Jess’s Reviews > The Death of Jane Lawrence > Status Update

Rituals, ghosts, mysterious supernatural creatures, body horror. I didn’t know what was happening or what to expect, & not in a good way. I’ve been obsessed with Starling’s books this year. I’ll keep reading them, but wow, I hated this one. Should’ve known to stick with her sapphic books. This is what I get for reading a book about trying to preserve a straight relationship; ofc it wasn’t my thing! /j

Who cares about Augustine? We haven’t read about him in what feels like ages, & he lied & kept Jane in the dangerous dark of unknowing. But she fixed magic by “getting rid of” magic. Which is what happened in Starling’s Oblivion Bride, except I actually liked that book. Also, I guess her magic isn’t gone bc of the last line. It felt like too much & half baked. Time bending, reality bending, math magic-

This wasn’t for me. I liked the buildup in the first third, but genuinely after magic was added, this went downhill imo. Which is crazy, since the paranormal horror is the whole point of this books I struggled to understand & resonate with Jane’s motivations, why the magic worked, & what exactly the threat was. From what I’ve gathered, the actual antagonist was death itself; she rewrote time so she & Augustine

-so reading some of the logical explanatory paragraphs is tedious for me personally

My interest has picked up a bit as Jane grows more unhinged. I was really into this novel before the magic stuff, honestly. The buildup intrigued me then, & I was very drawn to Jane’s characterization. I think the magic system isn’t to my taste (which is fine). Incorporating math into it is unique & cool, but unfortunately for me as a reader, I hate math-

I’m having difficulty staying engaged with this novel 😣 bc our protagonist doesn’t have a clear idea of what she plans to do & bc we don’t really know what the risks are… it sorta feels like not much is happening. Idk, ig I’m just used to Starlig’s novels being more thrilling since that’s the style I’ve seen from her. Where is the danger? There’s no horror without danger. Vague ghost presence ig

Not quite as spooky as I was imagining this would be tbh 🤔

Was that really Augustine trying to operate on Jane? Or a spirit’s illusion?

Magic is real!