4.25/5

This book was phenomenal! With every book I read of hers, I fall more and more deeply in love with Olivie's writing and her prowess as an author.

This book was much more whimsical than the others that I've read by her. It still boasts her staples: elegant writing and a cast of complex characters. However, its tone is more lighthearted. It reminds me a lot of Good Omens with its immortals and deities, angels and demons, and all number of absurdly entertaining creatures and characters. It's a brilliant book that's increasingly addictive to read, you won't want to put it down!

We follow Fox D'Mora (a fraudulent medium and godson of Death), Viola Marek (a vampire real estate agent trying to sell a house haunted by a particularly annoying ghost), and a large cast of incredible characters (consisting of said annoying ghost, a demonic personal trainer, a strong-willed angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a mysterious godling).
They are all full of such heart, Olivie Blake continues to flaunt her skills as she makes her characters feel so immensely real. They're spilling over with wants and dreams and desires, their fears and failings coming to haunt us alongside them as we grow to care for them.
It would be useless to try and hate them, it would be pointless to try and want them to fail. You can't help but root for them. Olivie Blake is extraordinary at weaving this spell across all her characters—they are unceasingly fascinating.

I adored the discussions of mortality within this story. I adored the discussions around pain and how it ends up that it is life that allows us to feel anything at all. Every theme explored was done so brilliantly, in beautifully constructed moments and captivating conversations.
Each character is forced to face their deepest regrets, but—perhaps, more torturously—they are also made to reconcile with their deepest desires. It is a game that has only one rule: Don't lose!

As are all Olivie's works, this book is so fresh and so unique. If you're looking for a book to wholly engross you and transport you somewhere magical and mystifying then this is definitely the book for you! You'll fly through it.
It's the type of book that makes the real world feel disconcerting when you look up from the pages. The type that makes you think, how could I possibly be in the real world when I was with these characters mere moments ago? The type of book that consumes you for a pocket of time, introducing you to a story you'll never want to leave.

Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

☆☆☆¾
(rounded up to 4 on Netgalley)

Forever is a gift... and a curse.

Like the tagline, this book was both a gift and a curse (this is a little bit of an exaggeration but who am I without a little exaggeration?).

Overall:
I liked the plot of the book, the creatures and the tables and the characters. I also really enjoyed the wide cast of characters from the Godson of Death to a recently murdered (and cursed) ghost to a guardian angel and more, like with them there was never a dull moment. At first I found the book to be largely confusing but I found the pay-off to be worth it and I don't regret reading it at all, like it was an enjoyable read so I consider that a win!
Also, part of the synopsis being 'Vi and Fox soon discover the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought' is actually genius looking back at it.

What I considered a gift:
I loved how each chapter had a title (though it wasn't like I could truly appreciate them, for some reason on my Kindle half the letters were missing from the titles so instead of saying say 'The Tables' it said ' h t b s' which was a shame).
Fox & Brandt, I really enjoyed their story and watching unfold both in the past and present (also the scene of them at the tables was so ^%£"£$^).
The book started shaping up nicely around 48% for me which was nice and then after around the 75% mark I was enjoying it even more which was definitely nice.
I liked how the story ended for all the characters (though I feel I would've liked the endings more had we had more time to actually get invested in the characters).
The art, I loved all the illustrations throughout the book, especially the one of Fox and Brandt where Brandt is upside down.

What I considered a curse:
A lot (and I mean a lot) of the book was just me being confused, for at least a solid quarter I was confused (and just kept reading on hoping for sense soon) and within the first like 60% I was just on and off confused wondering what just happened? And was that important? And what did that mean?
When I started the book I wasn't a fan and found myself bored less than 5% in, though obviously at some point that changed, it was just a little discouraging.
I found, at first, that I didn't care too strongly for Fox, I honestly don't know why but I just didn't, though obviously as the story went on that changed.
We started off seeing quite a bit of Violet only to stop seeing so much of her like 50% through and mainly seeing Fox which was fine but a little odd as went from seeing her often enough to hardly seeing her.
I wanted to see more of the characters, like the book felt like it was a tight ship with everything run perfectly and on schedule but personally, I felt as though there could've been a little leeway in that which allowed us to spend more time with the characters so we could be more invested with them like after a while it sort of felt like everyone but Fox didn't matter that much.
I found with quite a few of the characters we didn't see a lot of their (romantic) relationships so when we got to them I only found myself only half-caring for them because we didn't see enough of them for me to care a lot for them or to even be that invested in them, like Vi and Tom were cute but it felt we hardly saw them (bar a few important scenes) past like the 70% mark. My main example of this though was with Mayra and Cal, we hardly saw any of their backstory and it felt like we were just thrown into their relationship and expected to care about it when we only saw it in a few scenes and not even in great depth which was a shame.
I found the last 10ish% to be underwhelming, Volos' end too, like it was over in such an easy way it felt like something bigger and more dramatic was about to happen after but it just didn't which left me like 'oh, that's truly that then?'
There were scenes where everyone was talking and I couldn't understand a single thing that was happening, like it was just pure chaos and it made me want to stop the book for a while because it made me feel like I wasn't enjoying it although you could argue the book (and author) done their job well in making me feel like I was really in the scene with everyone talking at the same time and making me frustrated, alas for me it was a miss.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the ARC.

