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Calliope Reaper-Jones #1
Death's Daughter
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
For the last few years I'd been in a state of bliss--living under a self-imposed Forgetting Charm, because I so did not want to go into the family business. What I wanted was a glamorous career in New York City and the opportunity for a normal life--buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from craigslist, Web surfing for organic dim sum for my boss. And then my father's Executive Assistant, a faun named Jarvis, showed up to tell me that my dad has been kidnapped.
Good-bye Forgetting Charm. Hell, (unwanted) responsibility. Not only am I expected to step into the CEO slot on the company Board, but I have to "prove my worth" by competing against the Devil's protégé--who so hot in more ways than one. The contest involves finding three (why is it always three?) objects of power. In Hell.
One of them is this adorable puppy--who happens to be a hellhound. The others are turning out to be not much fun. All this so I can take (unwanted) charge of Death, Inc.
My name is Calliope Reaper-Jones, and I'm...Death's Daughter.
For the last few years I'd been in a state of bliss--living under a self-imposed Forgetting Charm, because I so did not want to go into the family business. What I wanted was a glamorous career in New York City and the opportunity for a normal life--buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from craigslist, Web surfing for organic dim sum for my boss. And then my father's Executive Assistant, a faun named Jarvis, showed up to tell me that my dad has been kidnapped.
Good-bye Forgetting Charm. Hell, (unwanted) responsibility. Not only am I expected to step into the CEO slot on the company Board, but I have to "prove my worth" by competing against the Devil's protégé--who so hot in more ways than one. The contest involves finding three (why is it always three?) objects of power. In Hell.
One of them is this adorable puppy--who happens to be a hellhound. The others are turning out to be not much fun. All this so I can take (unwanted) charge of Death, Inc.
My name is Calliope Reaper-Jones, and I'm...Death's Daughter.
359 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 16, 2009
68 people are currently reading
2950 people want to read
About the author
Amber Benson
99 books1,634 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 524 reviews
January 6, 2015
Warning: Really annoying use of pop culture references all the way through the book. I was kind of nervous when I found out that Amber Benson was one of the actors from the tv show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Turns out that I had good cause to be worried. The entire book seemed to be written in a cheesy(er) version of Buffy-language. Don't get me wrong, Buffy was a fun show to watch. But what was cute and funny ten years ago...meh, not so much anymore. Also, I found Calli to be an annoying heroine who drowns herself (and the reader) with her whiny inner monologue. The plot picks up about halfway through the book, and makes it interesting enough to get three stars from me, though. I might try out the next book to see if there is any improvement.
April 4, 2009
I had my doubts about this book for the first 100 pages. Calliope Reaper-Jones is a shallow, silly, whiny girl. She is obsessed with designer-brand fashion and she's kind of a fat person hater/sizist. I'm all about fleshed-out characters; protaganists with real flaws and pecadillos, but if there is nothing to like about the hero, how can we become invested in their journey? Also, while I am always a huge fan of a female hero (I am a BIG believer in running the "Bechdel Test" on everything I read/watch), I was disappointed to find Callie perpetuating the same traits that are often attributed to women in popular fiction: a shopaholic, neurotic, boy-crazy, cry baby whose only physical downfall is her (ultra cute) clumsiness, which of course is most prevalent when is she is in the company of handsome men.
However (I'm so glad i get to write that...), Ms. Benson did not lie when she says that you actually get to see the character of Callie Reaper-Jones grow as she goes along her hero's journey. I think the character actually does develop, and without losing the sense of the person she was at the beginning of her adventure -- no one is perfect afterall.
The concept of the story is great, and I really, really enjoyed they way the author pulls from religion and mythology in creating this magical universe. As a matter of fact, I thought some of the strongest characters/concepts are the ones that have a foothold in legends/allegories that most people are at least a little familiar with (Kali springs to mind).
Sometimes the way that Reaper-Jones speaks/thinks gets a little precious for me. Her speech is sprinkled with lots of 'likes' and she uses very dear colloquialisms and put-downs. And I really could have done without the cover! It's very cheesy, the woman looks a little too old to be Callie and I don't really appreciate being given the image of the character before my brain can put it's own together based on descriptions in the book (especially an image that I don't necessarily agree with); it was especially bothersome since I think the cover woman looks a lot like Elizabeth McGovern (who is gorgeous, just not Death's daughter-like in my opinion).
I think this book was a good set-up for the rest of the series (trilogy?) and I will be willing to follow Calliope on her future escapades.
However (I'm so glad i get to write that...), Ms. Benson did not lie when she says that you actually get to see the character of Callie Reaper-Jones grow as she goes along her hero's journey. I think the character actually does develop, and without losing the sense of the person she was at the beginning of her adventure -- no one is perfect afterall.
The concept of the story is great, and I really, really enjoyed they way the author pulls from religion and mythology in creating this magical universe. As a matter of fact, I thought some of the strongest characters/concepts are the ones that have a foothold in legends/allegories that most people are at least a little familiar with (Kali springs to mind).
Sometimes the way that Reaper-Jones speaks/thinks gets a little precious for me. Her speech is sprinkled with lots of 'likes' and she uses very dear colloquialisms and put-downs. And I really could have done without the cover! It's very cheesy, the woman looks a little too old to be Callie and I don't really appreciate being given the image of the character before my brain can put it's own together based on descriptions in the book (especially an image that I don't necessarily agree with); it was especially bothersome since I think the cover woman looks a lot like Elizabeth McGovern (who is gorgeous, just not Death's daughter-like in my opinion).
I think this book was a good set-up for the rest of the series (trilogy?) and I will be willing to follow Calliope on her future escapades.
March 17, 2009
It's really a 2.5, but I just couldn't give it my average/3 rating. The main character is a wise-ass, but not clever. As much as I hate to do Buffy comparisons, the author was Tara on Buffy and has written a character who's clearly supposed to be very similar to Buffy. Smartass, dumb blond moments (although not a blond I think, but there sure are some dumb comments), etc. The thing is, the book doesn't have the Buffy wit or heart. It's got the fluff but no substance to hold it up. I like the idea of having characters from other pantheons (Kali, Persephone), but I hate seeing them completely trivialized. It was just too silly, too shallow and too dumb.
February 8, 2011
Oh how I wanted to love this book. I love Amber Benson, and I've read some of her work on comics, so I figured even with the kind of lame premise this book would turn out ok. But unfortunately, it's pretty terrible.
For starters, there is exactly one mildly likeable character in a cast of dozens, and it isn't the heroine. The "heroine" mostly sits around and whines, and waits for other people to save her. Also, she's pretty much obsessively attracted to anything with a penis...as long as he's not shorter than her. God forbid.
Style wise, as much as I hate to say it, this book reads like a fourteen year old's fanfiction. There are exclamation! points! everywhere! and every third word is italicized. Don't even get me started on the ellipses to add false tension. This book was definitely in need of a good editor to whip it into shape.
As a final note, I'd just like to say that I was completely unprepared for and offended by the amount of fat hate in these pages. It's one thing to have a skinny heroine (pretty much a given these days). It's quite another to keep throwing in such gems as "Hy definitely needed all the diet help she could get. I mean, she did have that glandular problem...at least that was what she said it was." and "a group of Atkins Diet acolytes from work...scarf down a whole spit of shawarma at a Middle Eastern-themed Christmas party. The amount of food consumed was stupefying." Not only did these references have little bearing on the plot, but they really added to the overall impression that the "heroine" was a total bitch.
I almost gave up the book a lot, but I paid for it so I wanted to finish it. Unfortunately, it wasn't worth the time.
For starters, there is exactly one mildly likeable character in a cast of dozens, and it isn't the heroine. The "heroine" mostly sits around and whines, and waits for other people to save her. Also, she's pretty much obsessively attracted to anything with a penis...as long as he's not shorter than her. God forbid.
Style wise, as much as I hate to say it, this book reads like a fourteen year old's fanfiction. There are exclamation! points! everywhere! and every third word is italicized. Don't even get me started on the ellipses to add false tension. This book was definitely in need of a good editor to whip it into shape.
As a final note, I'd just like to say that I was completely unprepared for and offended by the amount of fat hate in these pages. It's one thing to have a skinny heroine (pretty much a given these days). It's quite another to keep throwing in such gems as "Hy definitely needed all the diet help she could get. I mean, she did have that glandular problem...at least that was what she said it was." and "a group of Atkins Diet acolytes from work...scarf down a whole spit of shawarma at a Middle Eastern-themed Christmas party. The amount of food consumed was stupefying." Not only did these references have little bearing on the plot, but they really added to the overall impression that the "heroine" was a total bitch.
I almost gave up the book a lot, but I paid for it so I wanted to finish it. Unfortunately, it wasn't worth the time.
February 28, 2009
Review final version:
I came at this one from the wrong point of view & with the wrong attitude. Like any first installment, quite a bit of background info must be introduced & that can slow a storyline down to a crawl. As I read this book, the character grew and I grew right along with her. Now, I find that I care about the characters & want to see how they develop. And there are so many places this one can go! I eagerly await the next installment!
Review version 2:
The more I read this, the more I like it! If you can get past the first few chapters, you'll be rewarded with a good read. I still think it was written with a pink sparkly pen, though!
Review version 1:
OMG! This book is, um... like if, you know, like a 16 year old girl, drank waaaaay too much Mountain Dew & got it, like, into her head that she could write an urban fantasy novel sooo much better than those other people, you know? And so she picked up her pink, sparkly pen & wrote it all down. OMGZ! LOL!
Every time I pick up this book, my IQ goes down a notch... but I keep picking it up.
I came at this one from the wrong point of view & with the wrong attitude. Like any first installment, quite a bit of background info must be introduced & that can slow a storyline down to a crawl. As I read this book, the character grew and I grew right along with her. Now, I find that I care about the characters & want to see how they develop. And there are so many places this one can go! I eagerly await the next installment!
Review version 2:
The more I read this, the more I like it! If you can get past the first few chapters, you'll be rewarded with a good read. I still think it was written with a pink sparkly pen, though!
