Reviews with content warning for Death - Masters of Death

Supremely creative narrative structure that was only occasionally hard to follow with vibrantly entertaining characters. It took a minute to get going plot-wise, but the early character work definitely paid off later in the book.

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missmali's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ilaxaria's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

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churrocaitie's review against another edition

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funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book kept me going purely on plot. But the way that Olivie Blake writes in this book…isn’t my cup of tea. I had a hard time following all the characters names at some points, and the concepts were extremely abstract for me. But, it was an enjoyable ride and I still wanted to complete the story. My main tiff is that I wish we got more out of the Viola character. The description of the book leads you to believe the story will be all about her…and it’s not at all. Which is fine, but I longed for more.

An interesting take on Death, and had me smiling at times. It had some good moments.

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nyx0s's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

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funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

i loved the narrator of this, the voice for fox and death were great but the other voices kind of annoyed me. there were a few too many characters it was hard to keep up and they were not all necessary. the concept was interesting and the conclusion was pretty good, there were some pretty and poetic quotes but the execution kind of lacked for me. around the middle when they started talking about “the game” i got completely lost and found it really hard to follow. it eventually made sense by the end but it was unnecessarily confusingly written around the middle which really reduced my rating.

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kwthor's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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jessicaofthetower's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I recently finished reading "Masters of Death" by Olivie Blake and had a mixed experience with it. Initially, I found it difficult to get into, with the pacing feeling bogged down in places. However, the book won me over in the last third as the plot picked up pace and character dynamics deepened. The intrigue of the character dynamics and their stories are ultimately what drives this story forward.

The first third of the book spends a lot of time on character introductions and world building that does not necessarily pay off with depth or complexity. The main cast of characters are interesting, flawed and enjoyable but there are many superfluous characters that add little to the plot and are not well or clearly developed. I found their inclusion slowed pacing and clogged up the plot's arteries.

Another aspect of book that stood out to me was the writing style. It's quite stylized, with a very loud authorial voice that sometimes broke immersion for me. The witty banter, particularly between Fox and Brandt, often felt like it was trying too hard. In other dynamics such as between Tom and Viola it felt more authentic and natural.

I enjoyed the diversity in the characters and by the end of the book had connected with most of the main cast of characters, although that process certainly felt slower than typical for me. The tone of the story was generally witty, humorous and philosophical which I think contributed to it feeling quite cerebral and head-lead rather than heart-lead.

Despite these issues, I appreciated the good vibes, overall aesthetic and satisfying ending. If you're a fan of stylized writing and witty dialogue, you might enjoy this book. It took some time, but ultimately, I was glad I stuck with it.

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