P.S. <spoiler> Did anyone else think that Fox was going to take off his watch in his game with Brandt or was that just me? </spoiler>
P.P.S. <spoiler> What did the torn-out pages from the book Brandt gave Volos have on them? I can't tell if I missed the answer or something, what did they say? </spoiler>

This was interesting. I loved all of the characters but I struggled to understand The Game. I think that's the point but I'm somebody who struggles with books that aren't very clear. That said, this is my failing, not the author's. It was excellently written and every character was wonderfully fleshed out.

Olivie Blake strikes yet again. Every book I read of hers embeds itself into my soul more and more. Masters of Death is a witty insight into the meaning of life and coming to terms with yourself, and the concept of the creatures being around in the world sent my mind spinning! I've never wanted to not be a mortal so much in my life...

The writing style is so classically Blake, and yet every book she writes, the prose takes on a different style that gives you a hungover-like feeling when you put the book down. The perspectives of this book, the different characters and the quick-witted dialogue all combines to make a perfect book.

I LOVED the world-building and concept of the book - every element that leads you up to the game, and learning how each character has to come to terms with something new quite early in the book, whether its becoming undead or finding a long-lost love, makes this book so beautifully chaotic. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I truly want to know how Blake comes up with these ideas in her mind because they single-handedly manage to represent every single existential crisis you could have about life, and then presents them to you in such awe-inspiring, quotable prose that you wonder why you never considered these before.

Ultimately, this is another perfect book from Blake. If there's one author you need to read in your life, it's 100% Olivie Blake and you should do it sooner rather than later.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for early access to this book!

The sassiest group of characters and an unbelievable story! What a great read this was. It was fast paced, un-put-down-able and so different from anything else I have ever read.

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake is the first book I have read by this author. This is an urban fantasy that takes as its main plot line the games that the gods play with the fate of humanity but here, they also play against each other, with far more terrifying outcomes. Blake has created a group of fun, loving, complex and dynamic characters which captures their strengths, flaws, loves and losses.

The world-building is skillfully woven together into old-world mythology and brought together seamlessly into a modern setting filled with interesting paranormal beings. As the story unfolds, we explore, through the relationships of the characters, what it is to truly live and love. With the non-linear timeline, the absurd mix of characters and the lyrical writing style, and what feels like an original story this was an entertaining and enjoyable read.

My thank is to both Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for a copy of the book for an honest review.

The blurb totally sold me on this book and it got off to a very promising start. Death being sweary was an absolute delight and if I’m really honest I would have preferred it to be more of that.

It’s not often I give a book one star and I questioned my reasons behind doing so here. Was I missing something? But I just couldn’t give more as there were too many cons for me personally. This was haphazard and chaotic with too many characters, making it hard to really feel the soul of them.

It got about a third in and then had a big plot change and this is where it really lost me. Too much going on, too many words that didn’t really give any answers and I found myself unsure of my understanding. It didn’t help either that the main character became Fox who was my least liked. I found his personality to be lacking and I just didn’t care about him.

This was a book I was really looking forward to, I had hoped for a Good Omens/Dirk Gently vibe. Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me.

I am not sure how I feel about this book. At times I enjoy it, but just as many times, if not more, I did not enjoy it. I really thought I was going to love this book but it just did not do it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers who game me an e arc in exchange for an honest review.

I did not hate the book but I also did not love it. It felt like an average book that I wouldn’t read again based on what I like.

