The only reason that I am rating this book a three star instead of a two star is simply because I believe that my personal reading tastes got in the way of my enjoyment of this title. If it were not for a few key aspects of this book, it would have been an okay read. Not bad but not great. A three star read…

This book is told in two separate POV. One in Hell from someone named Peyote Trip (which feels a little culturally appropriated and that doesn’t sit well with me) and one of a family, the Harrisons, living their life. The timeline in Hell was enjoyable. I liked the characters and everything well enough. It was the Harrison family timeline that really threw me. None of them were really and truly good, instead all having many of their own issues. I know that having flawed characters is realistic, but having a matriarch who is so unapologetically having an affair and a patriarch who fantasizes about the underage friend of his teenage daughter… YUCK!

This book is pitched as poignant and darkly funny and I found that it was neither of those. It just didn’t sit well with me. To think I almost made this one a Book of the Month pick. I’m glad I didn’t…

Dark humor. Family drama. Secrets upon secrets. And Hell like you've never seen it before.

Sign Here has all of this and so much more! I think this is one of my favorite reads of the year. It's got the thriller/mystery vibes I so often crave, paired with a whip-smart sense of humor. Think: Grady Hendrix or The Good Place vibes. I highly recommend checking this out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing a digital copy of Sign Here in exchange for an honest review. Sign Here hits shelves October 25th, so prepare yourselves accordingly!

Sign Here by Claudia Lux is about Peyote Trip who works in the second level of Hell. He is responsible for making deals with humans for their souls. However Peyote has a plan. However, when a new employee joins the department, she could send everything spinning out of control
Sign Here is told through 4 perspectives. Peyote is definitely the main character, but we also have Mickey, Silas, and Lily Harrison. This book definitely shifted perspectives quickly and often, but I was so invested in every characters story. This is such a interesting and unique story. I loved the descriptions of hell and the world building that Lux created. This is definitely my favorite book that I've read this year.

Peyote Trip has worked his way up from torturing the souls of Hell to damning them for all eternity by getting desperate humans to bargain them away. The deals department may not be the most glamorous position, but Peyote has a plan. Peyote has been making deals with the Harrison family for as long as he can remember, and all he needs is one more member to sign their soul over to complete his set, and then he can kiss Hell goodbye.

On the outside, the Harrisons seem to be your typical loving family, but underneath it all, they harbor dark secrets. They spend every summer at their lake house, where years ago, a young girl was killed by one of the family members. Silas Harrison and his wife, Lily, have spent years trying to move on from the tragedy, but when their daughter brings along a new friend on the trip, old memories begin to swim back up to the surface. With so many secrets coming to light, Peyote must strike while the iron is hot if he hopes to achieve his goal.

I didn't know what to expect going into this, but I enjoyed it. Lux's writing was darkly morbid with a biting sense of humor. There were a few times the phrasing felt clunky, but overall, it was entertaining. I loved the idea of Hell having this corporate vibe, filled with minor inconveniences like pens that are always out of ink or towels that never fully dry, rather than being all fire and brimstone. I liked following along with Peyote as he tries to find a way back to humanity, but I was more interested in the Harrison's storyline. I liked learning more about what happened in their past and how it played into current events. My only real complaint was that it took forever for anything to happen. Other than that, I liked this and would recommend it, especially if you like The Good Place, as it gave off the same vibes.

So a large problem with this book is that I thought it would be a dark humor urban fantasy vibe, and this book is not really any of those things. It's straight up horror. So if you are like me and that is not your genre be forewarned.

I think the book is very well written, and I liked how it was told with dual plotlines (one in Hell and one outside Hell) that are intermixed. I didn't really connect with any of the characters - they didn't feel completely fleshed out to me and there were subplots that rather than furthering the plot just added a layer of confusion. I also didn't find any of this book funny, not even darkly funny.

One of my biggest problems is that one of the Main Characters is named Peyote Trip (all Hell characters are named after "funny ways" to die) which using a religious Native American plant and rite as a punchline (to a lets be honest a not really funny joke) especially since the author is a white women just feels like punching down and illustrates that the authors humor was going to be like.