Review version 1:
OMG! This book is, um... like if, you know, like a 16 year old girl, drank waaaaay too much Mountain Dew & got it, like, into her head that she could write an urban fantasy novel sooo much better than those other people, you know? And so she picked up her pink, sparkly pen & wrote it all down. OMGZ! LOL!
Every time I pick up this book, my IQ goes down a notch... but I keep picking it up.
October 13, 2024
I had no idea the author was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it makes so much sense. I really wanted to enjoy this one more than I did. It took me a while to get into it (I literally read about a hundred other books between starting and finishing this one), but I will admit the last 100 or so pages picked up. I am hoping this was that first in series kind of thing where there is a big leap up. I wanted to like our main character and there were a few split second moments when I thought I would, but she dashed those hopes with whining or annoying behavior every time. Calli has a crappy job in New York City where she lives. When some unusual things start to happen she suddenly is pulled out of the Forgetting Spell she put herself under and is called home. Her father is missing which wouldn’t be a problem if he weren’t Death. Despite her lack of interest in the family business she is set upon a quest to become the next Death and save her father. Overall I gave this one 2.5 stars which I rounded up because the idea was had potential.
July 23, 2012
I'd give this book zero stars if I could and it would still count as "rating" it. However, I can't.
Let me just say that I really wanted to like this book the concept is really interesting. The daughter of death! How cool is that. I mean Terry Prachett writes about Deaths grandchild and does it well so I was looking forward to something at least that good. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
First, I didn't finish the book. I made it half way through and realized if I tried to read any more of it I would either a: throw the book across the room and scream, B: run outside and find someone to punch or C: a combo of the two options. I HATE the heroine in this book, I didn't think it would be possible to hate the lead female more then I did in the last series I read or Anita Blake, who I really just detest, but it happened. Calliope is an idiot, a whinny bitch, and totally selfish. She wouldn't even help her family at first and made comments about how she didn't want to do the job throughout the rest of the book that I read. I don't know if she gets any better by the end, I seriously doubt it.
Her idiocy just makes me want to scream. Who knows all about Sirens but doesn't have a clue about Cerberus? Idiots that's who. The liberal use of "Like" in any and all of Calliope's sentences, was good English on holiday when this book was written? The sheer selfishness of this character amazed even me. Are there really people like that in the world? I pity the human race then.
I would never recommend this book to anyone in fact I'd say steer clear.
Let me just say that I really wanted to like this book the concept is really interesting. The daughter of death! How cool is that. I mean Terry Prachett writes about Deaths grandchild and does it well so I was looking forward to something at least that good. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
First, I didn't finish the book. I made it half way through and realized if I tried to read any more of it I would either a: throw the book across the room and scream, B: run outside and find someone to punch or C: a combo of the two options. I HATE the heroine in this book, I didn't think it would be possible to hate the lead female more then I did in the last series I read or Anita Blake, who I really just detest, but it happened. Calliope is an idiot, a whinny bitch, and totally selfish. She wouldn't even help her family at first and made comments about how she didn't want to do the job throughout the rest of the book that I read. I don't know if she gets any better by the end, I seriously doubt it.
Her idiocy just makes me want to scream. Who knows all about Sirens but doesn't have a clue about Cerberus? Idiots that's who. The liberal use of "Like" in any and all of Calliope's sentences, was good English on holiday when this book was written? The sheer selfishness of this character amazed even me. Are there really people like that in the world? I pity the human race then.
I would never recommend this book to anyone in fact I'd say steer clear.
March 24, 2010
Wow...so the first chapter has revealed Calliope to be a forgetful space case, a bit spastic, super over-reactive, and a somewhat snobby weightest. Great. And good grief, the italics!! I mean really? Does there have to be an italicized word in every single paragraph? I get it, you are trying to emphasize, but when you emphasize every single sentence it makes everything seem unimportant - an annoying. A bunch of other reviews say that once you get past the first few chapters though and it's worth it, so I'm crossing my fingers.
Page 50...or there about...More wow, so Callie's mom, also immortal thanks to her love for Death, has the more ridiculous weakness I have ever heard of. Apparently all immortals have some sort of Achilles heel, and her's is her husbands snoring. YES, you read that right. Death's snoring is causing his wife to slowly die. WTF? Oh, and apparently she is also the most beautiful woman on the planet as she is a DIRECT descendant of Helen of Troy. Again...WTF? Oh and Callie nearly rapes a man she just met. Yeah...I don't know how much more of this book I will read but I have a feeling I won't be making it to the end.
I quit.I just cannot finish this book. Callie is one of the worst characters I have ever had to suffer through, and she is just not worth it to force myself to finish this book. 6 Chapters was more than enough thank you. She is whiny, annoying, selfish, spineless, helpless, speaks like a 8th grader (did she really have to pull the "NOT" card and call someone a 'jerkizoid'?), drops brand names like a fashion Nazi, and is just overall self-centered. It had such an amazing premise but failed big time.
Page 50...or there about...More wow, so Callie's mom, also immortal thanks to her love for Death, has the more ridiculous weakness I have ever heard of. Apparently all immortals have some sort of Achilles heel, and her's is her husbands snoring. YES, you read that right. Death's snoring is causing his wife to slowly die. WTF? Oh, and apparently she is also the most beautiful woman on the planet as she is a DIRECT descendant of Helen of Troy. Again...WTF? Oh and Callie nearly rapes a man she just met. Yeah...I don't know how much more of this book I will read but I have a feeling I won't be making it to the end.
I quit.I just cannot finish this book. Callie is one of the worst characters I have ever had to suffer through, and she is just not worth it to force myself to finish this book. 6 Chapters was more than enough thank you. She is whiny, annoying, selfish, spineless, helpless, speaks like a 8th grader (did she really have to pull the "NOT" card and call someone a 'jerkizoid'?), drops brand names like a fashion Nazi, and is just overall self-centered. It had such an amazing premise but failed big time.
May 11, 2011
The fact that this book got published is an insult to all authors and readers who have come before. The tone is snide, selfish, snobbish, and rude. The complete and total massacre of the English language should shame the writer and the editor. This book was so bad that I threw it away instead of selling it to a used bookstore as no one else should be traumatized by it.
" I mean, I hadn’t had a real date in, well … It was so pathetic an expanse of time that I didn’t even want to talk about it." --Yes, yes. Anyone who doesn't date is PATHETIC.
RE: her best friend - tedious. (What a great friend)
This is the most mind bogglingly stupid thing I've ever seen a writer put in a book, hands down. "I say it was a he, but that was only a hypothesis. I just could not imagine any self-respecting female - monster or not - ever getting as pudgy as this thing was." DOT DOT DOT. WTF is that doing in there? IN A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL!!!??? Jesus Christ.
That is where I stopped, 9 pages in. Save yourself from this crap and go read anything else.
" I mean, I hadn’t had a real date in, well … It was so pathetic an expanse of time that I didn’t even want to talk about it." --Yes, yes. Anyone who doesn't date is PATHETIC.
RE: her best friend - tedious. (What a great friend)
This is the most mind bogglingly stupid thing I've ever seen a writer put in a book, hands down. "I say it was a he, but that was only a hypothesis. I just could not imagine any self-respecting female - monster or not - ever getting as pudgy as this thing was." DOT DOT DOT. WTF is that doing in there? IN A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL!!!??? Jesus Christ.
That is where I stopped, 9 pages in. Save yourself from this crap and go read anything else.
March 27, 2009
Calliope Reaper- Jones is a sad young woman living in New York, working as an assistant for a company called House and Yard. Lately, things have been a little off for her. She starts seeing things that shouldn’t be there, and some random stranger comes to kiss her feet. She’s left totally and utterly confused and blows it off, until she eats a charm breaking cupcake and all her life long memories emerge. She finds out not only did she put a Forgetting Charm on herself 3 years ago, but that she is the Grim Reaper’s (aka Death’s) daughter.
Calliope’s upset and wants to know why she remembers her supernatural life. Her father’s assistant, Jarvis, explains that her dad has been kidnapped and that her mother requests her presence immediately. She follows Jarvis back to her old home where her mom and their family lawyer explain that if she doesn’t replace her father’s position, then the whole family’s immortality is at stake. This story is about Calliope’s struggle with taking her father’s position and how she acquires his powers, but there are others who seek this power and want to get rid of Calliope. Calliope and her enemies find out that their goals are not as easy to obtain as they thought it would be.
I felt that this was a unique idea in the urban fantasy realm. I thought the details in this were intriguing because we had a female girl who was immortal, who’s father had the ability to kill almost anyone, and she was to inherit those powers. I thought that was interesting and wanted to see this adventure play out. The first 2 ½ chapters were the best part of the book, but it lost me when she remembers who she really is, and it all went down hill from there.
I can’t help but feel that Calliope received some sort of horny, obtuse, immature, and helpless charm on herself when she regained all her memories. What happened to the humorous and smart woman that I read in the first few chapters?
Almost every single guy she meets, she’s some how attracted to them. If he’s about her age or looks young she thinks about how hot he is. It starts off with her blind date in the beginning of the book. Which makes sense and is reasonable. She hasn’t dated in a long time and her friend sets her up. She hears his voice and thinks he might be hot, but takes one look at him and thinks other wise. Then her attraction heads towards other men, like her workmate, a God, a detective, and a couple of her enemies.
“It seemed that I was kind of attracted to the cute, granola-eating, hemp-wearing PETA spy.” (p.40)
“He’s gonna ravage me right here on my father’s Oriental rug…and I am so gonna let him!” (p.48)
“Not bad at all, I thought happily, imagining Daniel Jr. throwing himself across the desk and grabbing me in an erotic bear hug.” (p.75)
“He looked so yummy that you were tempted to eat him, regardless of all the calories you knew he contained” (p.173)
“Oh my God, I thought giddily, he’s totally gonna kiss me. Hmm, maybe this is about to get a lot more interesting than I would’ve ever imagined.” (p.263)
Every quote above is about a different guy. Not only does her libido go left and right, but so does her dialog. There are times when she’s talking and acting like she’s 10:
” ‘You got nothing on me, buddy!’ I stuck my tongue out at him, then turned and walked right over to the mound of squirming puppies.” (p.125)
And a valley girl:
“No, seriously. That was, like, totally weird and kind of rude…” (p.89)
Her tone and attitude is not consistent. She’s either crying and whining, or just being juvenile and angry. I could not find a way to relate to this character. Almost every secondary character has to help her in some way and I felt sorry for them. She would rather sit down and complain about what is happening to her until someone helps her or something catches her attention. I read till the end hoping there was a proper explanation to her personality and, of course, there is none. She is just that flawed.
