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A review by koistyfishy
Death's Obsession by Avina St. Graves
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
5 Lily Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
There are very few books that you just know from the first page are going to make a lasting impact on you. Where your intuition screams to you that the book you hold is really good and that something in this story is truly going to resonate with you. It's even rarer for this feeling to occur with a novella... but I swear from page 1, this book captivated and mesmerized me in the best possible way!
To say this book stomped on my heart is an understatement. It is absolutely beautiful. The descriptions and the writing just captivate you in a bubble that is raw, emotional, haunting and full of melancholy. At times the prose borders on depressing, but it is because of that lilting sadness that you are pulled into the pages. I just cannot get over how well the prose is written and the number of quotable lines this short novella contains!
There were two main things that really make this book stand out for me. Firstly, this book does deal with difficult topics as we are dealing with handling grief, mental illness and death and how each of those aspects interacts with each other and influences each other. Avina St. Graves (Zian) does this beautifully as she has shown a very real situation of grief and how a person can react, knowing that not everybody is going to react the same way to grief.
Our girl Lilith is dealing with the impact of a very traumatic event. She not only is trying to cope with the fact that she's lost her best friend, soul mate, and other half; her twin sister in a car accident. But also faces the difficulty of being wrought with survivor's guilt, as she survived the accident and her sister didn't. She's also in a very toxic relationship that doesn't work for her and isn't giving her what she needs to help her heal from this grief. And on top of that, she is being stalked by someone who is leaving her notes, gifts, and messages AND ACTUALLY invading her dreams. No one believes her stalker is real, they believe her subconscious is acting out causing hallucinations and memory loss. As a result, she is on very strong anti-psychotic medication and she is suffering financially. It feels like Lilith has had everything thrown at her with the kitchen sink and all she is doing is trying to keep afloat.
To see her struggles was heartbreaking. She doesn't have any motivation to live as nothing is keeping her here, she has suicidal ideations and thoughts and is just broken at the start. That is why this stood out so much! We are shown this broken character and then see how DEATH is actually the person who helps her overcome her grief and helps her grow. He gives her everything that she needs to slowly piece herself back together again and be whole. <I>It's almost like he cannot claim her soul until she is whole again and so he slowly helps her through the process</i>
I feel that anyone who has experienced grief and has gone through a similar journey of needing to pick themselves back up again after experiencing that grief will see what a fantastically well-done job this book does in describing that process.
The other aspect that I LOVED about this book is it played into the tropes and themes I ADORE!
▶ Hades and Persephone Vibes (with a relationship with Death)
▶ SUPER SEXY SHADOW DADDY
▶ Possessive and Dominating MMC who also is so caring and thoughtful
▶ Stalker Romance
▶ Love Letters
▶ Dual POV
Ultimately, I'm surprised that such a short novella could make such an impact, but I think that speaks volumes to the quality of the writing and the story and I can gladly say that Death's Obsession has become my new obsession. I loved every minute, every word, every page!
So many thanks to Avina St. Graves (Zian) for the gifted ARC!
All thoughts and feelings in this review are my own
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
There are very few books that you just know from the first page are going to make a lasting impact on you. Where your intuition screams to you that the book you hold is really good and that something in this story is truly going to resonate with you. It's even rarer for this feeling to occur with a novella... but I swear from page 1, this book captivated and mesmerized me in the best possible way!
To say this book stomped on my heart is an understatement. It is absolutely beautiful. The descriptions and the writing just captivate you in a bubble that is raw, emotional, haunting and full of melancholy. At times the prose borders on depressing, but it is because of that lilting sadness that you are pulled into the pages. I just cannot get over how well the prose is written and the number of quotable lines this short novella contains!
There were two main things that really make this book stand out for me. Firstly, this book does deal with difficult topics as we are dealing with handling grief, mental illness and death and how each of those aspects interacts with each other and influences each other. Avina St. Graves (Zian) does this beautifully as she has shown a very real situation of grief and how a person can react, knowing that not everybody is going to react the same way to grief.
Our girl Lilith is dealing with the impact of a very traumatic event. She not only is trying to cope with the fact that she's lost her best friend, soul mate, and other half; her twin sister in a car accident. But also faces the difficulty of being wrought with survivor's guilt, as she survived the accident and her sister didn't. She's also in a very toxic relationship that doesn't work for her and isn't giving her what she needs to help her heal from this grief. And on top of that, she is being stalked by someone who is leaving her notes, gifts, and messages AND ACTUALLY invading her dreams. No one believes her stalker is real, they believe her subconscious is acting out causing hallucinations and memory loss. As a result, she is on very strong anti-psychotic medication and she is suffering financially. It feels like Lilith has had everything thrown at her with the kitchen sink and all she is doing is trying to keep afloat.
To see her struggles was heartbreaking. She doesn't have any motivation to live as nothing is keeping her here, she has suicidal ideations and thoughts and is just broken at the start. That is why this stood out so much! We are shown this broken character and then see how DEATH is actually the person who helps her overcome her grief and helps her grow. He gives her everything that she needs to slowly piece herself back together again and be whole. <I>It's almost like he cannot claim her soul until she is whole again and so he slowly helps her through the process</i>
I feel that anyone who has experienced grief and has gone through a similar journey of needing to pick themselves back up again after experiencing that grief will see what a fantastically well-done job this book does in describing that process.
The other aspect that I LOVED about this book is it played into the tropes and themes I ADORE!
▶ Hades and Persephone Vibes (with a relationship with Death)
▶ SUPER SEXY SHADOW DADDY
▶ Possessive and Dominating MMC who also is so caring and thoughtful
▶ Stalker Romance
▶ Love Letters
▶ Dual POV
Ultimately, I'm surprised that such a short novella could make such an impact, but I think that speaks volumes to the quality of the writing and the story and I can gladly say that Death's Obsession has become my new obsession. I loved every minute, every word, every page!
So many thanks to Avina St. Graves (Zian) for the gifted ARC!
All thoughts and feelings in this review are my own
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Addiction, Sexual content, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Drug abuse