Death
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Olivie Blake
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Paranormal Fantasy
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: eARC
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 17th August 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 13th July 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4.25/5

”To have lived is, as he tells it, reward enough in itself.
(But, of course, he’s full of shit, so—)
(Chances are, he’s lying.)”

I make no secret of being a massive fan on Olivie Blake. My last read from her before this was One For My Enemy which made me wish for Olivie Blake to write my wedding vows. I wondered before starting this book if Masters of Death would cause me to want her to write my eulogy too, and the answer is a resounding YES.

Olivie Blake writes with her typically philosophical prose. In this book, she explores immortality and mortality, death and love, in themes that juxtapose each other; complimenting and contrasting. The concepts in this book are quite abstract, there’s no truly linear plot line, it’s a thought-provoking genre-bending piece of fiction that seeped into my every waking thought, confounding me all whilst causing me to fall in love with it. It’s quite a contradictory novel.

But it’s also full of characters that I adored. Literally every single one of them. Thief’s, vampires, demons, archangels, reapers… all stumble along the eternal road of immortality in a manner that is simultaneously chaotic and hilarious. The dialogues were full of insults and wit, the dynamics were truly incredibly compelling.

“You all have so much magic, and yet you only use it to trap and trick each other.”

If there’s anybody who deserves immortality, it’s Olivie Blake, simply so her writing can continue to bowl over humanity. ”Some things are just facts.”

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

Amazon Summary
This book is about an estate agent. Only she’s a vampire, the house on sale is haunted, and its ghost was murdered.

When Viola Marek hires Fox D’Mora to deal with her ghost-infested mansion, she expects a competent medium. But unbeknownst to Viola, Fox is a fraud – despite being the godson of Death.

As the mystery unfolds, Viola and Fox are drawn into a quest that neither wants nor expects. And they'll need the help of a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel and a love-stricken reaper. And it transpires that the difference between a mysterious lost love and a dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as you’d hope.

My Review - having loved Atlas Six i went into this expecting a lot, it was a good read but not brilliant as expected. I liked the worldbuilding and the charactures but didnt love them. the plot was good, i found it slightly confusing to begin with but pushed through and enjoyed the second half much more.

This was so much fun! Think of the cast of Schitts Creek but with vampires, demons, death, gods and angels. It starts off all a bit of a mystery with Death having gone missing, a ghost trapped in a house with unfinished business.. but no memories, a vampire hiding their issues and a godson of death. It’s full of sarcasm, humour, wit and all the characters are entertaining with the dialogue being laugh out loud funny at times. Even with all this it’s a wonderful story of love.

‘I definitely only want one lifetime, because forever without you seems pretty fucking worthless.’

The middle part of the book felt a little confusing as everything was tying together but it was done really well, still keeping you intrigued. I also really loved Fox and his thoughts on morality which was written beautifully.

‘So then it was a curse, existence. Life was a death sentence, after all, and even the sweetest of loves would still always end.‘

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review. I have loved my first look at a book by Olivie Blake.

Another wonderful book from genius Olivie Blake. Her writing is a masterclass in the rare art of seamlessly combining intricate plotting, beautifully constructed sentences and hilarious humour. Every single character is unique and necessary to the plot. The interactions between Death and Fox are particularly brilliant. It’s jumped straight into my top 5 reads of the year.

As you can tell, I highly recommend it. If you’re tempted, just read it, you won’t regret it.

Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

ARC received through Netgalley, thank you to the publisher and team

At the beginning of this book, I really struggled to grasp what was going on, however, once I started to read further into it I began to fall in love with the quirky characters. I found that midway through the book I couldn’t put it down and was frantically tearing through the pages to find out what happened next!

Masters of Death has themes of found families, dysfunctional relationships and the power of love. This is a fun twist on the fantasy genre and I loved all the characters as there was so much to unpack and learn about them and their stories!

*ARC received through Netgalley, thank you to the publisher and team*

Unfortunately, this book didn't hit the mark for me, despite the plot and characters doing their hardest to draw me into the magic and mystery.

Let's start with the positives, as I was immediately hooked on this book and the threads weaving together to bring the characters together was a compelling introduction to the story. Blake's writing has captivated me before with The Atlas Six, so it was fun to see her style of writing again in regards to bringing together an ensemble cast of colourful characters bickering, bonding, and puzzling their way through the unfolding quest.

I think this book benefits greatly from a hefty handful of wit and charm, but ultimately falls flat on substance. The plot centers around a vampire real estate agent, Vi, the ghost she meets in her latest property, and the godson of Death, a moral named Fox. There are other creatures who pop up including the king of demons, bickering archangels in Good Omens style, and a mysterious thief who gambled away something dear.