It was a struggle to finish and I’m surprise I did so. Benson had created a world that I would have loved to have read about, but her execution was a failure. If you enjoy hard core urban fantasy this will not be your cup of tea. I will not be reading the rest of her books and I will not be recommending this one.
Calliope’s upset and wants to know why she remembers her supernatural life. Her father’s assistant, Jarvis, explains that her dad has been kidnapped and that her mother requests her presence immediately. She follows Jarvis back to her old home where her mom and their family lawyer explain that if she doesn’t replace her father’s position, then the whole family’s immortality is at stake. This story is about Calliope’s struggle with taking her father’s position and how she acquires his powers, but there are others who seek this power and want to get rid of Calliope. Calliope and her enemies find out that their goals are not as easy to obtain as they thought it would be.
I felt that this was a unique idea in the urban fantasy realm. I thought the details in this were intriguing because we had a female girl who was immortal, who’s father had the ability to kill almost anyone, and she was to inherit those powers. I thought that was interesting and wanted to see this adventure play out. The first 2 ½ chapters were the best part of the book, but it lost me when she remembers who she really is, and it all went down hill from there.
I can’t help but feel that Calliope received some sort of horny, obtuse, immature, and helpless charm on herself when she regained all her memories. What happened to the humorous and smart woman that I read in the first few chapters?
Almost every single guy she meets, she’s some how attracted to them. If he’s about her age or looks young she thinks about how hot he is. It starts off with her blind date in the beginning of the book. Which makes sense and is reasonable. She hasn’t dated in a long time and her friend sets her up. She hears his voice and thinks he might be hot, but takes one look at him and thinks other wise. Then her attraction heads towards other men, like her workmate, a God, a detective, and a couple of her enemies.
“It seemed that I was kind of attracted to the cute, granola-eating, hemp-wearing PETA spy.” (p.40)
“He’s gonna ravage me right here on my father’s Oriental rug…and I am so gonna let him!” (p.48)
“Not bad at all, I thought happily, imagining Daniel Jr. throwing himself across the desk and grabbing me in an erotic bear hug.” (p.75)
“He looked so yummy that you were tempted to eat him, regardless of all the calories you knew he contained” (p.173)
“Oh my God, I thought giddily, he’s totally gonna kiss me. Hmm, maybe this is about to get a lot more interesting than I would’ve ever imagined.” (p.263)
Every quote above is about a different guy. Not only does her libido go left and right, but so does her dialog. There are times when she’s talking and acting like she’s 10:
” ‘You got nothing on me, buddy!’ I stuck my tongue out at him, then turned and walked right over to the mound of squirming puppies.” (p.125)
And a valley girl:
“No, seriously. That was, like, totally weird and kind of rude…” (p.89)
Her tone and attitude is not consistent. She’s either crying and whining, or just being juvenile and angry. I could not find a way to relate to this character. Almost every secondary character has to help her in some way and I felt sorry for them. She would rather sit down and complain about what is happening to her until someone helps her or something catches her attention. I read till the end hoping there was a proper explanation to her personality and, of course, there is none. She is just that flawed.
It was a struggle to finish and I’m surprise I did so. Benson had created a world that I would have loved to have read about, but her execution was a failure. If you enjoy hard core urban fantasy this will not be your cup of tea. I will not be reading the rest of her books and I will not be recommending this one.
March 2, 2009
Loving this book so far, it's witty, entertaining, and the writing flows effortlessly.
February 18, 2019
I read 50 pages (my minimum) and was annoyed the entire time 😒
July 22, 2011
Funny story: one day, I sat next to Amber Benson on a train. She told me about her books; I was curious, and therefore went out and bought the first two books of her series: Death’s Daughter and Cat’s Claw. So I finished reading the first one, and these are my thoughts.
The premise is pretty imaginative. It follows Calliope “Callie” Reaper-Jones, who is one of Death’s three daughters. Death, in this world, is run by a corporation, of which her father is the head. It deals a lot with mythology, and she uses all different kinds of mythology: Greek, Norse, Hindu, Christian, you name it. I’m a sucker for mythology done right, and I think Amber did a pretty good job with this. Kali is one of the best characters in the book, and even the Devil is done interestingly. I like the way she dealt with the family’s history, the way Hell was conceptualized, and the way no one religion was ranked better than another. I particularly liked the fact that God was not a nameless, faceless being that showed up only in rhetoric, but was actually a character, if a minor one.
One thing I particularly admired about the characters was that none of them were too perfect. Callie’s very flawed, and can sometimes be annoying because of it, but no one can accuse Callie of being a Mary-Sue character, which means quite a bit in this genre. Even when she does have powers, she does not quite know how to use them accurately, and she makes enormous blunders. She is often emotionally weak but can pull through for herself, her family, and her friends in times of dire trouble. This is the kind of hero(ine) I like to see.
There were some negative aspects of the book: Callie sometimes reads like a high school valley girl rather than someone in her mid-twenties; she focuses too much on fashion and labels, and sometimes the references to clothing and shopping and designer can be too much, even for someone like me who does recognise all the labels. When Amber told me on the train that it was like “Neil Gaiman meets Devil Wears Prada” I wasn’t quite sure what that meant; now I get it. Sometimes Callie's material concerns can be rather amusing; other times, they bog down the prose and make me feel a lack of description acutely (although for the most part, the description's more than adequate for this kind of novel).
Another part I didn’t like was the clunky handling of romance. Callie is, granted, hitting a dry spot in her life, and Daniel can, admittedly, seduce people with his powers, but she thinks about sexing up almost every main male character (as long as they are attractive). There’s a moment in which she’s saved by a bogus semi-sexual ritual, and I felt a little cheated by that because … honestly, there are so many ways to deal with a situation like that, and a sexual/romantic way of dealing with it seems like just an excuse to raise the heat. I also wasn’t sure why Daniel was so interested in Callie, or why he was so mind-bendingly impressed. Impressed is one thing. Impressed in total hyperbole is another.
My final pet peeve with this book was something that an editor really should have dealt with: there are a lot of italicised words. I’m not counting titles of books/movies/etc or internal thoughts. I’m talking about sentences such as this which have too much dramatic emphasis put on random words. Okay, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But there were pages in this book (a tiny paperback) that had six italicised words that did not need to be italicised. That’s a huge issue with me, but clearly I got used to it at the end because I kept reading.
All in all, though, I think Death’s Daughter was decently entertaining; it’s not meant to be the next Wuthering Heights. It’s supposed to be a fun, action-packed beginning-of-the-series book. I’ve heard that the second one is more focused and better written, so I’m interested to read and see. It's sitting on my bookshelf, waiting, but sadly I haven't quite had the time to read it yet. Judgment will be appropriately passed afterwards.
The premise is pretty imaginative. It follows Calliope “Callie” Reaper-Jones, who is one of Death’s three daughters. Death, in this world, is run by a corporation, of which her father is the head. It deals a lot with mythology, and she uses all different kinds of mythology: Greek, Norse, Hindu, Christian, you name it. I’m a sucker for mythology done right, and I think Amber did a pretty good job with this. Kali is one of the best characters in the book, and even the Devil is done interestingly. I like the way she dealt with the family’s history, the way Hell was conceptualized, and the way no one religion was ranked better than another. I particularly liked the fact that God was not a nameless, faceless being that showed up only in rhetoric, but was actually a character, if a minor one.
One thing I particularly admired about the characters was that none of them were too perfect. Callie’s very flawed, and can sometimes be annoying because of it, but no one can accuse Callie of being a Mary-Sue character, which means quite a bit in this genre. Even when she does have powers, she does not quite know how to use them accurately, and she makes enormous blunders. She is often emotionally weak but can pull through for herself, her family, and her friends in times of dire trouble. This is the kind of hero(ine) I like to see.
There were some negative aspects of the book: Callie sometimes reads like a high school valley girl rather than someone in her mid-twenties; she focuses too much on fashion and labels, and sometimes the references to clothing and shopping and designer can be too much, even for someone like me who does recognise all the labels. When Amber told me on the train that it was like “Neil Gaiman meets Devil Wears Prada” I wasn’t quite sure what that meant; now I get it. Sometimes Callie's material concerns can be rather amusing; other times, they bog down the prose and make me feel a lack of description acutely (although for the most part, the description's more than adequate for this kind of novel).
Another part I didn’t like was the clunky handling of romance. Callie is, granted, hitting a dry spot in her life, and Daniel can, admittedly, seduce people with his powers, but she thinks about sexing up almost every main male character (as long as they are attractive). There’s a moment in which she’s saved by a bogus semi-sexual ritual, and I felt a little cheated by that because … honestly, there are so many ways to deal with a situation like that, and a sexual/romantic way of dealing with it seems like just an excuse to raise the heat. I also wasn’t sure why Daniel was so interested in Callie, or why he was so mind-bendingly impressed. Impressed is one thing. Impressed in total hyperbole is another.
My final pet peeve with this book was something that an editor really should have dealt with: there are a lot of italicised words. I’m not counting titles of books/movies/etc or internal thoughts. I’m talking about sentences such as this which have too much dramatic emphasis put on random words. Okay, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But there were pages in this book (a tiny paperback) that had six italicised words that did not need to be italicised. That’s a huge issue with me, but clearly I got used to it at the end because I kept reading.
All in all, though, I think Death’s Daughter was decently entertaining; it’s not meant to be the next Wuthering Heights. It’s supposed to be a fun, action-packed beginning-of-the-series book. I’ve heard that the second one is more focused and better written, so I’m interested to read and see. It's sitting on my bookshelf, waiting, but sadly I haven't quite had the time to read it yet. Judgment will be appropriately passed afterwards.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2009
(3.5 stars) She thought the devil wore Prada...until she met the real one!
