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shopping, and has just been set up on a blind date by her best friend. That is until the memory charm she cast on herself four years ago breaks, and she remembers who she really is, the immortal daughter of the grim reaper. Callie, who wants nothing more than to live a normal life, is livid at this turn of events until she discovers that her father (death) has been kidnapped along with her older sister. In order to save her family’s immortality, she must complete three tasks and become death herself. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one interested in the job.I really wanted to like this book, and there were some things I did enjoy. If there’s one thing Benson did do well here, it’s her world building. I enjoyed the mix of old and new religions that created the world of the afterlife. Also, I found that Benson’s writing flows quite well, making the book quite easy to read. What brought everything down was its protagonist. Despite being the same age as the Calliope, I had difficulty connecting with her throughout the book. I didn’t relate at all to the spacey city girl who whined about not being able to goof off more at work, nor did I connect with the hapless “heroine” who kept on stumbling into trouble and having to be rescued. Possessing the maturity of a bratty teenager, Callie seems to spend most of her time crying, getting into danger, and lusting after every age appropriate male. Whenever I began to enjoy the book, Callie would open her mouth and say something that made me want to slap her. I also found that I also had some issues with the logic of the plot. I don’t want to give too much away, but I didn’t understand why people did certain things. Such as why did Callie put a memory charm on herself to forget about her family when she’s immortal? Wouldn’t she notice not aging and dying after a while? There were several times during this book when I had to stop and ask myself similar questions.
As I said before, I really wanted to like this book. Benson is a talented actress and from my memories of meeting her at a Common Rotation concert, one of those rare, genuinely nice people. Unfortunately, as much as I tried over the past four days, I just couldn’t understand why Callie was the way she was and did the things she did. As a result, I never connected with the story. By the time we got to the big twist at the end I found that I didn’t even care. I will not be continuing this series.
Rating: two stars
Length: 359 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Similar Books: For similar paranormal reads try Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan Series (beginning with Dead Witch Walking), Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files (beginning with Storm Front), or Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires Mysteries (beginning with Dead until Dark).
Other books I've read by this author: this is my first
Now I'm going to go feel like a big meanie for writing such a negative review...
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