Genre: Urban Fantasy with a sprinkle of romance
POV: 1st person, FMC only
Series: Book 1
Relationship: M/F
Cliffhanger: Yes
TW/CW: Yes
ARC Platform: NetGalley
Format: E-book

Darkness Rating: 2/5🖤
Please check the TW/CW prior to reading this book.

Spice Rating: 1/5🌶️
Very minimal, open door steamy scenes but not very explicit or graphic.

Overall Rating: 3/5⭐️
I had a hard time finishing this book because it didn’t really grab my attention. The main character wasn’t very likable, and she seemed more like a teenager than a 21-year-old. At first, I could understand some of her reactions because of the situation she was in and what she had been through. But as the story went on and she had answers, I was hoping she would change and grow. Unfortunately, she didn’t really change or grow at all.

The relationship between her and her best friend was pretty interesting, but I couldn’t really get into their romance. Something wasn’t clicking with between them for me, and maybe I’ll figure out why in the next book.

I did like the side characters and the idea of a found family.

Overall, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it. It has great potential and eager to see how this ends.

Kerry has done it again. I've never read a book written in this way. Her writing is truly different. I love the fact that there are Easter eggs in this book and I screamed when I realised what they were. It is the kind of story that you believe could happen as it is set in our world in the present. I cannot wait for book 2.

Give this book all of the stars. Every last one of them. Incredible paranormal fantasy that emotionally wrecked me.

Mind the triggers because they're powerful.

This is one of the best books I've read lately. The storytelling is phenomenal and the writing is beautiful. I had a hard time getting used to single quotes for dialog and it slowed my reading as I stumbled over it. But even so, I devoured the book in one sitting. The story follows a woman that has abilities and a man that helps her discover more about it. I loved the way he treated her and how soft and sweet he came across. The emotional toll is very high as she works through her trauma and addictions. Rock bottom. The story goes ballistic after that, in a good way.

This book had trauma, emotional damage, sweetness, self discovery, discovery of friendship, twists, turns, fantasy, romance, steam, and spice.

I am excited for book two. I can't wait to see what happens!! The cliff isn't the worst cliff. I'm thankful for that.

The only things I disliked: the repetitive nature of the ending so it dragged a slight bit and I also thought there could be more time right after the main trauma before she jumped back in.

I dont know what I expected when I went into this book but I got so much more.

Lovely or Lee to her friends had given up. She was being haunted she didnt feel like she had much to live for and she had made some terrible choices.
I enjoyed the fantasy aspect of this book and Death as a character will always be something I want to read about.
I really like how parts of the afterlife are described and look forward to more of this hopefully in book two.

I really cant wait to read more!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this arc. Im so happy that I was able to receive this. It was such a good quick read and a very cool concept behind the book. I like books where the main characters believes that they are crazy or going insane due to the people around her. Theres was a few times where I audibly said "wow" and was awed. Thank you so much again for this chance.

Usually I'm all for "death" as a character. You give me a real Grim Reaper, Soul Collector, Broody Underworld Man, I'm sold. However, the writing style of this book just really took me out of it. It felt like it was trying too hard to be poetic, deep, and overly descriptive. It's definitely for some people—I'm just not one of them.

I really tried to like this one. There just wasn't any part of it that drew me in. I kept falling out of the story. The dialogue was odd. It didn't flow. The love interest mediocre. The FMC wasn't likeable or understandable. Just so woe is me, it killed me. The fantasy part was more paranormal set in New Orleans of course. I'm sorry I just didn't like it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tropes
Childhood friends to lovers
MFC
Supernatural
Mystery
Urban fantasy
Love triangle
Greek mythology

4.75 ⭐️ Arc read

Out February 18th Waterstones & A-Mazon
Absolutely adored this book I couldn’t put it down! What a unique concept I have never read anything like it, it’s giving supernatural otherworldly underworld witches of New Orleans vibes. This was written so beautifully by Kerry, the plot was fast paced which I loved I did indeed stay up all hours binging this.Touching up on subjects such as Death, Mental health,Eating disorders Trauma and addiction. You can tell so much love though and imagination has gone into The FMC Lovely (Lees) character and the whole concept of the book. I cannot wait to see what the next book will bring! Without saying too much Does she make it back? We love a cliff hanger but don’t keep us hanging too long

Off to read the other nature series!