Before I begin this review, a confession: I'm a sucker for any novel containing cute hellhounds.
Calliope Reaper-Jones is living the life of a typical New York office flunky, dealing with a diva boss, less-hunky-than-advertised blind dates, and a lust for designer clothes she can't afford. That is, until her father, who happens to be the Grim Reaper himself, is kidnapped and Calliope is swept back into a dangerous supernatural world she's spent her entire adult life trying to escape.
What follows is one part mystery, one part fairy tale. Callie must figure out who has absconded with her father, and why, before worse things happen. At the same time, the board of directors in charge of Death, Inc. have given Callie three nearly-impossible tasks to complete in order to come into the power that is her birthright. Callie has a complicated world of deities, demons, and bureaucrats to navigate, and not much time to learn the ropes. What makes me think of fairy tales, I think, is the way that Callie's success or failure in her tasks so often hinges on how she treats people along her journey.
I may be giving you, dear reader, the idea that this is a Very Serious Book. That would be a mistaken impression. While Death's Daughter contains themes that would be right at home in a very dark urban fantasy, Amber Benson keeps the tone light and chick-litty. Death's Daughter has its touching moments, but it also has a conversational writing style with plenty of humor, slang, and fashion commentary. For the most part, this works. An exception is Benson's use of "gonna" in narration. I'm just enough of an English nerd that it throws me out of the story every time she does it. (I don't mind it in the dialogue.)
Recommended if you're looking for a light, fun urban fantasy with a breezy style, a scene-stealing supporting cast, and great shoes.
Read this review in context at FantasyLiterature.net!
Before I begin this review, a confession: I'm a sucker for any novel containing cute hellhounds.
Calliope Reaper-Jones is living the life of a typical New York office flunky, dealing with a diva boss, less-hunky-than-advertised blind dates, and a lust for designer clothes she can't afford. That is, until her father, who happens to be the Grim Reaper himself, is kidnapped and Calliope is swept back into a dangerous supernatural world she's spent her entire adult life trying to escape.
What follows is one part mystery, one part fairy tale. Callie must figure out who has absconded with her father, and why, before worse things happen. At the same time, the board of directors in charge of Death, Inc. have given Callie three nearly-impossible tasks to complete in order to come into the power that is her birthright. Callie has a complicated world of deities, demons, and bureaucrats to navigate, and not much time to learn the ropes. What makes me think of fairy tales, I think, is the way that Callie's success or failure in her tasks so often hinges on how she treats people along her journey.
I may be giving you, dear reader, the idea that this is a Very Serious Book. That would be a mistaken impression. While Death's Daughter contains themes that would be right at home in a very dark urban fantasy, Amber Benson keeps the tone light and chick-litty. Death's Daughter has its touching moments, but it also has a conversational writing style with plenty of humor, slang, and fashion commentary. For the most part, this works. An exception is Benson's use of "gonna" in narration. I'm just enough of an English nerd that it throws me out of the story every time she does it. (I don't mind it in the dialogue.)
Recommended if you're looking for a light, fun urban fantasy with a breezy style, a scene-stealing supporting cast, and great shoes.
Read this review in context at FantasyLiterature.net!
March 6, 2011
Ugh. Amber Benson gets an A for effort, but that's about it. Narrated in the first-person by Calliope Reaper-Jones, estranged daughter of the Grim Reaper, "Death's Daughter" follows Callie's adventures as she returns to her immortal family and attempts to rescue her kidnapped father. Along the way, Callie encounters Cerberus, Kali, and various and sundry other mythological and religious beings. In my opinion, "Death's Daughter" is cutesy chick-lit masquerading as a supernatural tale. The plot is absurd, the writing just a little too precious, and the characters are entirely forgettable. I loved Amber Benson as Tara on Buffy, admire her acting and singing abilities, and enjoyed the writing she did for one of the Buffy comics. She obviously had a lot of fun writing this book, and I do give her credit for going after something she really wanted to do. However, the end result is just not something I would recommend to anyone, no matter how big a fan of Amber's you might be. I understand that this is intended to be the first of a three-part series, but I sincerely doubt that I'd come back for more.
June 27, 2015
I’ve been looking at reading some of Amber Benson’s books for a while. Mainly because I had heard decent things about her books (I…haven’t seen that much of Buffy. I’ve seen some of the Tara episodes, and I did like Amber Benson in it, but this is more out of curiosity rather than any major feelings.) But the only series that I knew of hers was the Calliope Reaper-Jones books, and while I’ve seen the later books in the series (and a few of Benson’s standalones), me being me, I wanted to start out at the beginning. Luckily I had found a copy at one of the used bookstores near me, and immediately snapped it up.
Well.
Back in my About a Girl review, I talked about how in a lot of chick lit that I’ve read, the seemingly shortcut to make a heroine “likeable” is for her to start tearing down all but one or two other women who appear in the story, and even to their closest friends or family members at times. While I’m just still finding my way around in the urban fantasy shores, what I’ve read of it hasn’t really gone in that direction. (I think Sookie Stackhouse did, but I haven’t gone back and reread the few books that I picked up from work.) Although Death’s Daughter was written about six years ago, so that the trend of the heroine character needs to tear down the women around her was still in pretty full force, it still made me pretty angry while reading this book.
I couldn’t find one likeable thing about Calliope. I’ve read far worse heroines (this year), and while Callie wasn’t as bad as some that I could mention, there wasn’t enough about Callie herself that endeared me to her. We get snippets and some mention of why she doesn’t want to take over the family business, why Callie doesn’t want to be immortal like the rest of her family and consequently walked away, but it’s never touched on enough that it impacted me. Yes, we learn that “Oh, well, my two friends and I were in a fatal car accident when I was in high school, and they died (but I didn’t because immortality), and I realized that immortality is a curse!” but Callie never goes beyond this reason as why she doesn’t want to associate with her family. It makes her come off as incredibly selfish and uncaring, instead of getting sympathy from me. Also, Callie’s ignorance about the deities and rules about the Underworld got to the point where I became more frustrated about her willful lack of knowledge (and rudely interrupting Jarvis just to make a joke when, y’know, he’s telling you something important can you please focus on not you for two seconds) rather than being frustrated with Callie’s continuous “But how am I supposed to get the thing?” And there’s a point when “Klutzy modern girl thrown out of her element just barely succeeds in her quest!” stops being fun and more annoying.
It also doesn’t help that Callie is rude to just about everyone in this book. It’s one thing between her and Jarvis (although that got real old really fast; like do we need to stop and linger on the fact that Jarvis’s full name is Jarvis de Poupsey? Really?), but when it’s to nearly every other character in the book, it really doesn’t endear me to Callie. She pisses off the company board during their first meeting (I’ll get to Kali. We’ll get there.), she’s rude to every sentient creature that she meets, and she’s just so unpleasant about everything that I’m just sitting here going “Well, why?”
Plus the fact that a large part of this plot focuses on Hindu deities and is just…I don’t know, severely problematic and toeing the racism line. All of Callie’s interactions with Kali, Indra and the Gopi is just horrible—Callie is immediately dismissive of both Kali and Indra right off the bat, plus the fact that Callie and Kali are supposed to be pitted as “frenemies” doesn’t work. (How in the hell did these two attempt a catfight in front of PERSEPHONE herself and the two weren’t immediately struck down. HOW .) Not to mention the fact that Kali constantly calls Callie (which, for the record, this is getting really confusing) “white girl” comes off more as “Ooo, look, sassy WoC!” Which no. Just no.
And not helping is just the writing and pacing of the book. There are times—mainly in the beginning—where the narration backtracks to go into minor details that end up derailing the plot and threw me off a few times. (Like the whole scene in the Starbucks where Callie feels that we need to know about Jarvis’s aversion to shoes. Again…why?) Important details about Callie’s family history and backstory get thrown in haphazardly and feel off whenever they’re introduced.
It also really shows how weak the writing is in consideration to Callie and Daniel’s relationship, or really, their lack of chemistry. There’s not enough of Daniel to set up his motivations, aside from their disastrous first meeting, and the Devil appears as more of a red herring, rather than any serious threat to Callie. Plus, Daniel felt there to be more neutralized threat—he’s constantly rescuing Callie from certain doom (or in the case of Cerberus, perceived certain doom) and I don’t really see the tension of “I really think that you’re hot, but you’re my rival for my job (which is totally mine) so let’s just keep our torrid love affair on the downlow for now.” And again, I just don’t see the chemistry between the two at all, and Daniel felt to me like Designated Love Interest as the Plot Demands.
(I’ve glanced at a couple of reviews, and I’ve seen the biggest complaint is that Benson uses too many pop culture references in this book. It’s not something that bothers me so much (my Meg Cabot collection, let me show you it), but I do think that Benson does get a little too reliant on it at times and it does throw the writing off. I just think there’s much bigger problems with the actual writing and plotting itself.
Also, I’m glad that we dodged a Devil Wears Prada joke.)
With a more likeable heroine and a tighter plotline, there is a really good idea here that a more capable author (or one with a better editor) can go explore. (Actually, there is—Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music.) But as far as this goes, it’s just not worth it. I hope that Amber Benson has gotten stronger as a writer in the last few years (and I’m willing to read more), but this isn’t the best introduction to her as a fiction writer.
Well.
Back in my About a Girl review, I talked about how in a lot of chick lit that I’ve read, the seemingly shortcut to make a heroine “likeable” is for her to start tearing down all but one or two other women who appear in the story, and even to their closest friends or family members at times. While I’m just still finding my way around in the urban fantasy shores, what I’ve read of it hasn’t really gone in that direction. (I think Sookie Stackhouse did, but I haven’t gone back and reread the few books that I picked up from work.) Although Death’s Daughter was written about six years ago, so that the trend of the heroine character needs to tear down the women around her was still in pretty full force, it still made me pretty angry while reading this book.
