Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for the E-ARC to read and review.

"A Fig For All The Devils" by: C.S. Fritz is an adult horror fantasy novel that follows a young boy named Sonny after the recent death of his father and his newfound friend a junk food-loving, cigarette smoking, pop culture knowing, and poetry appreciating incarnation of Death itself. While this story was a fun read it was also a profound look into what death means for different people and how grief takes on a different form for us all. 

C.S. Fritz is an incredible author and "A Fig For All The Devils" was beautifully written. I tabbed and highlighted my way through the entire novel as I could not get enough of the way such horrific things were told in such a beautiful manner. This novel does dive into some deep and at times hard things to confront but in the end, it is all of one beautifully told novel. 

Sonny is our main character, he is a young boy who within the first few pages of the novel loses his father and is faced with the reality of having to spend the rest of his life with only his mother who he does not have the best relationship with. Sonny encounters Death or Reaper as it is referred to at the very beginning when he is saying his final goodbyes to his father and then for the next few chapters the reaper hangs about like a cloud until he makes his grand entrance (and yes I do mean grand). 

C.S. Fritz did a phenomenal job of creating each of these unique characters within the pages of the novel and each of them had their own presence and made them unique and interesting; even the Reaper. It takes a true master of the pen to personify Death and make it into a character that I as a reader fell in love with. All of the characters are so well done and pull emotions from you whether it is love or hate (looking at you Eugene) and I was so invested in each of their individual journeys as well as the overall story. 

Please do not assume that "A Fig For All The Devils" is a fun romp with the Grim Reaper (even if at times it is exactly this) there are some very dark moments in this book that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Some horrific pictures were painted and done in such a way that you could see them in all of their gruesome glory right in front of you with each turn of the page. 

Once I began my journey of reading "A Fig For All The Devils" I could not rest until I had reached its conclusion, it is very much a novel that grabs you by the throat and pulls you in right away. There is a rather gruesome description of the spirit of a dead animal as well as an instance of animal abuse that turned my stomach to witness, so please be warned if that is something that upsets you. 

Overall "A Fig For All The Devils" is an outstanding book and will pull you in before you even know what is happening…a lot like Death itself.

quirky book, but ultimately unsatisfactory. I did not care for the personalization of Death and found the writing to be a little infantile, only my opinion.

A provocative and imaginative fable about death and grief, I would equate my experience reading A Fig For All The Devils to watching an R-rated Pixar animation directed by Tim Burton, it is wildly experimental, yet emotionally relatable and offers some very profound commentary on the rather macabre subject.

Readers expecting a mainstream, small town spooky tale about a teen's encounter with the Grim Reaper might be thrown off by its lyrical writing and philosophical tone, but I greatly appreciate C.S. Fritz's collection of obscure facts (I learned about 'brood parasite' through this... what a morbid behavior), and one-of-a-kind boundless imagination (from darkly humors to downright disturbing). If you enjoyed Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden, and works by Josh Malerman, you'll find a lot of enjoyment in this.

Also, LOVE the cover design!

A fig for all the devils indeed! This was an unusual read but I find myself satisfied at the end. It was dark and broody, but also has that lightness and hope that come with coming of age stories.

I love love love this masterpiece with all my heart!!!

This book is not your typical Grim Reaper story. It's a story of confronting death, grief, regrets, and fear, while at the same time enduring and fighting them.

At first, I found it weird but its weirdness made it unique all the more. Its style is also unique, from the capitalization to the punctuation to the playful dances of titling the chapters.

It only has short chapters and is very fast-paced. I also like the writing style because it also made me question how I view life and death and choices altogether. What I love the most was the quotes included between chapters and short stories (that's more like a trivia or a fact) about the life system of everyone, whether it regards humans' and animals' lives.

Although this is a children's book, everyone, no matter what their age is, can read this. It's perfect for anyone overcoming grief and building once-broken bridges with your parents.

And to Death, may you find your peace once you reunite with your wife and son.

Massive thank you to Netgalley and Albatross Book Co. And C.S. Fritz for giving me the chance to find this on Netgalley and read it!

This is a fantastical Baba Yaga story mixing horror with heavy emotional trauma and grief…and it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. The writing was beautiful, the story was exactly what it needed to be and the ending was so satisfying for me.

A Fig For All The Devils is a beautifully written exploration of life, death and grief.