Such a nice premise that I couldn't wait to read it. I was not disappointed! This is a nice romance fantasy with death as a nearby character. Creepy but in i good way. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars!
• urban fantasy / supernatural intrigue
• steamy childhood friends to lovers
• Death personified

I ate this up! This is a unique & complex story about a woman trying to discover why death haunts her. The romance is sweet and the side characters add an extra layer of depth to the story. This brought out so many emotions in myself, and I'm so curious about what comes next. I can't wait to read book 2!
TW for self harm, addiction, eating disorders, death/dying, and SA

💀🌊

Gorgeous journey through the lands of living and dead, with dark paranormal magic reminding of Ninth House.

The story was eventful from the first pages and fully held my interest till the end. I couldn't put it down! We change continents, then move to a dark island full of thrilling background.

I loved the unique worldbuilding introducing a variation of afterlife, its creatures, and its ruler. It's a dark and mesmerizing idea and though I exepected to be annoyed with it's way, it seduced me with that unforgettable aesthetic.

The ending brought comfort but also raised up questions of the future which I'm looking forward to find answers to in the next book.

- - -
Thanks to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with this free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

“Sometimes I wonder if it was my greatest misfortune that I didn’t remain dead.”
“I pushed him away. Because I was too scared to live. Because I was too scared to die.”
“How do you help the dead?”
“How many more times are you going to dance with the dead?”

The premise and concept of the book were intriguing, and I loved its moody, mystical vibes. In my opinion the idea of overcoming death and addiction had a lot of potential, but I personally felt that the storyline was lacking.

I didn’t like the FMC, Lovely Timms. I think that her storyline had great potential, with her past struggles with death and addiction, but I feel like her storyline was rushed and lacked any real character development.

The side characters seemed interesting and I wish there would have been more information about them.

The ending left me really confused and with a lot of questions. I don’t think I will continue with this series.

I'd rate this book 3.5 stars. It was a unique concept and I haven't read anything like it before. I loved the mystery around Lovely and whether she was hallucinating due to brain damage or whether there was something more going on. Her journey to finding out more about her hauntings in New Orleans was good and her character was well written, her traumas described empathetically. There is a friend to lover element which comes as we see Lovely begin to heal.

When Lovely heads to the Underworld to find answers, a huge amount of imagination has gone into creating this place, and the octopuses were a novel idea. I do feel that perhaps Lovely was a bit too impulsive in accepting the Ferrymans offer when there were so many questions unanswered. Her character can act without thinking and seems eager for death but it was a bit surprising how she went along with it after not getting clear answers to her questions and her strong desire to return to her friends. This made me less sympathetic towards her when she feels tricked and so I felt a bit less engaged following this.

My prediction that she would somehow get back and her friends still be alive was correct, so there's an element of predictability at the end, however considering Lovely's transformation and how things were likely left in the Underworld it will be interesting how the next book unfolds and I will want to read it to see how it ends.

2⭐️
(I received an arc from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving this review)
First, let me start by saying that i was really vibing with the book from 35% to 60%.
But
The rest of the book? Not so much.
I am confused about what happened in the end because the story went from no fantasy ( more of a spooky book ) to a proper fantasy book, which wouldn’t be a problem if i liked the execution.
I liked Tino, despite his name being Tino but i wasn't like 100% rooting for him.
I did not like the FMC.
Although i did like the 3 side characters who were helping out the FMC.
I'm not sure if I'll pick up the 2nd book or not because i am honestly not anticipating it that much.
Tropes/themes:
● childhood friends to lovers
● Single pov
● Girl sees ghosts
● Death (?) as a character
● underworld

It's been a while since I read a straight-up fantasy, but I do love Death (well... sort of) as a love interest, so in I dove! I mostly liked this book, but it got pretty dark at times (DEFINITELY check the content warnings!!!) Sometimes the language, especially the way Lovely speaks, seems oddly antiquated and almost purple prose-y, and it kept throwing me out of the story and making me sort of irritated. There's also some back and forth between Lovely and her childhood BFF Tino where I was sort of left reeling and wondering who is mad at who and why now?

