So much fun, fantasy to enjoy and make you think just a little as you enjoy the book. Death is a human girl, well she is when her sister, life, arranges her a body and sabbatical on earth. What does she have to look forward too? Much humanly experience, joy, love, joking around, and someone trying to kill her. The death part she has down to a tee. Human experience? There’s always time to figure it out. But deaths not on the list are causing a big problem for everyone, including Death. Maybe death will die too if she doesn’t work out what’s going on. Thank you to Random House uK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

'I am Death. The Destruction. The Nothingness. The end that makes beginnings possible. The chaos and the order. The greatest, most destructive power in all of creation. The eternal ending, born in the time before time, when everything was fire and wrath.'...and she deserves a holiday.

Veronika Dapunt's debut novel presents a compelling exploration of Death's unexpected sabbatical on Earth.

To facilitate Death's immersion in humanity, her sister, Life, creates Delara Donn. Delara's initial attempts to understand human customs, particularly her unconventional fashion choices, provide moments of engaging character development. As a paralegal in London, Delara encounters an anomaly: an "unplanned" death, a violation of the fundamental laws of Creation. This mystery propels the narrative, transforming it from a whimsical fantasy, reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, into a compelling murder investigation.

The introduction of Marco introduces a romantic element that, while integral to Delara's emotional evolution, occasionally overshadows the central mystery. Dapunt effectively portrays Delara's internal conflict as she grapples with unfamiliar feelings and the implications of her potential mortality. The dynamic between Delara and Life is particularly well-crafted, offering a nuanced exploration of their sibling relationship.

Garm, the rescued laboratory dog, serves as a poignant reminder of Death's capacity for compassion, eliciting genuine emotional responses. The novel's humour is skilfully deployed, providing moments of levity without detracting from the narrative's overall tone. While the portrayal of the Devil felt somewhat underdeveloped, the core concept of Life and Death as sisters is executed with remarkable creativity.

Despite the occasional overemphasis on the romantic subplot, which detracted slightly from the narrative's momentum, Dapunt's debut is a remarkable achievement. The novel's thought-provoking themes, engaging characters, and seamless genre transitions make it a highly recommended read. The emotional impact of the story, particularly the portrayal of Garm, is undeniable, and it is a testament to Dapunt's skill that she elicits such strong reactions.

I would like to convey my thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for providing the opportunity to review this novel. All opinions are my own.

Death and Other Occupational Hazards is due to be released on 10th April 2025.

I liked this book, it was nice to see Death from another point of view. I loved her sense of style and how sick of dark colours she was.

Death decides to take a holiday to see if she can find out how to appeal to mortals more and get them to understand that she’s ok and just doing her job. She has a dingy flat and has to find a job to get the real human experience .

Things take an unexpected turn when murders occur that were not supposed to happen. Death must search for the killer and figure out what’s going on.

The humour was quite fun and I liked the corporate titles that the Devil and Jesus had. I thought the romance aspect fell a bit flat but I didn’t mind that much.

I recommend this book for people who like paranormal fiction and something with a bit of humour to it.

Yes, Death was a woman!! Love this! Typically, I dont know gender stereotypes and all, but you'd have thought death may have been a man, but I'm here for the female empowerment!!

Death heads off on holiday as she wants to understand the human race better and for them to know her, little did she know she would have to earn money, tentatively explore the wonderful world of fashion and make friends and try not to scare them away. As if that wasn't enough, she comes across an unplanned death and is adamant she will solve the crime.

With some mythological references and religious anecdotes, there are many layers to this story. Death gets to experience love, loss, friendships, family, and above all else real emotions.

This was hilarious, witty, and full of quirkiness, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Who knew I'd actually quite like to meet Death? I reckon we would get on, lol!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC.

Death's holiday is interrupted by a series of murders that were not part of the plan, forcing her into solving the mystery all while dealing with being very much human.

A very funny and irreverent read, I found myself in stitches on more than one occasion. From the big man in the sky been the world's most hand's off CEO (think world's worst lean sigma six black belt holder) to the takes on some other fairly significant biblical characters it was a delight to read. The characters are eclectic from the get go, there is the complications of family, the love of found family and just enough of a slow burn romance. The humor can only be described as slightly unhinged but in the best possible way. It is obviously dark.