I couldn’t find one likeable thing about Calliope. I’ve read far worse heroines (this year), and while Callie wasn’t as bad as some that I could mention, there wasn’t enough about Callie herself that endeared me to her. We get snippets and some mention of why she doesn’t want to take over the family business, why Callie doesn’t want to be immortal like the rest of her family and consequently walked away, but it’s never touched on enough that it impacted me. Yes, we learn that “Oh, well, my two friends and I were in a fatal car accident when I was in high school, and they died (but I didn’t because immortality), and I realized that immortality is a curse!” but Callie never goes beyond this reason as why she doesn’t want to associate with her family. It makes her come off as incredibly selfish and uncaring, instead of getting sympathy from me. Also, Callie’s ignorance about the deities and rules about the Underworld got to the point where I became more frustrated about her willful lack of knowledge (and rudely interrupting Jarvis just to make a joke when, y’know, he’s telling you something important can you please focus on not you for two seconds) rather than being frustrated with Callie’s continuous “But how am I supposed to get the thing?” And there’s a point when “Klutzy modern girl thrown out of her element just barely succeeds in her quest!” stops being fun and more annoying.
It also doesn’t help that Callie is rude to just about everyone in this book. It’s one thing between her and Jarvis (although that got real old really fast; like do we need to stop and linger on the fact that Jarvis’s full name is Jarvis de Poupsey? Really?), but when it’s to nearly every other character in the book, it really doesn’t endear me to Callie. She pisses off the company board during their first meeting (I’ll get to Kali. We’ll get there.), she’s rude to every sentient creature that she meets, and she’s just so unpleasant about everything that I’m just sitting here going “Well, why?”
Plus the fact that a large part of this plot focuses on Hindu deities and is just…I don’t know, severely problematic and toeing the racism line. All of Callie’s interactions with Kali, Indra and the Gopi is just horrible—Callie is immediately dismissive of both Kali and Indra right off the bat, plus the fact that Callie and Kali are supposed to be pitted as “frenemies” doesn’t work. (How in the hell did these two attempt a catfight in front of PERSEPHONE herself and the two weren’t immediately struck down. HOW .) Not to mention the fact that Kali constantly calls Callie (which, for the record, this is getting really confusing) “white girl” comes off more as “Ooo, look, sassy WoC!” Which no. Just no.
And not helping is just the writing and pacing of the book. There are times—mainly in the beginning—where the narration backtracks to go into minor details that end up derailing the plot and threw me off a few times. (Like the whole scene in the Starbucks where Callie feels that we need to know about Jarvis’s aversion to shoes. Again…why?) Important details about Callie’s family history and backstory get thrown in haphazardly and feel off whenever they’re introduced.
It also really shows how weak the writing is in consideration to Callie and Daniel’s relationship, or really, their lack of chemistry. There’s not enough of Daniel to set up his motivations, aside from their disastrous first meeting, and the Devil appears as more of a red herring, rather than any serious threat to Callie. Plus, Daniel felt there to be more neutralized threat—he’s constantly rescuing Callie from certain doom (or in the case of Cerberus, perceived certain doom) and I don’t really see the tension of “I really think that you’re hot, but you’re my rival for my job (which is totally mine) so let’s just keep our torrid love affair on the downlow for now.” And again, I just don’t see the chemistry between the two at all, and Daniel felt to me like Designated Love Interest as the Plot Demands.
(I’ve glanced at a couple of reviews, and I’ve seen the biggest complaint is that Benson uses too many pop culture references in this book. It’s not something that bothers me so much (my Meg Cabot collection, let me show you it), but I do think that Benson does get a little too reliant on it at times and it does throw the writing off. I just think there’s much bigger problems with the actual writing and plotting itself.
Also, I’m glad that we dodged a Devil Wears Prada joke.)
With a more likeable heroine and a tighter plotline, there is a really good idea here that a more capable author (or one with a better editor) can go explore. (Actually, there is—Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music.) But as far as this goes, it’s just not worth it. I hope that Amber Benson has gotten stronger as a writer in the last few years (and I’m willing to read more), but this isn’t the best introduction to her as a fiction writer.
December 29, 2015
„Lieber Tod als Teufel“ habe ich bereits vor einigen Jahren schon einmal gelesen. Ich weiß noch genau, wie sehr ich mich darüber freute, dass meine Mutter es mir schenkte; nicht nur, weil die Inhaltsangabe vielversprechend klang, sondern auch, weil die Autorin Amber Benson jahrelang die Figur der Tara Maclay in der Serie „Buffy – Im Bann der Dämonen“ verkörperte und dadurch bei mir einen besonderen Stein im Brett hat. Mir gefiel das Buch damals wirklich gut, doch die Fortsetzung Einmal Tod ist nicht genug aufzutreiben, stellte sich als schwierig heraus. Die Zeit verging und meine Erinnerungen an den ersten Band der „Jenseits GmbH“ verblassten. Da der zweite Band mittlerweile in meinem Regal steht, sollte mich das Reread auf eine Entscheidung hinsichtlich dieser Reihe vorbereiten, die ich ab dem dritten Band in Englisch lesen müsste. Weiterverfolgen oder abbrechen?
Die Tochter des Todes zu sein ist weitaus schwieriger, als es klingt. Deswegen wandte sich Calliope Reaper-Jones von ihrer Familie ab und begann ein normales Leben in New York. Langweilig, ja, aber zumindest weit entfernt vom übernatürlichen Chaos. Doch als ihr Vater samt dem kompletten Aufsichtsrat der Jenseits GmbH entführt wird, bleibt ihr nichts Anderes übrig, als sich erneut in eben dieses Chaos zu stürzen. Um ihre Familie zu schützen, muss sie die Leitung der Firma übernehmen – und ihren Vater als Tod vertreten. Unglücklicherweise ist eine einfache Unterschrift dafür natürlich nicht ausreichend. Callie ist gezwungen, durch die Erfüllung dreier mörderischer Aufgaben ihre Würdigkeit zu beweisen. Als wäre das nicht bereits Herausforderung genug, macht ihr der unverschämt attraktive, charmante Protegé des Teufels auch noch Konkurrenz und scheut sich dabei nicht, fiese Tricks anzuwenden. Einmal Hölle und zurück – wird Callie die Aufgaben meistern und ihre Familie retten?
Als ich „Lieber Tod als Teufel“ das erste Mal gelesen habe, habe ich diesem Reihenauftakt vier Sterne zugestanden. Heute reicht es nur noch für gute zwei Sterne. Erstaunlicherweise kann ich aber verstehen, warum es mich damals begeisterte. Ich habe mich zu dieser Zeit weniger von Makeln stören lassen, war weniger anspruchsvoll. Ich würde sogar so weit gehen, zu behaupten, dass mir viele Punkte damals gar nicht erst aufgefallen sind. Wenn ich ehrlich bin, habe ich durchaus damit gerechnet, dass mich Callies Geschichte heute nicht im gleichen Maße anspricht wie vor ein paar Jahren. Die erwachsene, zumeist weibliche Urban Fantasy hat meiner Meinung nach einfach ein großes Problem: die magere Umsetzung toller Ideen. Auch „Lieber Tod als Teufel“ wirkte auf mich an einigen Stellen zu gewollt, zu übertrieben und unbefriedigend ausgearbeitet. Amber Benson hat das Potential ihrer Ideen nicht vollständig ausgenutzt. Das Ergebnis ist eine Lektüre, die flüssig geschrieben, unterhaltsam, temporeich, abwechslungsreich und nicht allzu vorhersehbar ist, mich aber trotz dessen nicht wirklich überzeugen konnte. Ich wunderte mich darüber, dass mir beim ersten Lesen offenbar nicht auffiel, wie stereotyp und anstrengend die Protagonistin und Ich-Erzählerin Callie ist. Amber Benson würde sie vermutlich als starke Heldin mit einem großen Herzen charakterisieren (was UF-Autor_innen so ziemlich immer über ihre Heldinnen sagen), doch ich sehe in ihr eher ein naives Dummchen. Sie ist begriffsstutzig, oberflächlich und erschreckend unreif. Heulkrämpfe und Wutanfälle sind bei ihr keine Seltenheit, wenn sie gerade mal nicht über ihren liebsten Zeitvertreib faselt: Shopping. Es fliegen so viele Markennamen durch das Buch, dass ich mich fragte, ob Amber Benson möglicherweise einen zusätzlichen Obolus für Produktplatzierungen erhielt. Darüber hinaus manövriert sie Callie immer wieder in absurde Situationen, die mich an den Humor alter Slapstick-Filme erinnerten. Füße hoch, die Flachen kommen!
Faszinierend wäre das Konzept der Jenseits GmbH gewesen, hätte ich denn etwas über die Firma erfahren. Man mag es Callies Desinteresse am Familiengeschäft anrechnen, dass sie kaum eine Silbe darüber verliert, aber sie muss doch wissen, wie die Firma funktioniert. Es wäre sehr schön gewesen, wäre ich eingeweiht worden. Allerdings bezweifle ich, dass Benson die Idee der Jenseits GmbH überhaupt im Detail zu Ende gedacht hat.
Zu guter Letzt möchte ich noch meinem Gefühl Ausdruck verleihen, dass die Übersetzung des Buches aus dem Englischen ins Deutsche nicht gut gelungen ist. Mir sind einige seltsame, unsinnige Vergleiche aufgefallen, die für mich klangen, als seien sie einfach Wort für Wort übersetzt worden. Außerdem empfand ich die Wortwahl zum Teil als recht ordinär und niveaulos. Ich will nicht hoffen, dass Amber Benson tatsächlich so schreibt, denn das hat nichts damit zu tun, die Dinge beim Namen zu nennen. Das ist einfach nur vulgär.
Es überrascht mich nicht, dass ich beim Reread nicht die gleiche Begeisterung für „Lieber Tod als Teufel“ aufbringen konnte wie noch vor einigen Jahren bei der ersten Lektüre. Mein Geschmack hat sich eben entwickelt, ist gewachsen, differenzierter und anspruchsvoller geworden. Ich glaube nicht, dass ich die Reihe über den zweiten Band hinaus weiterverfolgen werde. Vermutlich würde ich nicht mal diesen lesen, wäre es nicht so schwierig gewesen, ihn zu bekommen. Es geht ums Prinzip.