While trying to navigate the aftermath of his father’s death, 13 year old Sonny meets Reaper (yes, that one); a “junk-food-loving, poetry-reading, cigarette-addicted entity,” and embarks on the path to becoming the next millennium’s incarnation of Death.

There was a great combination of horror and humour, and the overall message of the story was really lovely. Despite the graphic descriptions of death and the body horror, I found this to be an overarchingly comforting read. I loved the author’s depiction of Reaper, honestly I’d just really like to be his friend!

I love the cover art, the art throughout the book, and there’s some incredible character artwork after the epilogue. The chapters were short and engaging and, at around 250 pages, this was a fairly quick read. I think I’ll likely re-read it when I need a reminder of the things we live for.

Please check trigger warnings, this is a horror book which deals with grief - there are quite a few potentially triggering themes both on and off page.

(ARC review - free copy received via NetGalley)

While the horror aspect of the story was well done, the story in itself was all over the place. There were changes in tenses in the middle of the story in some parts and I felt that the narration was too detached, especially given the horror that was described

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review

3 stars!


This was an interesting read, I wished I loved it more but I really loved some of the imgaery in this and the ending really bumped up the score for me as I felt sometimes Reaper came across just odd in a sense for someone who has been serving for 1000 years, as if he became the Reaper in a modern life cycle. But apart from that and some sweet moments between him and Sonny. Also reading about someone deal with grief of their father hit me hard and was a good insight to see how feeling not what people expect or what you even expected either was really good.

Every aspect of this novel captured my attention, from the interesting way the author numbered his chapters, to the images of The Reaper from history, and the poetry, all interspersed with a dark and twisted plot, that had you glued to each page. It is original, and thought provoking. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I got this book from #netgalley in exchange for a review.

This was a quick little read that amused me but i struggle with what the audience would be for this book. At first i thought i would never give this to a kid but then i think of the completely inappropriate stuff i was reading at 13, and how much kids today have to deal with and maybe it would be a good read for a person just beginning to grapple with ethics and mortality. I liked the writing style and the resolution but i feel almost like it could have been way shorter or way longer and instead was in this middle ground where i still have questions but also am okay with the resolution. People keep referring to this as a horror novel in reviews and i disagree...some parts were violent and sad but its not meant to instill horror.

“What I do is not the destruction of this life, but the dance partner to one’s own becoming.”

I can tell that this is easily going to become one of my favourite books. I even read it all in one sitting! Death and grief have a large role in the story, and it really resonated with what I’ve been pondering recently - in particular about why we fear death and how death actually makes us realise how finite life is and has a significant effect on how we live our life.

It even discussed hallucinations brought on by loss. I know of someone who has been affected by hallucinations brought on by heart-wrenching grief, and it’s not spoken about enough for many to even fathom is possible to happen - let alone try to deal with.

I could quote too many lines from this book - it was so perfectly and beautifully written. I loved the idea of death as a character, and he was brilliant. Also, shoutout to Emily for designing such a beautiful book! It was a pleasure reading this book and I can’t recommend it enough!

I'm not really sure what to make of this book. The horror was well done, and very descriptive - some of it was pretty awful to read (in a good way - the beginning with the ball of wire really got me). I know some other readers weren't a fan, but I enjoyed the character of Death. It seemed pretty obvious he talked and acted like a teen in order to make Sonny more comfortable.

But it was a bit all over the place. Every person in the story, with the exception of Jess and Sonny, were just objectively terrible people. Just truly awful, even Terry. I'm still not sure what the point was of the side bits about Jess and her mother - it seemed barely related. I'm not sure why Eugene was such a monster, I kept expecting there to bea bigger reason other than him just getting an asshole.

Overall the suspense and horror elements were on point, but the plot fell apart and the last twist and resolution were a mess that didn't quite work for me.

This is unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and I really enjoyed it! There’s a bit of everything - horror, sadness, shock, comedy and drama, which kept me intrigued throughout the book. Sonny and Grim had a lot of beautiful conversation about loss and death, which were probably my favourite parts. I also found every character interesting, and enjoyed the shifts in perspective. Glad I picked this one up!