One thing that I did not enjoy was that each chapter jumps from who is narrating it. There was times when I was reading and I had to stop and figure out who was talking. It felt chaotic at times and just all over the place.

I also did not enjoy the characters. Now I really like the main ones and I would have enjoyed it if it was just them but there were way too many characters that served zero importance. For instance the Greek gods are mentioned once and then basically never mentioned again. Why? They could have just as easily been left out. It was like the author wanted to mention literally every single supernatural or non supernatural character they could. There were Greek gods, Norse gods, vampires, ghouls, ghosts, angels, reapers, humans, death, etc. Again it just felt way too chaotic and way too unorganized. Why there was that many characters that served no point was beyond me.

The characters storylines also confused me. Why were so many introduce and then given zero growth? Or there were pieces of information given that was never brought up again or served a purposed. It reminded me of game of thrones in that the development went nowhere after a while. I feel like cutting down some characters and chapters would have made the flow much nicer.

When I read a book, I want to be pulled in and I want it to be a nice easy read. I read because I want to destress and not have to think too hard. This was not that. I did not find it an easy read and while I did read it quick, I had to stop and think at times. The writing style is not for me though I am sure plenty of others will love this book. The plot I thought had a ton of potential but did not go a direction that I personally enjoy. Again, not terrible just not for me.

“Death lives in the too-quiet silences, in the deepest parts of the night.”

Ooooh this one was fabulous! I loved the whole concept. The mix of mortals and immortals, creatures, and humans.

It took me a little while to get used to Blakes writing style, especially the way she writes her dialogue but once I got used to it I barely noticed the change.

One of my favourite things was how within a few lines there was humour that actually made me laugh out loud and then beautiful poetry like prose. I write down my favourite lines in books and usually have a page or two of lines that really grab my attention, but for this book I had about 6 pages of quotes.

I won’t spoil anything but I loved the relationships Fox had with those closest to him. Each character has their own purpose and ending and I wished I could have known even more about each of them. It’s definitely a story more focused on character development than plot but I think that worked in this book.

Very grateful to have been granted access to a NetGalley ARC for this one!

When you start reading a book and it’s being narrated by Death himself you just know it’s going to be a unique experience. This sets the tone of the rest of the book perfectly - it’s fun, it’s eccentric and completely bizarre!

Viola is a vampire, or more specifically an Aswang (a shape-shifting creature from Filipino folklore). In an attempt to live a reasonably normal life she gets a job as an estate agent and stumbles upon a somewhat unconventional support group for the undead. Within this motley crew (and scattered throughout the story) are werewolves, faes, demons, demigods, angels, sirens, trolls and vampires.

When Vi discovers that a ghost is haunting a house she is trying to sell, she is led in the direction of Fox, who works as a medium and just so happens to be Death’s godson… and this is where the games begin!

I just loved the mix of characters. It would have been a very different reading experience if, for example, all of the characters had been vampires. What was so fun was the dynamic between them all, with all of their individual quirks, idiosyncrasies and particular needs. It was totally insane (but in a good way)!

Hilarious, dark and sarcastic but at the same time endearing, Masters of Death is unlike anything I’ve read before. Because it’s so different in style to the books I’m used to, it was a little complicated in parts with so many different perspectives but overall the humour and world building really shone, and the philosophical reflections were an unexpected but delightful addition!

What a fantastic book. This is better than the Atlas books. It is quirky with humour and great characters. It reminded me in many ways of an old Hammer Horror film and The League from Alan Moore. This is probably my favourite book from Olivie Blake and it really is a brilliant read and is highly recommended.

As a note at the start of this review: I have previously read The Atlas Six by this author and did not enjoy it at all, however this book sounded so different and interesting that I wanted to give it a shot and I’m so glad I did! So don’t let TA6 put you off reading this.

Masters of Death did not take itself too seriously. It was funny, fairly fast paced, and well plotted. I enjoyed the way the relationships were revealed and developed through the story, and how the two storylines wove together - although honestly I could’ve read a whole book just of a vampire trying to sell a haunted house!

I had somehow gotten the impression that Death was the realtor in the novel, which isn’t the case, but I very much enjoyed it regardless.

The narrator was fabulous and really added to the story. He’s definitely one I would keep an eye out for in the future when purchasing audiobooks.

Overall, I enjoyed Masters of Death and am glad I picked it up despite my previous experience with the author’s books.