Its quick paced, at times daft (but never in a forced way, more just a nod to the fact that the world is indeed daft) insightful and in many ways forgiving of what it means to be human. Very much enjoyed.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book, so when I saw it on my shelf I was looking forward to getting into it.
The spin the author put on the character of Death is one I’ve not seen before but found it was brilliantly executed.
On the surface this is a fun, quirky story, but the more you read, you realise it’s far more complex than first appears.
The characters are flawed, complex, relatable and have excellent depth and development.
Loved this one, I’ll definitely be recommending.

One of the most refreshing aspects of this novel is its unique take on Death—portrayed not as a grim, ominous figure but as a flawed, relatable woman simply trying to do her job. This clever twist on the reaper trope is both engaging and thought-provoking. Death’s dynamic with her sister, Life, is a real highlight, offering a fascinating blend of tension, humour, and sibling rivalry. Their interactions bring depth to the story and create an intriguing exploration of the balance between life and death.
The novel’s murder mystery element adds an extra layer of intrigue, with some well-placed twists and suspenseful moments. While the pacing isn’t always even, the concept is strong, and there’s plenty to enjoy along the way. The romantic subplot with the parasitologist injects some charm and lightness into the story, though it occasionally takes a backseat to the mystery.
Dapunt’s writing style is witty and filled with sharp humour, making this a thoroughly entertaining read. The snarky dialogue and vivid descriptions give the book a distinctive voice that keeps the tone lively and engaging.
Overall, Death and Other Occupational Hazards is a fun, inventive, and darkly humorous read. While it balances comedy and mystery in its own unique way, it’s a great choice for readers looking for something fresh, quirky, and full of personality. Even as someone new to the fantasy genre, I found it an enjoyable escape!

This book is a rollercoaster. It's funny, its heavy, there's romance, the family drama, there's workplace rivalry. It's all in there!

The idea of this book really intrigued and excited me, and though it wasn't quite the quirky light-hearted mystery I was expecting throughout the entire story I did get sections like this.

It explored some really heavy material that I just didn't expect, and honestly it did throw me and send me into a slight philosophical spiral, but we got over that! There were still some really nice and fun moments and I did enjoy the romance.

I think the modern day "Corporate" setting of Life, death, the devil, Jesus and God was a stroke of genius. I actually think that Jesus might be my favourite character and actually wish we had seen some more of him. I loved Garm and I was really happy with her eventual fate - although it did get a bit ropey there for a while. I wish we could've found out more about what became of Marco.

Overall a good if heavy read. It totally gives you something to think about, and really consider which is what a good book should do.

Death is fed up! She’s tired of ferrying the souls of the dead to the next stage of the afterlife and she needs a break. After a conversation she has with one of the souls on the ferryboat, she petitions The Boss (otherwise known as God) to let her take a sabbatical here on old planet earth. More specifically London.

Set up in a flat and obtaining a job (all coordinated by Death’s opposite and sister Life), she sets about enjoying her life as a human on the plane of existence known as Earth. However, she soon stumbles on a number of deaths that were not in THE PLAN, set up by him upstairs and this leads her to investigate why this is happening.

She soon finds that the deaths lead her into organised crime which in turn leads her to see that forces from down below (i.e. The Devil) are rampant on earth and are playing some kind of game with the fabric of existence.

To say that this book was totally out of my comfort zone (due to the fact that the dreaded R word – romance – made an appearance) is an understatement. Especially when my usual fodder, as you may know (and the fact that the name gives it away) revolves around either fantastical worlds or people getting ripped to pieces by scary monsters, I actually quite enjoyed this.

What I liked!

I liked this iteration of the grim reaper as a quirky thirty something woman (although my favourite iteration is Death from The Sandman, but that’s the ever present goth in me) and the fish out of water scenarios that come with death on earth and how she copes with them. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the ‘unplanned deaths’ and how this panned out with death experiencing love.
I also loved the two doggos that are in this book, Cerberus, the little yappy dog of the love interest, with the heart of the lion, and the dog that Death and Life save from the research labs in the story who they call Garm (named after the dog / wolf who guards Hel’s gate in Norse Mythology).