I think the author's concept of Hell is fascinating, but the book itself fell flat for me in multiple areas. I know a lot of that is that I don't care for Horror so if that is your genre it might be worth a shot.

Imagine a Hell where the only shots are Jager, where music you specifically hate plays all day, and where there is no coffee. That’s where Peyote Trip lives after dying and being sent to Hell for eternity. He’s worked himself up from the bottom and currently works on the 5th floor in the deals department. Essentially, he makes brief returns to Earth to convince people to sell their soul once they die. He’s doing pretty well for himself, and could be on the verge of some excellent news if he can get one more member of the Harrison family. He’s gotten quite a few already.

The Harrisons seem like any other family: husband, wife, two kids. Except they all have secrets. As they head to their lake house for the summer, Peyote and his coworker, Calamity, are in pursuit. But nothing goes as planned for either party.

I thought this would be perfect for the spooky season, but it’s not spooky. It’s also not very humorous, although I can tell certain parts were aiming for that. I still enjoyed it for the most part, but some of the backstory on certain characters just left me confused. There were some things I never pieced together. I liked it enough, but didn’t particularly LOVE anything about it.

Thank you to Berkley for a widget of the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 10/25/22.

Complex, intriguing and chock full of sardonic dark humor, this book kept me guessing and I did not want to put it down! The characters were fairly well-developed and the pace was quick. The author's take on what it might be like in Hell was unique and compulsively entertaining.

I really enjoyed this one. It is hard to believe that this is a debut. The writing is spectacular and the story is so engrossing and well done that you will have a hard time putting it down.

The characters are so well written. They are not only morally gray, but I found myself both loving and hating them all at some point in the story. There are a lot of characters and many of them tell the story from their points of view, but you never find yourself confusing any of them. They are all well developed with their own stories and are many layered.

Peyote Trip is the main character from hell, and he is the one that we see what is really going on there through. You could almost consider Peyote a good guy, even when he is getting people to sign contracts especially when he knows they don’t really know what they are signing. Always read the fine print people. I really enjoyed his part in this story and how he figured out what was really going on with Calamity. Calamity was also a great character and I loved her backstory.

The Harrisons’ story is told through multiple characters. Because we get a lot of different points of view as to what is going on with the family, you can see just how dysfunctional they really are. There are many scenes involving this family that are quite heartbreaking. The daughter Mickey story arc was quite heartbreaking. I don’t think we get any part of the story through Ruth’s perspective, but her addition to the family vacation certainly stirs things up.

The plot is so very well done, except for maybe the ending. The descriptions of hell are exactly what I would expect if there really was one. You have music you don’t like constantly playing, the pens never work, there are horrible smells and you can only drink Jagermeister if you want to get drunk. The corporate structure was also spot on, as well as the horrible boss. The chapters are short, but the action just keeps you moving along. There are lots of thrills, some twists and a little bit of a mystery. There is a very dark humor that runs throughout the book, but this one will also get under your skin.

The dual timelines eventually do meet up, but not until the very end. The ending was the only weak spot in this wonderful book. It felt a bit rushed and I still had some questions left about what really happened.

This is an excellent book which you really should be considering adding to your TBR. I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this excellent and unusual story. I’ve never read a book told by a character residing in hell. Although his work is to sign up humans to agree to go to hell when the die, he remembers something. His vague memories of life on earth change everything by the end of this tale. What an unusual and compelling story — not comedy, not horror. You have to read it to understand.

If Hell really is other people (and really, how could it not be?) then Ms. Lux’s Sign Here is right on the money.

Fun and irreverent, this title is a full on fun read. The synopsis sold me and I read this debut novel over a two day period. Smart with some super cringey hellacious scenarios, I really enjoyed the humor in the story.

As I wrote, the synopsis had me very interested and I wasn't disappointed, however, this one isn't perfect - I found the ending painfully abrupt and a little too clean for my tastes while also not really resolving anything, hence my 3 star rating.

I do look forward to reading more of the author's future work.

