Reviews with content warning for Death - Masters of Death

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

46 reviews

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I think I liked the concept of this book more than its execution. The characters were fun, unique, but I feel like they all feel a little bit flat compared to others of Blake’s stories. The philosophical conversations on mortality versus immortality felt like it could have benefited more from a cast that was less juvenile.

I think since this technically is an earlier work that got republished, it definitely could have gotten some more editing to have the story and the dialogue mesh a bit better. I found the plot confusing to follow until about halfway thru - while the characters made it fun enough to stick with it, I feel like it could be a no go for some folks.

What I did like was the imagination and prose regarding the afterlife, the realms of gods and demons, and how the author paints a picture of how dull a life of immortality might be.

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roseygirl203's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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

3.5

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applesodaperson's review against another edition

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I tried to go into this book with an open mind, but wow it was just cringy. It wasn't well written, the world building was underwhelming. Like all of the characters are cryptids of some sort, but functionally, they are just humans with one extra something going on. Which isn't that interesting at the end of the day. But my biggest problem with this book were the character personalities. Literally every single character was the exact same. They were ALL sarcastic and brash. Like literally every character. And one sarcastic character is fine, but making every character have the same personality is lazy and boring.
And within the first 18%, the only conflict that got set up was the question of how Tom died. But I didn't like Tom at all, and was not interested or intrigued in the least to find out how he died. So then I had nothing else keeping me reading.
Just don't waste your time on this book.
Listened to on Libby.

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nixonice's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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kinsportch's review against another edition

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janin's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

entertaining enough to keep reading but ultimately just slightly confusing worldbuilding and too many characters, most of whom i didn't care much about. also the writing style is extremely wordy and meandering; it was a whole lot of saying so much while saying nothing at all.

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robyn_fenix's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? No

4.5

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ehmannky's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny 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

4.75

I think you are either going to love this book or hate it. If it's not clear by my rating, I loved it. I love a book that deals with the mortifying ordeal of being known and the pain and value of loving and being loved. It reminded me a lot of Erin Morgenstern's "The Starless Sea" in that we've got immortals playing games mortals can barely comprehend with some very poetic language. I loved the cast of characters, I love the multitude of plots that interweave together, and I just loved the subtle humor throughout it.

Also, regarding those confused at the big game they play, it's not that complicated.

The goal of the game is to get your opponent to buckle under the weight of their regrets without letting them do the same to you, which is why everyone keeps saying it's a game for cheats and liars. You can pull a draw by either revealing both of each other's weaknesses but not bending, or you can both just sort of be so good at lying that no one can gain access. It's why Fox is able to win, because he can see that the actions of his past, even things he knows were wrong or that could have gone differently, are part of him and he doesn't fundamentally wallow in the regret.

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e_riahh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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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keishlavz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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