What I didn’t like?

I didn’t like the corporate sounding names that were given to both the Devil and Jesus. I think they were supposed to be funny in a Pratchettesque kind of way, but I found them a) a little bit annoying and b) totally forgettable.

All in all, I really enjoyed this one. It’s not my usual cup of tea, but Veronika Dapunt made the characters likeable and someone who I enjoyed getting involved with for the time I was reading it.

***advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
An excellent book which is ostensibly a murder mystery but becomes so much more than that. A reminder of the wonder that is creation. If you enjoyed Terry Pratchett’s Death books, or Good Omens, you’ll find something of a similar path here, enmeshed with a murder mystery like no other you’ve read before.

I've always loved to read interpretations of Death in the modern world, and this was beautifully unique. I found the novel a little slow to start and it took me a while to get into it, but by about a third in I found myself rooting strongly for Death and her growth in love and friendships within the world. I imagine I'll be thinking about this book for a long time, and I'm going to look out for any future novels by Veronika Dapunt (this is SUCH an incredible debut!).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the fact Death was a woman. I totally expected it to be a man - my bad! Death goes on sabbatical and everything starts to fall apart. Unexpected deaths start to happen with the help of her sister Life and Marco a parasitologist that she meets, Death needs to find out who is behind the murders.

I enjoyed this quirky book, it was very different.

Thanks to NetGalley and Transworld for the opportunity.

Most people think that when they meet Death, it’ll be a skeleton in a black potato sack. Maybe with a scythe. Truth is, she’s just a woman doing a job, and she’s very good at it.

But when Death takes a much-needed break to live on earth, things start to go terribly wrong.

Someone’s killing people not on her list (well, not yet anyway) and it's down to her to find the culprit before it’s too late. To make matters worse, her sanctimonious sister Life – whom Death hasn’t gotten along with in millennia – won’t stop blaming her. . . and there’s the slight problem of the charming (sexy) parasitologist she’s suspicious of.

But she’ll be fine, right?

I really really enjoyed this book, it was engaging from the first chapters. I would thoroughly recommend

A unique story with plenty of different concepts throughout. First and foremost, death being a woman - LOVE. No choice but to stan, in fact! I loved this, and I was pretty gagged at myself (as a female reader) when I realised death was a woman and I’d gone in assuming death would be a man.

I’ve never read a book quite like this, the premise is unique, with death being on a sabbatical from her day job whilst investigating Unplanned Deaths and simultaneously balancing a human job and life - if it sounds a bit bonkers that’s because it is, but in a very pleasant way. I did find it lost a little bit of steam midway through, but we picked back up again and things started to move once more!

The ending was possibly my favourite part of the whole book. I shed a little tear but I believe it was perfect (and I wholeheartedly believe more books would benefit from this type of ending, it seems to be quite brave in this era of dark romance/romantasy).

This books has lots to like about it: the characters are likeable, there’s pleasant humour, and the general tone is upbeat throughout. A deadly delight!

Big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc of this book!

An original concept and an interesting plot! I’ve never read anything like this before and it was refreshing to try something new. I would recommend this to people who love dark romance, crime and more quirky stories.

The idea of this is very good. I like that death was represented as a woman. I liked death as a character. It got a bit slow in the middle but picked up again. I very much liked the ending, that death went back to being death and didn't stay for her 'happy ever after' with Marco. I think that was a good choice.

Such a good book! Not read anything like this before. I love the personification of death. Really well written and highly enjoyable

Such an unusual and unique concept, Death's sharp voice will linger in your mind long after you've read. Don’t you just want to grab this, switch off the phone and curl up on the sofa
By far one of my favourite books I've read this month…

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. This was an entertaining and engaging read. The story felt completely novel, and Delara was an enjoyable narrator. I was invested in her story throughout and Dapunt wrote the other characters well, although there were occasions the plot jumped around and I found it difficult to follow in parts. Emotive and funny, this is definitely worth a read.

Sorry, wasn't feeling this one. I thought the premise sounded interesting but I DNFd at around 30% because I wasn't invested in the plot.