Sometimes a book catches your attention because of who the main character seems to be. I mean the title says it all for Death’s Daughter. I was intrigued to see how that would all play out! Today I want to tell you all about this book and what I thought.
A big thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC to read and review. This doesn’t affect my opinion in any way.
Perfect for fans of Ninth House, Nightshade, and Neon Gods, Death’s Daughter is a dark, spicy and deliciously autumnal contemporary romantic fantasy in a dark academia setting, in which the only daughter of Death is named his successor, making her both a powerful ally and a massive target, all while she tries to make it through her final year at college . . .
Time for her to join the family business
Jocasta’s carved out a normal life at Beecher University―well, as normal as possible with a name like Jocasta and being the only child of Death.
She has good friends and a messy situationship with her former TA. But her friends, her crush, and her classmates don’t know the truth about who – or what – she is. They would be horrified to discover Jo must feed to survive – and she feeds on them. But she refuses to take lives, feasting instead on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. It’s not a perfect system, but it works.
Until a sexy stranger – and descendant of Lust – shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target.
Jo’s safe little bubble is about to burst, but she will do anything to protect the people she loves. Even if it means becoming what she hates…
Review
Of course, I couldn’t resist a book where our main character is literally Death’s daughter. I’m glad I couldn’t resist this book, because it was such a great time. I laughed, loved the tension, and was at the edge of my seat during this story. I also really appreciate that the ending left us having quite a few things wrapped up, but also with enough questions to definitely have me wanting a second book. Ava Lucas brought our characters to life in the audiobook and I felt like she was telling me the story.
Death’s Daughter starts off quite exciting and tragic and we learn things as Jocasta does. Yeah, she knows where she’s from, but that’s about as far as things go. The events taking place really start to make her wonder what’s going on and maybe even embracing her future a lot earlier than she ever thought. She’s really just trying to live her life and keep a low profile. That got thrown out of the window! I loved the paranormal elements in the story and the slowburn romance, that may be a love triangle? Her group of friends are amazing and I’m very intrigued to know more about Devon.
S.A. Barnes knew how to keep me on my toes because there were quite a few things I didn’t see coming at all. That being said. I would’ve enjoyed just a bit more world building. Learning about the Old Ones and how that all is put together is something I feel we need a little bit more of. Also, I know Daan is Dutch, but the Dutch used in the story felt a bit misplaced and as I read along with the book, I even noticed an error. It just didn’t feel necessary in the story. That being said, I still had a great time and hope we get a few more books in this world. Death’s Daughter is my first S.A. Barnes’ book, but it won’t be my last.
Looking at S.A. Barnes’ backlist, it seems that she’s known for her horror books. If an author writes a book you enjoy and only seems to write books in a different genre, will you try those out as well? Or do you wait until they write something else in the genre you enjoyed? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