Lest ihr gern weibliche Urban Fantasy, liegt ihr mit „Lieber Tod als Teufel“ sicher nicht allzu weit daneben. Mir ist das Buch persönlich einfach etwas zu girly, es passt nicht (mehr) besonders gut zu mir. Aber das kann bei einem Reread eben immer passieren.
January 20, 2022
I think 9 pages is a new nope-our record, but the POV character is so vapid that I *cannot*
August 17, 2019
After reading some of the reviews about this book, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it, but I did, and I'm not sorry that I did. I enjoyed this book, thought that it was fairly well-paced, and entertaining. There were times I felt lost, wondering if I needed to go back and re-read a couple pages to figure out where I lost track, but it wasn't me. And, given the structure of the writing, I'm satified with this ending good enough to not want to read the next book of the series. I've had enough of Calliope with this one.
February 5, 2021
The idea, world the author created and supporting characters are so good. Unfortunately the MC and writing is not. I feel like with a good rewrite and some polishing it could be amazing.
October 24, 2018
First time reading any books by Amber Benson. Benson was able to tie the three things I love the most about reading - humor, a good plot and a mystery. Look forward to reading more Calliope Reaper-Jones books as well as checking out her other books.
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April 25, 2024This review was originally posted on SFF Insiders.
So one of mine and my wife’s favorite shows to re-binge is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the fourth season, we’re introduced to a character named Tara, played by Amber Benson. I’ve not really had any interaction with the Buffy fandom at large, but it’s my understanding that Tara is a fan favorite character; she certainly is in our house! For large portions of the seasons in which she’s present, Tara is seemingly the only character with a solid head on her shoulders, and one who’s selflessness and empathy towards the other characters make her - especially at times when the rest of the cast is behaving terribly - immeasurably endearing. Justice for Tara!
Why does this matter? Well, I’ve made perusing the rabbit holes of Wikipedia and IMDb something of a hobby ever since I was first given access to a computer, and so I knew that Amber Benson had moved into the writers’ sphere since Buffy’s conclusion in 2003 - but I wasn’t aware (or had forgotten) that this pivot to writing included novels, at least not until I was wandering through our local Half Price Books and saw Death’s Daughter tucked away in the Science-fiction and Fantasy section. And so I grabbed it off the shelf and bought it; considering this artifact of Benson’s creative history with no shortage of curiosity. I love untangling the thread of an artist’s creative output and seeing how their work morphs over time - how old works influence future ones, and how their art was affected (if at all) by other contemporaneous works. And so I was excited to take this dip into Benson’s prose, having only really experienced her work as a performer on Buffy. How would the woman who played Tara write a fantasy novel?
And with that preface out of the way, let’s explore Death’s Daughter - first published in 2009.
The premise is simple enough: Calliope (or “Callie”) Reaper-Jones is the daughter of, you guessed it, Death with a capital D. She has no interest in the family business, and has sequestered herself within the hustle and bustle of New York City, hoping to catch her big break into the glamorous world of high Fashion. To this end she’s even placed a Forgetting Charm on herself, to further wall herself off from her mystical heritage. But as with best-laid-plans, these ones were not to be. You see, someone has kidnapped her father (DEATH, you may recall), her oldest sister, and all the upper executives of Death Incorporated; leaving the mantle of Death to fall to the prodigal daughter Calliope. But it’s not quite so simple as that. She’ll need to complete three tasks to prove she’s capable of the title and responsibilities of Death, or else the Board of Death (there is a lot of business hierarchy in the underworld, apparently) will rescind all the privileges of Death from the Reaper-Jones family. That means no more wealth, no more powers, and most importantly no more immortality. Add to that the sticky wrinkle of knowing there is someone out there holding her father (DEATH!!!!) and her sister hostage, and you’ve got all the makings of a fascinating, fantasy thriller.
But I’ll be honest, I found this book to be a bit challenging - in no small part because of the extremely referential nature of Benson’s descriptive prose. Though not quite as referential as something like Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, Death’s Daughter has a lot of faith that you will know what the heck it is talking about at any given moment. The book might tell you that a character has a “penchant for Keith Richards’s old wardrobe” or that the voice of God sounds like RuPaul. I understand these things, but there were many others I didn’t; and there is little done to help the reader if these moments. You’ll just have to make a best guess, as I had to the handful of times I wasn’t compelled by curiosity to actually look up the reference in question (I now know who Mark Ryden is).
And much as Buffy is an unmistakable artifact of the 1990s, Death’s Daughter is aggressively a child of the following decade - particularly in the design of dialogue and Calliope’s copious inner-monologuing. So if you do not hold any nostalgia for the texture of how Americans spoke to each other at the turn of the century, you might have trouble working through Death’s Daughter; but if you do yearn for that era of history, boy-howdy do I have a book for you.
With these textural elements in mind, we can thus explore the greater narrative of Death’s Daughter. It is a kind of detective story, so I’ll do my best to avoid major plot details beyond those already outlined. While the characters and the dialogue of Death’s Daughter feel inextricably bound to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer school of character development, the grander plot feels far closer to something like Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. The supernatural elements of Buffy always towed a very specific line so as to not lean too heavily toward any specific religion; but Death’s Daughter, like American Gods, just dumps us into a polytheistic world wherein basically every god humans have ever worshiped actually exists. Callie meets the Goddess of Destruction Kali, Queen of the Underworld Persephone, the famed Norse god Odin (stylized in this text to “Wodin”), and even the God of the Bible (with, as mentioned, the voice of RuPaul. Jesus and Lucifer also get shouted out, though it is unclear if the “Devil” character in the text is the same Lucifer or just a successor to the mantle).
We’re whisked through many different worlds, New York City, Atlantis, Hades, Hell (these are two distinct sections of the afterlife, and the text has an interesting explanation as to why there are multiple destinations for Earth’s bad people), and other stygian depths beyond human comprehension; all in service of Callie’s quest to take on the Death mantle and figure out what exactly happened to her family and who took them. It was toward the middle of the book that I had a pretty good guess, and Benson does well to bread-crumb out clues and hints so that the reader can mind-palace-detective-cork-board-with-spiderwebs-of-red-string their way toward a possible solution.
But for what struggles I had making it to the final pages of Death’s Daughter, there were definitely highlights. Benson tricks you with the early chapters, settling you into a fantasy setting that - though dealing with macabre concepts like Death and Hell - feels mostly safe. Violence is sparse, and when it occurs it is not anything you might feel like needing to look away from. But then, there is a turn as the story advances, and Benson reveals that this world does hide true horrors just beneath its surface. The violence becomes more visceral and immediate. There are moments of body horror, brought about as Callie’s Deathly powers more tangibly manifest themselves; and the setting of the final showdown is… well, I won’t spoil it.
So I would recommend this book, with reservations. I definitely don’t think this book is for everyone; but those of you who will click with it will click hard. And apparently there are five of these Calliope Reaper-Jones novels, so I’ll probably explore the next one if I can find a copy.
I hope that doesn’t surprise you. Part of the reason I was excited to have the opportunity to write reviews for SFF Insiders was to give myself an excuse to be more diligent about reading, and push myself to read things I might not normally seek out. I think that - especially for those of us who consider ourselves storytellers - it’s important to take in as much storytelling as we can because there is always something we can learn from it. Famed film director and documentarian Werner Herzog put it this way: “The poet must not avert his eyes”.
And so now, even when I’m not one-hundred percent on board with what a story is doing, as a byproduct of this effort to more conscientiously observe and interact with fiction, I will almost always end up being interested in - at the very least - seeing where the story goes; and the ongoing tales of Calliope Reaper-Jones are no exception.
So if you are - like me - a mental historian of the works of artists you like, are interested in reading an fascinating anthropological artifact from the late 2000s (and all the good and bad that will entail), or are just in the mood for a chosen-one mystery narrative with intriguing fantasy elements, check out Death’s Daughter.
So one of mine and my wife’s favorite shows to re-binge is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the fourth season, we’re introduced to a character named Tara, played by Amber Benson. I’ve not really had any interaction with the Buffy fandom at large, but it’s my understanding that Tara is a fan favorite character; she certainly is in our house! For large portions of the seasons in which she’s present, Tara is seemingly the only character with a solid head on her shoulders, and one who’s selflessness and empathy towards the other characters make her - especially at times when the rest of the cast is behaving terribly - immeasurably endearing. Justice for Tara!
Why does this matter? Well, I’ve made perusing the rabbit holes of Wikipedia and IMDb something of a hobby ever since I was first given access to a computer, and so I knew that Amber Benson had moved into the writers’ sphere since Buffy’s conclusion in 2003 - but I wasn’t aware (or had forgotten) that this pivot to writing included novels, at least not until I was wandering through our local Half Price Books and saw Death’s Daughter tucked away in the Science-fiction and Fantasy section. And so I grabbed it off the shelf and bought it; considering this artifact of Benson’s creative history with no shortage of curiosity. I love untangling the thread of an artist’s creative output and seeing how their work morphs over time - how old works influence future ones, and how their art was affected (if at all) by other contemporaneous works. And so I was excited to take this dip into Benson’s prose, having only really experienced her work as a performer on Buffy. How would the woman who played Tara write a fantasy novel?
And with that preface out of the way, let’s explore Death’s Daughter - first published in 2009.
The premise is simple enough: Calliope (or “Callie”) Reaper-Jones is the daughter of, you guessed it, Death with a capital D. She has no interest in the family business, and has sequestered herself within the hustle and bustle of New York City, hoping to catch her big break into the glamorous world of high Fashion. To this end she’s even placed a Forgetting Charm on herself, to further wall herself off from her mystical heritage. But as with best-laid-plans, these ones were not to be. You see, someone has kidnapped her father (DEATH, you may recall), her oldest sister, and all the upper executives of Death Incorporated; leaving the mantle of Death to fall to the prodigal daughter Calliope. But it’s not quite so simple as that. She’ll need to complete three tasks to prove she’s capable of the title and responsibilities of Death, or else the Board of Death (there is a lot of business hierarchy in the underworld, apparently) will rescind all the privileges of Death from the Reaper-Jones family. That means no more wealth, no more powers, and most importantly no more immortality. Add to that the sticky wrinkle of knowing there is someone out there holding her father (DEATH!!!!) and her sister hostage, and you’ve got all the makings of a fascinating, fantasy thriller.
