This was chaotic but in a delightful and entertainment way.
The end was a bit too lovey dovey for me, for which I didn't care that much. Other than that it was a fun book with a lot of colourful characters and lots of chaos, did I mention the chaos yet? ( )

Viola is a real estate agent - and a vampire - trying to sell a house haunted by its last inhabitant, Thomas Parker the fourth, who is trying his best not to let it be sold and also increasingly frustrated that he can't leave it. Out of desperation, she contacts the medium, Fox D'Mora, who is really a fake and can't see a ghost at all, but he's the godson of Death and gives widows peace and... well, often a little more.

That's... not actually what the story is about, but that is how it starts. And yes, I'm going to leave it at that. If you don't mind that zany description, then check it out and see if you like the more complicated story of bored immortals including demons, reapers, guardian angels, archangels, and more. There's love and betrayal to be had, humans and creatures trying to make a good life. ( )

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: August 8, 2023

4+ stars
I really love Blake's books. There was a lot going on with this one and a lot of characters and I had many days off as I was listening during my summer break (no commuting so it cut up my listening time). I think if it wasn't as broken up I may have enjoyed it more? But I just love the characters with faults, the different way of thinking about things, the new ideas that she comes up.

The narrator was pretty good; not my favorite but not enough to detract from my listening experience. There were one or two female voices that I wasn't a huge fan of but I also realize he had a lot of characters he was trying to make sound very distinct. ( )

I enjoyed this book overall. The narration was perfect but there were times that I felt a little lost in the story so it is possible that I would have been better served to pick up a print copy instead of the audio. I actually made it to the halfway point and was so confused that I went back to the beginning and started over. Things seemed to click the second time around and I think that my confusion came from the fact that this story isn’t always linear. Once I got things straight in my head, I found this to be a very entertaining book.

I really liked the cast of characters featuring a ghost, a vampire, a demigod, and even Death himself. Basically, if you can think of a supernatural character, it was probably included in this book. Viola, a vampire and real estate agent, has a house that she needs to sell. Unfortunately, the house has a ghost in residence so she needs some help. She enlists Death’s godson, Fox, to help her out and things get just as crazy as you would think they would.

Steve West is a fantastic narrator and he did an amazing job with this book. He handles a large diverse cast of characters incredibly well creating a distinctive voice for each of them. I found his voice to be easy to listen to for hours at a time. I do believe that he added to my enjoyment of this story.

I will definitely be recommending this one. I had a good time with this quirky story filled with amazing characters. This is the first time that I have read Olivie Blake’s work and wouldn’t hesitate to pick up more of her work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Macmillan Audio. ( )

Viola Marek just wants to sell a house. Unfortunately, she has to contend with its previous owner, who just so happens to be dead. Thomas Edward Park IV does not remember exactly how he died, or under what circumstances. Viola believes that if she can help Tom with this missing piece of the puzzle, he'll move on. So she looks to help from Fox D'Mora who can purportedly talk to the dead and is also the godson of Death.

Turns out that Tom's death is connected to bigger circumstances beyond his control between beings far more powerful, and Fox ends up being pulled into a conflict he's not interested in being apart of. But, you know, only the fate of humanity rests in his hands so he just might have to make an effort.

Honestly, this is the first book I've read by Olivie Blake. I've heard of her before this, but I've never dived into her writing before. As I understand it, this is a re-release of a book originally published in 2018.

The book surprised me in the best way possible. I felt like it was so much more than the surface level of it's description, and it's been way too long since a book has truly come out of left-field and surprised me in this way.

Narrator sounds like, and hear me out here, the Ghost Host who narrates the Haunted Mansion ride in Disney World. I'm here for it! This kind of booming diabolical omniscient voice.

I loved how slow-burn everything was. How each character and their backstory is built up in a non-linear way until you understand all the moving parts of the story. The very precise way that information is conveyed then later brought up again with more significance makes you think you're in on the secret. Connecting the dots is such a wink wink.

Fox is a non-traditional hero because he starts out seeming a little blasé about life, but it takes going through the entire story to understand where he's come from. I think it's an interesting rumination on life and death and the personification of Death really lends itself well to the topics at hand as well as all the various Creatures featured that kind of skirt around the laws of death in their own way.

Now, I listened to the audiobook of this story and it was superb. Narrator Steve West does a fantastic job of filling out this huge cast of characters and giving them each their own voice and making their personalities pop. Our omniscient narrator has this wonderful "Ghost Host" vibe and I'm totally here for it! There's also a long of back-and-forth dialogue which quick movements from one character to another to another and back again. Steve West handles this with such perfection, you really get lost in the story.

For all that, there were some instances early on where it was difficult to determine scene cuts. In particular, there was an instance where a character was having a recollection, but this wasn't inferred that we were listening to a flashback. This is where reading the words and seeing the structure of the story would help immensely, but once you understand that structure and you can anticipate that this is how the story is going to go, then it makes identifying these moments easier. All this is to say that the audiobook is exceptionally done and should not be skipped.

This may have been the first book by Olivie Blake that I've read (listened to), but I'm excited to pick up another book and only hope it's a commonality in her writing to experience just as much depth and surprise. ( )