Third-star reviews are always the worst to write. When you don't enjoy a novel it is easy to point out the less good stuff and when you love something you cannot help but rave about it. But 3 stars are always very middle of the road. You enjoyed it enough to award it 3 stars but not enough to say it is amazing. It is just: good.

The Reaper's Kiss was not an easy novel where my emotions were easily defined. The beginning had a lot of information, the middle sometimes dragged and by the end, I believe the author found her rhythm and was an enjoyable read.

Although it is taught that your beginning should start with a bang, I find that cold first chapters and better endings make better books. I much prefer a novel warming up and ending with a lot of emotions than the opposite. A bad ending leaves a bad taste in my mouth, whereas a slow beginning is not the end of the world.

The first chapters give you a lot of information on worldbuilding that were difficult to understand since it was just provided to us. Scriveners, masters all that worldbuild is simply handed to the reader without context. You can feel in the first pages that a plot is unraveling but not enough to grab your attention. When Brent appears, this is when the plot goes full speed ahead and the characters start feeling like people.

From the start, it feels like Ollie has no personality. She just does her job, doesn't socialize much, it is hard to feel something for a character that exhibits not a lot. So when Brent comes along and more challenges appear for Ollie you start warming up to her. Brent is a catalyst for Ollie to become a real person and some scenes are amazing and others feel like they dragged a little bit.

I feel like I would have enjoyed this a lot more if Ollie did not need Brent to have a personality - their love story was not needed if she was a strong person for herself. I felt a lot of time she just fought at the beginning because the plot had to move forward and Brent pushed her. I felt that Ollie could be a much more interesting character like she started acting towards the end of the novel and that's why the ending felt a better taste in my mouth. Around that time, Ollie was already a much-defined person and the plot actions were better tied.

The Reaper's Kiss is overall a solid urban fantasy novel with a good premise and some really good moments that make this first installment, the start of an interesting series.

Despite trying twice I could not get into this. The connections were too fortuitous and the main character was annoyingly Mary sue. DNF at 58%

I rarely ever have a hard time getting into a paranormal book, but this one was very hard for me to get into. I can't pinpoint exactly why, but i just couldn't get my head into it.

Great idea, concept and overall use of both! An amazing dark fantasy proposal from a new author, which proves, once again, that not everything's already said and done in terms of book.
To be posted and shared: Interview with the author soon!

This was an interesting read. It takes a little getting used to though. There is a LOT of character building, describing the world and those within it. But the good news is that once you feel like you have a grasp of it, the story really starts to pick up and you find yourself intrigued enough to find out what's gonna happen next.

Olivia "Ollie" Dormier is a Scrivener. What's that? Basically a tattoo artist that has a specific "brand" that acts as a deathmark on humans. This deathmark helps Reapers find the humans they are responsible for taking souls to the afterlife. Unfortunately, Ollie was forced to put a deathmark on one of her only human friends. Why? Because apparently she exhibits signs of being a Master Scrivener. Someone who can take down the Head Reaper himself. Years ago, most of the Master Scrivener's were killed off, and now that she's exhibiting these behaviors, it seems like everyone is after her. At least one person is after her for a better reason than to kill her.

Brent Hume is a Reaper. He's not just any Reaper though. He's a rebel who doesn't agree with the way the Head Reaper "runs his business" so to speak. Brent knows that Ollie could be a Master Scrivener and is doing everything in his power to get her to join him in his rebellion. But in order to get her to agree, she has a few rules herself.

Why didn't I give a longer description of Brent? Because if I did, it would ruin a lot of the book for you. So I won't. You'll just have to read it to understand. But I will say this...once we learn a little more about him and the rebellion, you'll be drawn in to the story just as I was. And the ending. Although not a full pledge cliffhanger, will leave you wondering, "what's next". Glad I don't have to wait too long to find out. I'm off to see what's next....

reviewed by Chris