This book is widely amusing. I found myself smiling and laughing out loud several times. Viola is trying hard to sell a ghost infested mansion but the ghost isn't making it easy. He can't seem to leave the house. Viola can see him since she is a vampire. With her friend is a demon she goes to see Fox D'Mora the godson of Death.

Fox doesn't like doing jobs for creatures he says every time he does it he winds up getting him involved in something he doesn't want to be a part of. Against his better wishes he agrees to help her.

When he gets to the Mansion with a Reaper, and an Angel in tow he finds that his god-father is missing and the other angels think that he is the only one who can save the world. In order to do that he has to win an unwinable game where the only rule is not to lose.

Wildly entertaining and unique this is a great read. The narration is fantastic and sucks you in.

"Masters of Death" by Olivie Blake is undeniably an enjoyable read, though it does have its shortcomings. The large cast of characters in a relatively short book leaves some feeling underdeveloped by the end of the story, and the pacing can be a bit erratic, with some parts feeling rushed while others drag on.

However, Olivie Blake's writing style is undeniably captivating and works exceptionally well for me. Despite the issues with pacing, the story flows effortlessly, drawing readers into its imaginative world. I found myself forgiving the pacing woes, thanks to the sheer strength of Blake's prose.

One of the highlights of the book is the likable characters, who possess unique qualities that make them endearing. It's disappointing that they didn't have enough time or pages to be fully explored and developed, as it could have elevated the story to even greater heights.

If Steve West narrates it, I'm likely to love it. I enjoyed the cast of characters: we've got a vampire, demons, angels, demi-gods, the god of death, ghosts and mortals. There is a wild game with dire consequences if you lose.

This story is not told in a linear fashion, so if that is something you don't like this is probably not the book for you. I did get a little lost every once in a while, but I quickly got back on track.

What a seriously fun read. These characters were written so well and their interactions with each other always made me laugh or smirk. I would read another 1000 pages of their ridiculous conversations.
This was a very unique premise and so well executed. I loved the less than linear timeline and how we were kept in the dark about some things making it a fun mystery.

One of my favorite microtropes is Death characterized. So I knew I’d love this one just from that. But this one was so much more. I love a non linear plot with a lot of well written in-depth characters.

Viola is a new vampire and real estate agent trying to sell a mansion but it is being haunted by a ghost who doesn’t want her to sell so she visits a medium- Fox D’Mura, the godson of Death. They get entangled in a quest to save Death and humanity.

I really enjoyed this one and liked the narrator.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy.

The narration of this book is excellent! And this book is really funny and fun. It has all of the things that I should enjoy, but something didn't quite hit right for me. There were a lot of characters, and I struggled to keep up with them and care about them. That could have been a "It's not you its me" thing.

A woman who is not entirely alive gets pulled into a reality far from what she knows. She and her demon friend enlist the help of a median to exercise a ghost from the property she is trying to sell. Before the ritual even begins they are all pulled into a web of lies and half truths. This ghost is not teathered by coincidence and holds answers to questions that none of them would think to ask. This group of beings have to work alongside angels, reapers and immortals to win a game that has been played for centuries.

This book had many great characters with their own hidden pasts and it kept me reading wanting to know more about each of their interesting lives. All of the intermingled life lines came together in the end but it still left a little to be desired, as if the climax did not hold enough power to carry it all.

Sarcastic and out there story , with an entire otherworldly cast of weirdos! While I did like some characters story lines (vi and tom) better than others (fox) , I did enjoy listening to this book.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. Unfortunately, Olivie Blake may be slowly becoming a hit-or-miss author for me. I must admit that Alone With You in the Ether is one of my favorite books of all time, but, while I vastly enjoyed The Atlas Six and One for My Enemy, I did not share the same enjoyment while reading The Atlas Paradox or this one, Masters of Death.

I have to hand it to Blake: she has an incredibly unique voice and writing style. It is beyond recognizable (you'd be able to spot in under a pseudonym any day). I love how philosophical, intelligent, and poetic her prose are. While that academic tone of her writing was certainly present in this book, it unfortunately did not work for me in this particular setting.

Before I go on, the audiobook narrator, Steve West, is no stranger to narrating Olive Blake's books and was a welcome returner to her universe, in my mind. His narration is well suited to Blake's academic tone.