Sign Here is deliciously dark and hellaciously funny.

I REALLY liked this book and think it's an excellent spooky season read if you are looking for something super unique. The plot takes place in a dual timeline, dual setting between Hell and Earth. Peyote and Cal are in Hell where they work deals with humans. The Harrison family is on Earth just trying to survive life as a family.

I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how these two plotlines would be connected. I was surprised, and delighted, by the ending. I was captivated with the humor of this book despite the morbid subject matter at times.

This book has it all: a little bit of mystery, a few thrills, a couple twists, and a ragtag crew of characters. Do yourself a favor and add this to your list when it publishes on Oct 25!

Irreverent, weird, dark, and absurd. I loved every single second of it. It’s like if Christopher Moore and Grady Hendrix had a baby and that baby did something *really* bad and was doomed to recruit souls for the devil for all of eternity. Fantastic.

Wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book. It could have been really campy and border on the line of ridiculous. It was not! The details of Hell -- the sounds of playing the type of music you don't like over and over again, the perpetual horrible smells, the pens not working until you try 15 of them, the one choice of alcohol, the puddles, the constant gray sky.... were really well done. Thought the characters of Peyote Trip, Calamity (Cal) Ganon, KQ (the boss), and Trey were really interesting, multifaceted, and intriguing. Found myself rooting for Peyote and taking cover when Cal was in the picture. The Harrison family was well written, too. Silas, Lily, Michaela (Micky), and her friend Ruth Caroway. Great premise of twinning the past death of Sarah (Gavin's sister) and Phil's suicide (Sila's brother) with the presence of Micky, Ruth, Lily, and Silas, which included Gavin (Lily's lover) and of course, Ruth. And it was interesting to watch how Claudia Lux connected Hell (Peyote, mainly) and Earth (Harrison's). Great job with the humor, sarcasm, and twists. Nice short chapters, the action kept moving and the dialog was believable and well written. Will read the next book by this author! Lux's humor reminds me of author Lisa Lutz and her The Spellmans detective series.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the advanced copy. Below is my honest review.

I was sold when I read the blurb for this one. A worker from Hell who makes Faustian deals as a main character? Yes, please. A family with dark secrets as some of his targets? Yes, please. A character named after Legend of Zelda? Yes, please.

This one had great plotting - the reveals were just at the right times, the character development was spot on, the darkness of the secrets was sufficiently deep. There were some twists that were, well, predictable, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of watching it play out on the page. In fact, this would have been a five star read for me in spite of that, if not for what, to me, feels like a very abrupt ending that didn't provide the most satisfying ending after building emotional connections with these characters throughout the book. Thus, I had to make it a four star rating.

Overall though, it was compelling and hard to put down, and I am now hankering to get my hands on any other Faustian deal books I can find. :)

Definitely recommended - and I'll definitely read more Claudia Lux.

I truly enjoyed this interpretation of the circles of hell/the afterlife, and solving the crimes and mysteries of the past withing the Harrison family.

Two intricate stories (amongst more) make up this weird hellish tale. A very fun read involving hell and pacts. The details of past and levels and marks are so intriguing and interesting.

This book was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It was very entertaining, and also thought-provoking. The imagining of what hell could be like, with a variety of experiences and built-in annoyances, was really funny in a weird way. I got a little confused about what was happening toward the end, but overall, I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vying for souls isn't a new trope, but it's always a fun one. One of the delights of this subgenre is the worldbuilding. The Bad Place here has plenty of details to make you giggle, but the stakes for those aboveground are real. And the stakes for demon Peyote Trip are real, too; trying to eke out an afterlife is full of mistakes, and Pey keeps making them. Loopholes and machinations play out satisfyingly, making this a great title for urban fantasy readers.

Sign Here is a fun horror-light book that imagines Hell as if it were an office where you have a boss, annoying coworkers and can even earn a promotion by getting contracts to sell their souls signed. This is such a fun take on the dark humor genre. It's creative and original. This would make a fun, entertaining movie. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Sign Here today.

This book was not like anything I read before and it was a blast to read! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a quick read! Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.