But I’ll be honest, I found this book to be a bit challenging - in no small part because of the extremely referential nature of Benson’s descriptive prose. Though not quite as referential as something like Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, Death’s Daughter has a lot of faith that you will know what the heck it is talking about at any given moment. The book might tell you that a character has a “penchant for Keith Richards’s old wardrobe” or that the voice of God sounds like RuPaul. I understand these things, but there were many others I didn’t; and there is little done to help the reader if these moments. You’ll just have to make a best guess, as I had to the handful of times I wasn’t compelled by curiosity to actually look up the reference in question (I now know who Mark Ryden is).
And much as Buffy is an unmistakable artifact of the 1990s, Death’s Daughter is aggressively a child of the following decade - particularly in the design of dialogue and Calliope’s copious inner-monologuing. So if you do not hold any nostalgia for the texture of how Americans spoke to each other at the turn of the century, you might have trouble working through Death’s Daughter; but if you do yearn for that era of history, boy-howdy do I have a book for you.
With these textural elements in mind, we can thus explore the greater narrative of Death’s Daughter. It is a kind of detective story, so I’ll do my best to avoid major plot details beyond those already outlined. While the characters and the dialogue of Death’s Daughter feel inextricably bound to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer school of character development, the grander plot feels far closer to something like Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. The supernatural elements of Buffy always towed a very specific line so as to not lean too heavily toward any specific religion; but Death’s Daughter, like American Gods, just dumps us into a polytheistic world wherein basically every god humans have ever worshiped actually exists. Callie meets the Goddess of Destruction Kali, Queen of the Underworld Persephone, the famed Norse god Odin (stylized in this text to “Wodin”), and even the God of the Bible (with, as mentioned, the voice of RuPaul. Jesus and Lucifer also get shouted out, though it is unclear if the “Devil” character in the text is the same Lucifer or just a successor to the mantle).
We’re whisked through many different worlds, New York City, Atlantis, Hades, Hell (these are two distinct sections of the afterlife, and the text has an interesting explanation as to why there are multiple destinations for Earth’s bad people), and other stygian depths beyond human comprehension; all in service of Callie’s quest to take on the Death mantle and figure out what exactly happened to her family and who took them. It was toward the middle of the book that I had a pretty good guess, and Benson does well to bread-crumb out clues and hints so that the reader can mind-palace-detective-cork-board-with-spiderwebs-of-red-string their way toward a possible solution.
But for what struggles I had making it to the final pages of Death’s Daughter, there were definitely highlights. Benson tricks you with the early chapters, settling you into a fantasy setting that - though dealing with macabre concepts like Death and Hell - feels mostly safe. Violence is sparse, and when it occurs it is not anything you might feel like needing to look away from. But then, there is a turn as the story advances, and Benson reveals that this world does hide true horrors just beneath its surface. The violence becomes more visceral and immediate. There are moments of body horror, brought about as Callie’s Deathly powers more tangibly manifest themselves; and the setting of the final showdown is… well, I won’t spoil it.
So I would recommend this book, with reservations. I definitely don’t think this book is for everyone; but those of you who will click with it will click hard. And apparently there are five of these Calliope Reaper-Jones novels, so I’ll probably explore the next one if I can find a copy.
I hope that doesn’t surprise you. Part of the reason I was excited to have the opportunity to write reviews for SFF Insiders was to give myself an excuse to be more diligent about reading, and push myself to read things I might not normally seek out. I think that - especially for those of us who consider ourselves storytellers - it’s important to take in as much storytelling as we can because there is always something we can learn from it. Famed film director and documentarian Werner Herzog put it this way: “The poet must not avert his eyes”.
And so now, even when I’m not one-hundred percent on board with what a story is doing, as a byproduct of this effort to more conscientiously observe and interact with fiction, I will almost always end up being interested in - at the very least - seeing where the story goes; and the ongoing tales of Calliope Reaper-Jones are no exception.
So if you are - like me - a mental historian of the works of artists you like, are interested in reading an fascinating anthropological artifact from the late 2000s (and all the good and bad that will entail), or are just in the mood for a chosen-one mystery narrative with intriguing fantasy elements, check out Death’s Daughter.
May 9, 2017
Calliope Reaper-Jones just wanted a normal life, she wanted a normal career, and wanted to live the life of a New York City girl. She was doing a pretty good job of it too. That is, until the forgetting charm she put on herself wore off and reminded her of who she really is. Calliope Reaper-Jones is death’s daughter. Like, the actual death, the one who comes to tell you that your time is up. When her dad is kidnapped it is up to Calliope to take over the family business. Before she can do that though, she needs to prove her worth by going up against the devil’s choice to take over the business in a trial.
I have always been a huge fan of the fantasy genre so when I heard about this novel I rushed out to get it as soon as possible. Written by Amber Benson, whose claim to fame is being Tara on the hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it seemed like it would be right up my alley. I wasn’t wrong. Calliope is so relatable to any woman who is or has been in their mid-twenties. She wants to have her life together but clearly doesn’t even before she remembers who she really is. What I found interesting about this novel was that it was something I personally had never experienced in all my years of reading fantasy. It was a new idea, someone being death’s daughter and not wanting to have that responsibility.
Along with Calliope the reader is also introduced to her side kick Jarvis who is a faun and the devil’s protégé. Jarvis is exactly what a reader would want in a side kick. He’s funny when he needs to be and desperately wants Calliope to succeed, even if it gets mad at her along the way. For me, he quickly became a character that I wanted to be around all the time. The devil’s protégé was a different story completely. Charming, sarcastic, good looking, and witty I knew from the beginning he was going to be trouble for Calliope. It was clear he was the love interest and more than anything else I wanted to hate him as soon as he was introduced. I was not successful. By the end of the novel I wanted more than anything for him and Calliope to get together, even if I knew it was doomed to fail.
If I had to have one criticism of this novel it would be that it was a little slow going. There were moments where I felt like the novel was dragging when it shouldn’t have been. I would have preferred there to be constant action in a novel like this one as opposed to slow going moments. The more I thought about it after reading the novel, the more I think it was because this is a series. There is a total of five books in the series and I have read three of them so far. I would love to get to the chance to speak to Benson about it because I would be very interested in what she would have to say about the length and slow going aspects of the Calliope Reaper-Jones series.
Overall, I really enjoyed the first book in the Calliope Reaper- Jones series, Death’s Daughter. There were many funny moments and I enjoyed being able to be in a different type of fantasy world for a change. I would recommend this novel to any Fantasy enthusiast and suggest that they pick up all the books in the series at once, you might not want to put them down!
I have always been a huge fan of the fantasy genre so when I heard about this novel I rushed out to get it as soon as possible. Written by Amber Benson, whose claim to fame is being Tara on the hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it seemed like it would be right up my alley. I wasn’t wrong. Calliope is so relatable to any woman who is or has been in their mid-twenties. She wants to have her life together but clearly doesn’t even before she remembers who she really is. What I found interesting about this novel was that it was something I personally had never experienced in all my years of reading fantasy. It was a new idea, someone being death’s daughter and not wanting to have that responsibility.
Along with Calliope the reader is also introduced to her side kick Jarvis who is a faun and the devil’s protégé. Jarvis is exactly what a reader would want in a side kick. He’s funny when he needs to be and desperately wants Calliope to succeed, even if it gets mad at her along the way. For me, he quickly became a character that I wanted to be around all the time. The devil’s protégé was a different story completely. Charming, sarcastic, good looking, and witty I knew from the beginning he was going to be trouble for Calliope. It was clear he was the love interest and more than anything else I wanted to hate him as soon as he was introduced. I was not successful. By the end of the novel I wanted more than anything for him and Calliope to get together, even if I knew it was doomed to fail.
If I had to have one criticism of this novel it would be that it was a little slow going. There were moments where I felt like the novel was dragging when it shouldn’t have been. I would have preferred there to be constant action in a novel like this one as opposed to slow going moments. The more I thought about it after reading the novel, the more I think it was because this is a series. There is a total of five books in the series and I have read three of them so far. I would love to get to the chance to speak to Benson about it because I would be very interested in what she would have to say about the length and slow going aspects of the Calliope Reaper-Jones series.
Overall, I really enjoyed the first book in the Calliope Reaper- Jones series, Death’s Daughter. There were many funny moments and I enjoyed being able to be in a different type of fantasy world for a change. I would recommend this novel to any Fantasy enthusiast and suggest that they pick up all the books in the series at once, you might not want to put them down!
February 11, 2022
Death’s Daughter by Amber Benson */*****
#AudiblesSale #Review
Triggers: Annoying Heroine
Subgenres/ Tropes: Paranormal Romance?, Urban Fantasy
I’d like to start by saying that I was super excited to start this book when I found it on a 2 for 1 sale on audibles. I looked into the author, who is an actress from Buffy, and read the synopsis and a few of the positive reviews, all seemed like this book was gonna be super great! But It most certainly is not! I ended up DNFing this book at chapter 14, about halfway through because Cali is one of the most annoying, childish, and whinny heroines I have ever had the displeasure of reading outside of a YA novel. Honestly this woman is at least 24 (since she says she's been living on her own for the last 6 years in New York) and the amount of whining and “this can’t be happening to me” is just inexcusable. I just don't know how she has survived in New York if this is how she behaves in everyday life.
I think that the idea of this story was a good one but Amber Benson just failed at the execution of it. Maybe if she had written the Heroine to read more maturely or spend more time actually building the world instead of just thrusting it at us all at once it would have been so much better. I also don’t understand the romantic interest in the slimmy Daniel, he seemed to be putting a spell on her and her reactions are just so juvenile. The younger sister, who isnt even of age, would have made a better death than Cali would.