I enjoy an urban fantasy-paranormal backdrop, and the idea of a vampire and a medium at the forefront of the story sounded intriguing. However, I found myself extremely irritated attempting to piece together the story, suffering from floating head syndrome. I was neither invested in the characters, nor their nonexistent struggles and complexities. I even swung back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook to see if either reading method would correct my attitude towards the story.

Unfortunately, I believe that the disconnect between the book's contents and the synopsis gave me different expectations entering this read -- to the point of no return. It was also marketed, via the Goodreads genres selected, as a fantasy romance, which was grossly inaccurate.

All in all, I believe this started out as a fun thought experiment for Blake, but it was not fully fleshed out and simply fell short to me.

1.5-2 stars

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I love love love Olivie Blake and I loved this story. She is a fantastic writer and comes up with plots that keep me on the edge of my seat and leave me begging for more every time. She is also so so so so marvelous at writing witty banter and dialogue, and she's just so. dang. funny.

All of the characters in this book are exciting and different, and I think you really get to see the personalities and thoughts of each throughout the story. I loved all of them. Tom, admittedly is pretty high up there on the list of favorites because that's just the kind of guy I think I fall for. But, everyone is so so great and even people I didn't like off the bat, I ended up falling for as well.

The plot just grips you; my favorite thing is its move from vague details to specifics and that you are kept guessing but can go back and look at different parts from the beginning and already start to better understand what is happening at the part you are reading. I think this was just such a fun read with awesome characters and a compelling plot, written by one of my all-time favorite authors.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio & Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this early audiobook

This is an interesting story.

The narration is performed by Steve West and his voice is enthralling. With his phenomenal performance, West kept me engaged throughout the journey, adding a layer of enchantment to the tale.
There is a multitude of characters that are all very unique and different. The story unfolds at a deliberate pace. The story isn't linear but I found it to be an interesting story and liked the reveal at the end. I must admit my favorite character is Death.

A very special thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the complimentary copy.

Viola Marek is a real estate agent and a vampire but she has one problem. The house she is trying to sell is currently occupied by the ghost of the former owner who refuses to move on. Fox D’Mora is a medium who Viola seeks out to help with her ghost problem. Fox may be a fraud but he is quite useful as the God son of Death. However, getting rid of this ghost might require more than anyone could have thought possible.

I received an audio copy of this book and it seems like it has the same narrator as most of Blake’s other books. The narrators voice is just so calming but also captivating. If you have read any of Blake’s books, this books gives the same kind of feel of her other books. It’s got a lot of twist and turns, multiple characters with different POVs, and and constantly has the reader questioning what will happen next. While I personally struggle following some of the writing, I found this book quite interesting and enjoyed the ride. I think that those who are fans of The Atlas series will love this book.

I’ve never read anything by Olivie Blake before so I had nothing to go off of but the title and synopsis sounded interesting.

I chose the audiobook because I really enjoy having audiobooks to keep me entertained during car rides, house cleaning and work. The narrator, Steve West, has a very sexy rich voice. I could listen to him read anything.

The audiobook is 15 hours long. That’s a longgg book. And I’ve listened to books longer but this one felt so daunting due to the subject matter.

I think this book has too much going on. I liked the original storyline of Death’s godson. I liked Viola and her ghost storyline. But it felt like even in the first couple hours so many side storylines were happening. And it was getting confusing to tell what was what.

I think the book is verging on fantasy more than I care for. Not really my kind of book.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read. I have written this review voluntarily.

Thank you Olivie Blake, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

I truly love Olivie Blake's writing style. It always leaves me in awe of the stories she weaves together. This book is no different. Macmillan Audio did a fantastic job with casting this audiobook. "Masters of Death" relies a lot on conversational dialogue to progress the plot. So I can see why some would have a harder time reading this book. However, I really enjoyed the intricate storytelling of this book. It was very much a "trust the process" type of book and well worth it.

I loved the narrator! I enjoyed the banter, it was highly amusing in moments. Somewhere along the way it lost me. It lost my Interest, I’m unsure why as I said it was funny and the narration was good. The story just wasn’t for me. Her writing is also amazing though, so I did finish it.

I honestly wish I could understand the hype around Olivie Blake's novels. I love her writing, even though it's really wordy and full of purple prose to the point where the plot (or lack thereof) becomes muddled and obscured.