Although I felt interested in nearly all the characters, they talk around the issues in every conversation or spend an entire chapter discussing the same concerns, only to barely move the story along. I saw another review on this book stating how the characters talk for the sake of talking, and I think that's what frustrated me. I wanted to engage with the story, and the cast, but found it far too irritating when they would spiral off into a "is this real, or not? does it matter? what is morality? is love dangerous? we won...but we lost....we are here, but we are not...we are afraid, and yet not...." Imagine this for the entirety of the book and it does become painfully obnoxious, sadly.

I think this writing style is very hit or miss, depending on the accompanying story. As this book takes almost 50% (or further, even) to reach the Big Game, it makes me wonder what the central story theme is, especially as it's supposedly about Vi. It's really not. It's about Death and Fox, ultimately, or even Fox and Brandt, which I didn't dislike, but the focus changes so much that it doesn't feel grounded enough as an entire story. It's too up in the air and whimsical without standing its ground by any means.

Again, I can imagine this book really transporting others and could've been higher if I read it at another time perhaps, but right now, this was too much excessively flowery language without addressing anything bold. It was sentimental but without heart. It was good without being bad. It was like I was there but not really there....It was like a game, but not really...Frustrating, right?

Olivie Blake writes in such an articule way it is incredible. Her books always seem so well thought out and to me this book was a prime example of that. Each word felt like it was picked out carefully, it was beautiful.

To me this book was an absolute page turner that was original and felt SO refreshing to read. The originality really gives a new spin to “death” and the characters within the book.
The ending however left me not quite 100% satisfied but I will always come back to Olivie’s writing.
4.75

When a vampire-estate agent called Viola needs help getting rid of a ghost in a property she is trying to sell, she ends up seeking out Fox, the Godson of Death to help her. With a motley crew of a demon, an angel, a reaper and a Demi-god, they set out to ask Death to help them with the ghost. But Death is missing....
I have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with Olivie Blake. I have read a couple of her previous books and always found her writing style difficult to get into and very serious. This book, however was a lot more lighthearted, with a dry and sarcastic witty humour that reminded me of Terry Pratchett.
This book is ultimately about love, lies, trust and friendships, and the entire spectrum of human emotion.
There was romance in this book but not the cute and fluffy kind that we see so often in romance stories. This shows romance in all its raw emotion, and shows that love can be painful and heartbreaking and hopeless. I loved that this book explored all the "messiness" of love and romance.

This book is absolute chaos but in a really good way. This quirky cast of characters are a chatty bunch and are frequently interrupting each other which makes for a very jumpy narrative but one that Olivie Blake pulls off with flair. There’s lots of humorous asides, witty back and forth and all the energy you’d expect from a big group of people. It was magnificent. I enjoyed the different dynamics between different characters and even more so when they all converged. I can honestly say I still have absolutely no idea how the game is played (iykyk) and so I was thoroughly confused but that barely detracted from the book as I was still completely absorbed in the complexities of the relationships and of the narrative style, all of it incredibly unique and so full of life. This is my first Olivie Blake book but it won’t be my last!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

I really enjoyed this. Olivie Blake is an absolute wonder with words and it's always fun to go along for the ride. This broke my heart, fixed it, and enthralled me the entire time. I will always read whatever she puts out!

"It was all going very poorly, and very madly, and very promisingly indeed."

This is one of those books that the more I read, the more I warmed up to it. I really struggled to get into it. The premise is wonderful, but as ever I really had to wrestle with Blake's writing style. I don't always get along with her self-conscious pretension, and I often find that the humour misses the mark for me.

That being said, despite the slow start, I did find myself enjoying it more and more. By the end I was absolutely tearing through it, and excited to find out what happened next, and at no point did I feel let down or disappointed with the actuality of it.

I would say that often the characters feel too modern, and a lot of the colloquialisms felt odd and off putting coming from characters who are supposed to be (if not immortal) a few hundred years old. Though Fox himself was masterfully created, and once I had seen enough of him, it became easier and easier to distinguish his different faces, all of which came together to make him feel achingly human by the end of it.

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the fantasy and mythology genre, but, I am widening my perspectives and so far loving it. The author has done this brilliantly. The story is beautifully written, the characters come alive on the page, the settings pop and all characters have believable voices. One of the key elements of this book is world-building, the author has created an intricate and detailed world, complete with its own histories, cultures, and languages.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Quirky, different and delightful ! This might start out as a story about Vi an estate agent and Vampire seeking help from a Medium who happens to be Deaths godson but quickly turns into a wonderful, heart warming tale with an ensemble cast that's truly diverse and has a twist in the tale. A story of love both lost and found and I am so glad I read it and recommend to anyone seeking a different take on what life and death can really mean.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I think I could be biased but I have loved all of Olivia Blake’s books and masters of death was no exception! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for my honest review.