Death's Daughter

by S.A. Barnes

Perfect for fans of Ninth House, Nightshade, and Neon Gods, Death's Daughter is a dark, spicy and deliciously autumnal contemporary romantic fantasy in a dark academia setting, in which the only daughter of Death is named his successor, making her both a powerful ally and a massive target, all while she tries to make it through her final year at college . . .

Time for her to join the family business

Jocasta's carved out a normal life at Beecher University―well, as normal as possible with a name like Jocasta and being the only child of Death.

She has good friends and a messy situationship with her former TA. But her friends, her crush, and her classmates don't know the truth about who - or what - she is. They would be horrified to discover Jo must feed to survive - and she feeds on them. But she refuses to take lives, feasting instead on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. It's not a perfect system, but it works.

Until a sexy stranger - and descendant of Lust - shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target.

Jo's safe little bubble is about to burst, but she will do anything to protect the people she loves. Even if it means becoming what she hates...

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Dark Academia, Paranormal, Adult, Horror

Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 5, 2026

About the author

S.A. BARNES works in a high school library by day, recommending reads, talking with students, and removing the occasional forgotten cheese stick as bookmark. Barnes has published numerous novels across different genres under the pen name Stacey Kade. She lives in Illinois with more dogs and books than is advisable and a very patient husband.

Reviews

[Nelly]

its not a want it a need !!!

[Devin The Book Dragon]

SA Barnes is writing a romantasy?? Color me intrigued.

[Erin McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Edelweiss for the ARC!

I am a big S.A Barnes fan because of her original storytelling, but this really felt like something I've read before. It started out interestingly enough, but the plot beats and the revelations weren't anything unexpected or fresh. It felt very reminiscent of other urban dark fantasy books I've read, and at the end of the book, I wasn't invested in what would happen.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

*ARC received from Netgalley - all opinions are my own*

*2.5 stars

TL;DR: Death’s Daughter starts out pretty strong with a more unique magic system and world building but sadly starts to fall flat from about 30% onwards and never really recovers. It’s sadly a miss from me.

Review:
I’ll start with the strength of Death’s Daughter which is certainly its world-building and magic system. It’s a different spin on what is already out there and Barnes does a great job in my opinion of making it feel fresh and interesting.

The main difficulty I found was that because Jo, our FMC, doesn’t want anything to do with those of “her kind”, which are the “Old Ones” and their “Spawns”, it means that we don’t really get a chance to explore how the magic works or dive deeper into the lore of the world.
There is certainly room for this to be explored in a sequel though given how Death’s Daughter ended.

Unfortunately, that is where my enjoyment of the book ended. The writing definitely feels like an older urban fantasy which I enjoyed, however the plot was just all over the place and you can get lost so quickly. It also wasn’t helped by our main characters often forgetting about crucial things they were supposed to do or just glaring plot points.

For me, from about the halfway point and onwards, everything just sort of became more and more disconnected and I often found myself going back and rereading just to try and piece together where we were and how things happened.

The best way I can describe my reading experience of Deaths Daughter is that I was so aware that I was reading a story and it felt like everything was happening to Jo and that even she wasn’t a part of her own story, all the immersion fell away for me pretty quickly which was a shame as there are certainly some great moments.

I am aware this is still an ARC that isn’t set to be released for another 6 months, but I hope this goes through editing again as there are entire letter missing and grammar mistakes throughout which are so glaringly obvious throughout which certainly contributed to the lack of immersion.

Also, just as a side note, the whole convoluted love triangle wasn't executed well at all in my opinion. I certainly was only rooting for one of the love interests but I felt like there was just zero chemistry between Jo and the chosen love interest and even their (ill-timed) intimate moment felt a little cringey and forced.

Overall, Death’s Daughters strengths lie in the magic system and world-building which should definitely be leaned on more in future books as well as its more Urban Fantasy leaning elements. It would certainly help me feel more enticed to read a sequel!

[thiscreeperlovesbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I love S.A Barnes as Dead Silence is one of my favourite reads of all time. Ghost Station was also fantastic. This was why I was hankering to read her new romantasy because it sounded so interesting!!

I think that this story doesn't specifically do anything groundbreaking, which is fine! A story, if written beautifully and/or with an engaging storyline, can be amazing all the same. S.A Barnes does a great job at writing atmosphere, but where it feels flat for me are the love interests. I really wish they had more oomph! The back-and-forth nature of it could work for most people, but I felt a little tired. While I love a tumultuous romance, I would have liked more chemistry.

That said, if you love an intense gothic romantasy about Death, you'd have a great time with this! If you're a fan of old urban fantasies like, say, Ilona Andrews and Karen Marie Moning, then I recommend this highly! It's more a personal reason I didn't vibe with this book as much as I'd like to. I still love S.A Barnes and will read anything else she puts out!

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really wish Barnes had stuck to writing atmospheric and readable (if predictable) horror novels, instead of what can only be described as a lacklustre attempt to jump on the 'romantasy' bandwagon.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ 


Where do I start!? 


Jo is attempting to live a normal life, get a degree, hold a job, and maintain friendships.  But of course these things are a little more complicated when you're deaths only child and he names you his successor. And this unwanted promise of sucession draws the unwanted attention of the other children of the Old Gods. I found that the mythology and magic system related to the old gods was applied effortlessly in a modern setting. 


I adored the plot progression and the distinct characters we met in this story. At no point did I find that the events were dragging or unnecessary. Though this story does leave off on a fulfulling note, there are open aspects to Jos story and I would very much like to see a continuation to her tale.

[KatieGwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this. I did start a little confusing at first but the concepts were just different enough to keep you hooked in the story.

[Sammie Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was 2.5 rounded to 3 stars for Goodreads purposes,

Review will come soon ..,

[John Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rising to fame
as a writer of
space horror.
Perhaps THE
writer.

This is a departure
for Barnes
not SF at all
but a fantasy novel.

A young student
at a small college town
is the literal
daughter of the
personification
of Death.
Her father having
declared his
intention to
"step down"
as Death, without telling her.
Has unleashed
hell on his unsuspecting
daughter, as well as her
friends and anyone
near her as competing
forces vie for
an alliance or her death.

[Catrina]

Ordered from Audible
May 2026