But this one... I just can't, honestly. The premise sounded so cool. The FMC is a vampire cat. (lol) There are all sorts of cool paranormal characters. There was an actual plot, albeit very thin and loose.

But nothing made sense to me. Vi, the FMC, is trying to sell a haunted house. And then there's a ledger or something that the paranormal cast of characters are trying to get. And then there was an immortal game run by the angels Gabriel and Raphael? That's all I understood.

There were times when I actually liked the prose and the characters and the plot, but they were rare occasions. There were too many characters to keep track of, and their conversations sounded like a paranormal circle jerk. There were so many scenes where I wondered, "Wtf is the point?"

Steve West, the audiobook narrator, knocked it out of the ballpark, as usual. But even his lovely narration couldn't save this mess.

I love Olivie Blake as a person. (I've been to two of her bookstore events.) I really liked The Atlas Six because the characters were so unique and her writing style is so exquisite. But I think she's become that niche author where you either get it or you don't. And to me, she might even be a one hit wonder.

But we'll see. I'm still open to reading more of her work. Idk why I can't give up on her.

Anyway, I really wish I understood the hype.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this arc.

This was my first Olivie Blake book and it was a struggle.

I had originally purchased Masters of Death as a self-pubbed ebook but never gotten around to reading it and with this delicious cover, I had to request it.

It was tough - I stopped and restarted the book four or five times before I was able to soldier on with an understanding of what was going on. I think with all the characters, all the POV chapters, I'd not have made it without writing down notes and I'm not sure that the novel was better for those complexities.

It may have also been a contribution of Tom West's narration, but this gave me solid Gaiman vibes and I, unfortunately, am not a Gaiman girly.

This is a book about a sort-of-but-not-really vampire realtor who recruits the mortal godson of Death, Fox, to help her rid a property of a persistent ghost. I think if we'd have stayed in the world of haunted real estate, I'd have felt I was more in my avenue. Alas, Death is missing and with a cast of characters that threw out the occasional witty one liner, a queer subplot that I felt like should have held more of my attention, the group sets out to play an immortal game with sort-of-but-not-really mortal Fox as their champion.

The game aspect of this book didn't work for me. What are the rules? What are the parameters? What constitutes a win or a loss? It was fun riffling through the brains of our characters, but it felt like the "game" was less of a game and more of an excuse to add confusion to an already convoluted plot, though the little vignettes from the past were enjoyable to read.

Ultimately, I wouldn't say that I was a fan. The narrator, for me, was too much, particularly when narrating the ghosts.

I will give Olivie Blake credit where credit is due, though - she can turn a phrase and I'm hoping other books of hers work better for me in the future.

I had high hopes for this story, but it was strenuous to get through. The writing is verbose and often I found myself getting lost as to what the point of the passage was. I wanted to love this humorous gang of characters, but it was lack luster for me.

The opening of this book made me giggle snort multiple times. By the end, I was in happy tears wanting to tell people I loved them. Soooo, basically textbook Olivie Blake is what I'm saying. The characters here are incredibly loveable, even the pain in the butt ones. Who thinks they're going to wind up rooting for Death as a good parent? And yet. Genuinely delightful on all fronts. Pick it up, and then tell people you love them.

2.5 stars rounded up

This might be the first time I didn't love a book from Olivie Blake. Masters of Death has some things going for it- a fun and quirky premise alongside a fun and quirky cast of characters ranging from a vampire real estate agent to a fraudulent medium who doesn't age and is the godson of Death. Not to mention a privileged ghost, cranky and corrupt angels, a deceptive demi-god and more. The real estate agent hires the medium to help her get ride of the ghost in the house she's trying to sell and difficulties ensue!

I really enjoyed the beginning of this, but I just feel like the book is too long and convoluted for me to get on super well with it. There are so many different perspectives and timelines and plotlines that sort of run together. To be fair, she approaches other books in a similar way and it's worked for me, but in this case I think I wanted a snappier pace to go along with all the silly quirkiness. I liked this okay and will certainly read more from her, but it's not the one I would most recommend. I'll admit I had an audio copy for review and while the narrators did a good job, it's possible that with all the things going on I might have been better off reading it physically. I received a copy of this book for review via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.