Still, the story pulled me in and I found myself unwilling to put the book down because I wanted to find out what would happen next. I also really liked several of the side characters a lot (Hero and Leander!!!) and when Lovely was starting to get on my nerves I kept reading for them. Something of a love triangle developing as well, so I'm interested to see how all that plays out.

This is the first book in the Darkness Duet, and while it could probably be read as a standalone it does end on... it's not quite a cliffhanger, more like a definite "To Be Continued..." note. I'll definitely be coming back for book two!

i picked up this book thinking it was a super cool fantasy romance but i was. I really took a long time to finish this book because it didn't really catch my attention. I did really like the writing style of the author but i really could not get through the whole boo. This book wasn't for me but i would recommend this to readers of crescent city by sarah j mass as i found the setting pretty similar. I want to express my gratitude to the author an publisher for this ARC

This was a strong start to the Darkness Duet series, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the concept of this world. The characters had that feel that I was looking for and was hooked with this storyline going on. Kerry Williams has a great writing style and was hooked from the first page. I'm excited to read more in this series and from Kerry Williams.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC book, this is my honest review.

I was hooked and couldn’t put this book down. Lovely is a 21 year old whom has died and is now haunted but the recently deceased. She goes on a mission with her best friend Tino to New Orleans to join others who are much more experienced with the afterlife. In her journey to help overcome her fear and misunderstandings of her life, Lovely finds at way to visit the underworld and meet the one and only Death.

I very much enjoyed this book it threw me into the world with its amazing world building. You can most definitely see it just by words. The writing was incredible.

Things I will say I didn’t enjoy so much was that it was fairly slow for the first half but that’s for good cause, gathering back story. This book is more of an urban fantasy as well with over half being in the human world with very little “magic”. This also didn’t scream romance to me.

With that being said I am absolutely looking forward to the next book with the cliff hanger of an ending I need more!!

So what expecting this one. It starts off slow but heats up later on in the story. Lee has faced death once before and she struggled since. She has tried to move on from her drowning experience but it has changed her. She needs help finding out why the dead come to her. She reaches out to her friend Tino to help her. But is she willing to give up everything to find answers?
She is able to find someone to help her but it comes with a heavy price as she will never truly be free. The ferryman has been patient with her and now he will keep her in the Underworld until she submits. But will she be able to escape from this prison?
A very unexpected read. A great storyline once it gets going. Lee is a strong female character that has been fighting many demons but will she be able to win this time? Tino loves her but I do fear that he will become too much in the next read. What can I say about the Ferryman he is just all male.
Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for the copy. This is my voluntary review.

An Intriguing Mythological Blend, but Lacking in Romance

Daughter of the Drowned by Kerry Williams is an imaginative tale that intertwines elements of mythology and the paranormal (her dieing). The premise is intriguing, offering a rich backdrop filled with mystical lore and supernatural intrigue. However, while the world-building is commendable, the story didn’t fully meet my expectations in certain areas.

As a reader drawn to books promising a romantic subplot, I found the romance here to be underwhelming. It felt more like an afterthought rather than a driving force in the narrative. If you're seeking a heartfelt love story, this book might leave you wanting more.

That said, the mythology and paranormal elements are where this story shines. Williams has a knack for weaving intricate legends into her tale, which kept me curious about the lore and the protagonist's journey. However, at times, the pacing felt uneven, and some of the characters lacked the depth needed to make them truly memorable.

Overall, Daughter of the Drowned is an okay read—especially if you're a fan of mythological or paranormal fiction—but it may not fully satisfy readers looking for a strong romantic element.