📚 r e v i e w 📚
Masters of Death - Olivie Blake
what do you get when you have a vampire trying to sell a haunted house?
well… this fun adventure!
i’m not going to lie, i want to live in olivie blake’s brain - her stories never cease to amaze me and this one is no different. told with her usual effervescent style and with a cast of eccentric and lovable characters, including the godson of death himself and a demon who moonlights as a personal trainer.
masters of death is genius and i believe it will benefit your life greatly, so get your copy now!
thank you @netgalley for the early copy - masters of death is out now (with some very pretty special editions!)
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#bookworm #bookblogging #bookblogger #fiction #readerlife #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #bibliophilelife #bookstagram #reading #bookstagrammer #booklover #booksbooksbooks #bookreview

If there’s one thing Masters of Death has going for it, it’s a unique premise. That’s why I requested the book in the first place because it sounded really cool. And I’ll admit, it is really cool. However, the writing did not work for me. This book was such a drag to get through. The writing, while at times beautiful, felt unnecessarily pretentious.

Objectively Blake is a good writer, her prose is amazing, but personally, it’s too flowery and beats around the bush too much. There was also a weird juxtaposition between the dialogue and the rest of the writing. Blake would use 30 thesaurus words to describe something, and then the characters would speak plainly. It just felt weird. I get the effect she was going for, but it really did not work for me.

I can see why so many people love this book, and I honestly think the audiobook would work better, but I only had access to an e-ARC. I liked the characters, and in the end, I really felt for them and celebrated their victories. This book would make a great mini-series on Netflix, one I would definitely watch.

In essence, it’s not bad but it’s not for me.

Olivie Blake's latest republished book has the beautiful prose we have come to expect from her, paired with fantasy elements and well crafted characters, but this one is funnier and quirkier than her other books. Her plot lines can be a little over complicated for me sometimes, especially with timeline jumps, but overall this was wonderfully crafted and enjoyable as ever!

I was so looking forward to this book! Initially I thought I’d love it because Death was so much fun! But then I ended up really disliking it! The plot lines were an over the place, far too many characters and creatures and I felt the author was trying to be clever and poetic in the writing but it just came across as full of waffle and annoying! It was a fail for me sadly!

Having never read any of Olivie Blakes' books before but having read and watched loads of reviews on The Atlas Six, I was super eager to read Masters of Death.

I have never read anything like this novel before but I am really glad that I did read Masters of Death and actually quite enjoyed it. Normally a reader of thriller or mystery this was a new genre of novels.

We meet character Viola who is an estate agent but bizarrely also a vampire! She has come across a house that is haunted and she needs to get rid of the hauntings so the reader is then introduced to Fox who is a medium and he sets out to help Viola rid the house of spirits.

This was a journey and a half, I was gripped, I will be honest and say that I did not fully understand everything that was going on in this novel but I loved the characters and how Olivie Blake writes the novel.

A good-gripping page-turner and I will be getting a copy of The Atlas Six to read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Olivie Blake and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

If you enjoyed Good Omens by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman, then I’m quite confident that you’ll enjoy Masters of Death.

It features a host of sassy supernatural beings including, but not limited to a vampire, a ghost, angels, demons, and death himself.

I rated this book as four stars because while I normally enjoy a book that jumps back and forth a timeline, I felt that this book may have relied a little too heavily on this aspect to the point where I found myself confused at times. Regardless, this book is an absolute page turner that I finished over the course of a couple of days.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for sending me a kindle copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I couldn't wait to read this after enjoying The Atlas Six so much.

This is very different. It has a fun (though dark) take on myths and legends. There are some great characters, but I found the story a little over complicated.

Thank Netgalley for the chance to read this.

Hmm this was not at all what I was expecting...

When this book first started I was LOVING it. I loved the sassy characters, the set up of the plot and the narration from Death. And then, around 30% of the way in, the plot abruptly changed and I found I was quite disappointed. It took a while to adjust to that, but ultimately, I still thoroughly enjoyed it!

I love that this book really makes you think, and I really enjoyed that the plot wasn't linear - you really had to focus to understand it. I found that I was a bit confused at times, but I think it's worth the effort and confusion to see how everything ties together in the end.

My favourite thing about the book was definitely the characters. I found their dialogue to be hilarious and endearing and they really kept me engaged with the story.

This wasn't a perfect book for me, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and it's definitely reignited my interest in The Atlas Six series.