I have absolutely no plans of ever trying to make it through this book/ series and that is not something I normally say. Honestly I normally would have skipped to the end just to see if it was worth finishing or at least had a decent ending but I just can't stand Cali. I looked into the rest of this series before completely giving up on this book/ series and it just seems to be more of the same except that they actually do end up putting her in charge! WTF, no amount of character growth could get her ready for the job. If I could give no stars I would...
PS, this book is narrated by Amber Benson which seemed like it’d be great but after a while her voice just got on my nerves and lacked any other tone except whining.
Ebook:https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Daughte...
Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Deaths-Dau...
Author’s Website:
Goodreads:
#AudiblesSale #Review
Triggers: Annoying Heroine
Subgenres/ Tropes: Paranormal Romance?, Urban Fantasy
I’d like to start by saying that I was super excited to start this book when I found it on a 2 for 1 sale on audibles. I looked into the author, who is an actress from Buffy, and read the synopsis and a few of the positive reviews, all seemed like this book was gonna be super great! But It most certainly is not! I ended up DNFing this book at chapter 14, about halfway through because Cali is one of the most annoying, childish, and whinny heroines I have ever had the displeasure of reading outside of a YA novel. Honestly this woman is at least 24 (since she says she's been living on her own for the last 6 years in New York) and the amount of whining and “this can’t be happening to me” is just inexcusable. I just don't know how she has survived in New York if this is how she behaves in everyday life.
I think that the idea of this story was a good one but Amber Benson just failed at the execution of it. Maybe if she had written the Heroine to read more maturely or spend more time actually building the world instead of just thrusting it at us all at once it would have been so much better. I also don’t understand the romantic interest in the slimmy Daniel, he seemed to be putting a spell on her and her reactions are just so juvenile. The younger sister, who isnt even of age, would have made a better death than Cali would.
I have absolutely no plans of ever trying to make it through this book/ series and that is not something I normally say. Honestly I normally would have skipped to the end just to see if it was worth finishing or at least had a decent ending but I just can't stand Cali. I looked into the rest of this series before completely giving up on this book/ series and it just seems to be more of the same except that they actually do end up putting her in charge! WTF, no amount of character growth could get her ready for the job. If I could give no stars I would...
PS, this book is narrated by Amber Benson which seemed like it’d be great but after a while her voice just got on my nerves and lacked any other tone except whining.
Ebook:https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Daughte...
Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Deaths-Dau...
Author’s Website:
Goodreads:
April 4, 2011
Having just finished reading the first solo effort as an author by the remarkable Amber Benson, I have to say I was really surprised! I was quite caught up in the continuing & sometimes very unexpected adventures of Calliope, who is also the middle daughter or none other than Death himself!
It took me a little while to get into the style of first person inner monologue, perhaps because Calliope - also known as Calli to her friends & family - has such different aspirations from me... I can think of nothing less likely to cause me to sever ties to my family than a career in fashion publishing in New York City... but this is what she has her heart set on. To her credit she is doing the hard yards, so the story does take a dramatic turn when she has to return to her family, a journey of self discovery, as well as one which incorporates forays into Hell itself...
Without giving too much away, Amber Benson gives some wonderfully vivid, but succinct, descriptions of situations, emotions & physical experiences which really put you in the characters shoes throughout the story... There are so many twists & turns, & whilst I had my suspicions about the ultimate culprit, I was not prepared for all the details when the truth came out. In some ways I was sorry the story ended when it did, & there are still mysteries to solve & people to (hopefully) find who were lost at the end of the last book!
For anyone who enjoys a good fantasy mystery, or even a paranormal romance I would recommend you try this book out! For me, I am about to open the pages of "Cat's Claws" the follow up novel, as soon as I complete this review!
It took me a little while to get into the style of first person inner monologue, perhaps because Calliope - also known as Calli to her friends & family - has such different aspirations from me... I can think of nothing less likely to cause me to sever ties to my family than a career in fashion publishing in New York City... but this is what she has her heart set on. To her credit she is doing the hard yards, so the story does take a dramatic turn when she has to return to her family, a journey of self discovery, as well as one which incorporates forays into Hell itself...
Without giving too much away, Amber Benson gives some wonderfully vivid, but succinct, descriptions of situations, emotions & physical experiences which really put you in the characters shoes throughout the story... There are so many twists & turns, & whilst I had my suspicions about the ultimate culprit, I was not prepared for all the details when the truth came out. In some ways I was sorry the story ended when it did, & there are still mysteries to solve & people to (hopefully) find who were lost at the end of the last book!
For anyone who enjoys a good fantasy mystery, or even a paranormal romance I would recommend you try this book out! For me, I am about to open the pages of "Cat's Claws" the follow up novel, as soon as I complete this review!
June 3, 2009
Calliope Reaper-Jones, longing for a normal life and a glamorous career, is called into the family business when her father, Death, is kidnapped and, in order to step into the CEO slot on the company board, must compete against the Devil's protégé to find three objects of power in hell. Original.
Calliope Reaper-Jones so just wanted a normal life: buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from Craig's List, web-surfing for organic dim-sum for her boss... But when her father -- who happens to be Death himself -- is kidnapped, and the Devil's Protege embarks on a hostile takeover of the family business, Death, Inc., Callie returns home to assume the CEO mantle -- only to discover she must complete three nearly impossible tasks in the realm of the afterlife first.
I love the snarky dialoge, but I thought that Callie was just a little too whiney. If there had been a bit of editing the book would have had a faster pace and and stronger characters. Overall, for a debut of a new series, the story gives a little too much background. I am looking forward to the next one in the series and I hope the humor continues. Overall, I really enjoyed it and read it quickly.
Calliope Reaper-Jones so just wanted a normal life: buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from Craig's List, web-surfing for organic dim-sum for her boss... But when her father -- who happens to be Death himself -- is kidnapped, and the Devil's Protege embarks on a hostile takeover of the family business, Death, Inc., Callie returns home to assume the CEO mantle -- only to discover she must complete three nearly impossible tasks in the realm of the afterlife first.
I love the snarky dialoge, but I thought that Callie was just a little too whiney. If there had been a bit of editing the book would have had a faster pace and and stronger characters. Overall, for a debut of a new series, the story gives a little too much background. I am looking forward to the next one in the series and I hope the humor continues. Overall, I really enjoyed it and read it quickly.
January 4, 2013
Not a bad beginning to a series at all.
Calliope Reaper-Jones is literally Death's Daughter. Add the Devil sulking about, and his son, plus God kinda makes an appearance, and all sorts of gods and mythical monsters (I want offspring of Cerberus I can name Runt), and I really can't wait to read the rest of the series. The ending of this has me wondering about the other books, since it ends in a very defined way, and hopefully Amber won't keep using kidnapped Death as the catalyst for everything.
Calliope is very...non-heroic. She tends to get weepy when extremely lost, more flight than fight, and she's very clothes-conscious. Also wants to do every cute guy in sight, but either the circumstances are wrong, or the guy is very wrong. Which I'm thankful for. I'm so tired of people getting busy and acting like the situation is just stolen cookies. Boring and done time and time again.
Kudos to the author for writing a relatively different concept, and not taking every already-been-done-before road in the genre.
Calliope Reaper-Jones is literally Death's Daughter. Add the Devil sulking about, and his son, plus God kinda makes an appearance, and all sorts of gods and mythical monsters (I want offspring of Cerberus I can name Runt), and I really can't wait to read the rest of the series. The ending of this has me wondering about the other books, since it ends in a very defined way, and hopefully Amber won't keep using kidnapped Death as the catalyst for everything.
Calliope is very...non-heroic. She tends to get weepy when extremely lost, more flight than fight, and she's very clothes-conscious. Also wants to do every cute guy in sight, but either the circumstances are wrong, or the guy is very wrong. Which I'm thankful for. I'm so tired of people getting busy and acting like the situation is just stolen cookies. Boring and done time and time again.
Kudos to the author for writing a relatively different concept, and not taking every already-been-done-before road in the genre.
July 12, 2009
The main character is far too Gossip-Girl-fashion-frenzied for my tastes; the surprise twist villain is not so very surprising; the actual writing leaves something (!) to be desired. That said, this book is fun. The pan theism is well done, the quest itself is interesting enough to make me Wikipedia some facts, and the characters (my personal approval of their traits aside) are believable. For instance, I generally dislike Buffy-esque "just want to be a normal girl" characters like the novel's protagonist Calliope. I usually want to say to them, "the world sucks, quit bemoaning your superpowers because you keep using them to survive and save the day." However, I find Calliope's reason for lamenting her immortality believable and I like that her character--while not static--remains true throughout the book.
I look forward to reading the sequels to this book to see how the mythology of the world coalesces.
I look forward to reading the sequels to this book to see how the mythology of the world coalesces.
March 6, 2010
I admit that I picked up this book entirely because of the author's turn as a beloved character on Buffy. I did not have very high expectations, and the book exceeded them, I suppose - but not by too much. The writing is competent and clear, the plot, while a little muddy at times, moves along at a reasonable clip, and it's definitely not the Terry Pratchett ripoff I expected when I read the synopsis.
That being said, I am not sure I'll go out of my way to read the next ones, and there's really one reason. The main character is an unlikeable brat. She appears to be intended to be an unlikeable brat, so that worked out, I guess, but I still didn't find her brand-name-dropping and snide remarks about people's appearances particularly fun to endure. The character of Kali was entertainingly volatile and layered, but Calliope herself was just a drag. Possibly at some point in the series she grows up - until then, I'll probably take a pass.
That being said, I am not sure I'll go out of my way to read the next ones, and there's really one reason. The main character is an unlikeable brat. She appears to be intended to be an unlikeable brat, so that worked out, I guess, but I still didn't find her brand-name-dropping and snide remarks about people's appearances particularly fun to endure. The character of Kali was entertainingly volatile and layered, but Calliope herself was just a drag. Possibly at some point in the series she grows up - until then, I'll probably take a pass.
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