An interesting book! The playlist definitely builds the atmosphere up really well, highly recommend you listen to it while you read.
The story was very focused on our MC Sonny. I wish the author would touch more on the grim reaper's side of the story, e,g, how he harvests the soul, how he crossed the underworld, and all that. I feel like I would've enjoyed it more if we divert the attention towards that part a little bit instead of constantly seeing things through Sonny's eyes, which honestly isn't very much.
The side characters are very vibrant and well done and I like the little reveal of the truth of Sonny's recruitment at the end, wasn't expecting that haha.
Overall I had a lot of fun reading this book!

A Fig For All the Devils is an interesting mix of lyrical prose, fantastical imagery, and gritty descriptions. The story follows Sonny, a neglected 13 year old boy who encounters Death. Death's portrayal is quite unusual, as he is quite closely enmeshed with contemporary American culture, and was once mortal himself. I enjoy the premise of Death not being one figure, but instead changing throughout history, and I like how Fritz explores this idea by giving Death a very distinct character.

Aside from the prologue, which focuses on the origin of Fritz's Death, the story takes some time to build up to Sonny's encounters with Death. In the meantime, the principal horror elements of the story are derived from intense descriptions of gore or general grossness which are present in almost every chapter. The remote town Sonny moves to has a history of bloody legends, and his new home is filled with people who sound like grotesque caricatures of the human form. While Fritz's penchant for stylism generally makes for an interesting reading experience, I found that it sometimes went a bit too far. For example, Sonny's relationship with his abusive mother is comically bad. The scenes talking about her were difficult for me to read, and I wish Fritz had taken a different path with regards to his depictions of neglect and abuse.

The premise of the book-that Death is searching for a new reaper to replace him, and thinks Sonny might work-is fascinating. The chapters of A Fig For All The Devils are very short, and it is an easy read. The lyrical nature of the prose gives the book an almost dream-like feeling, and the short chapters add to that feeling of shifting between dream-scenes. I almost felt as if there was a suspension of time in the story, which served as an interesting contrast to the idea of mortality and measured time.

Overall this story was an interesting take on fairy tales and magical realism. However, aside from the blunt descriptions of cadavers, the book seemed to be more about exploring the philosophical ideas of life and death than about dwelling on the horrors of human frailty. While it was not quite what I was expecting, it was still a decent read, and I can tell that Fritz put a lot of love and effort into this book.

This book had me gripped the whole way through, not a moment was my attention drawn away. It was thought provoking in the way that it makes you think about life, death and the impact our actions have on those around us and the impact they have on us. Redemption is a main theme throughout and I was very happy with how the story ended.

The opening scene of this book grabbed my attention immediately with a rather grotesque description of torture using razor wire, I knew straight away I was in for a good time. What followed was a thought provoking study of grief, dying and the afterlife. I think the less you know about the actual plot the better, as I went in pretty blind and it exceeded any expectations I had. The writing was lyrical and elegant and I loved how the chapters were set up with some amazing quotes. It was strange and unusual, with a dream like quality in places. This would have been a five star read but the ending was a little too convenient, but it certainly wrapped the story up well. I'm definitely excited to read more from this author in the future.

This book follows the story of Sonny, a young teenager dealt a bad hand of cards. He has no friends, a poor relationship with his mother, and now he’s lost his father too. At his fathers bedside in the hospital Sonny comes face to face with Death, aka the Grim Reaper. He’s a fast-food loving, cigarette puffing, video game fiend who is searching for someone to take his place for the next 1000 years and become the Reaper. As he and Sonny spend more time together understanding the workings of death, Sonny battles his own personal demons.

If you enjoy a gruesome horror, I recommend you read this book but perhaps not while eating breakfast. This one had me grimacing. It’s very descriptive but without being overly complicated. I like that this was written in everyday language, making it more conversational and familiar.

I think what struck me most about this book was the overall message about life; strange I know when the theme is death! All too often we amble along in life, not changing things for the better until it’s too late.

The Reaper chooses Sonny as a replacement and tries to guide him through difficult times. Sonny has recently lost his father to suicide and now lives in poor conditions with little to live for. He lacks love and hope and finds the Reaper as a sort of safe place.

The story is intriguing and has a lot of potential. It’s a unique plot with characters that you can sort of love or hate. Just enough detail in each character without being extreme like the Classics.

Unfortunately for me this book doesn’t easily fit into a genre. Is this YA? Horror? Thriller? I don’t see any of these as a good fit as the book morphs along the way. Because of that it’s a little whiplashing.

It’s a short, easy read though!