Kristy Cunning

This one had elements I love and a few I don't so much hence it got 4 stars instead of 5.

So the stuff I don't like so much. This is full of supernatural beings mostly having to do with Hell. How do you win at anything when the actual devil is driving things? And also the heroes are some sort grim reapers but they are not sure themselves what they are. But they're trying to win some sort of competition so they can come and go in Hell and figure some stuff out. I guess the whole Hell angle is show more not a favored milieu for me so that tamps down a bit of my enjoyment.

BUT and it's a big but, I loved the heroine and the rest of the set up. She is an incorporeal being who knows nothing about herself except she is stuck haunting these 4 guys. She can't talk to them or appear to them or make them aware of her in anyway. She has spent those years building fantasies in her mind about how they would all be such friends (and lovers) if they could actually meet that when she finally does become apparent to them, although still incorporeal, and they turn out to not want her around she is devastated. There is a lovely bit of pathos here and her characterization is well done. She can't leave though because if she is not around them, she winks out. When they start getting attacked she feels compelled to protect them even when she's mad at them and disappointed.

So I will go on with the series and hope all the god/devil stuff begins to make sense. Although I will no doubt continue to wish the set up had been something other. show less

This book starts with an odd scene that has you wondering "what am I reading?" That only last a few pages as you are drawn completely into this story. The MC, Keyla (as the guys name her), is sassy and full of spunk. The guys are a bit cruel and at times I wanted to reach thru and slap them. Be prepared because this book will leave you with tons of questions and not many answers. I feel like I have to read book 2 because I really want to know what is going on with these people. I am off to show more find those answers in the next book. show less

I have lots of thoughts about this series but I can't put it into words properly.

The reverse harem setup was done in a unique and interesting way that allows the author to believably pass by lots of the issues most RH struggles with like how the woman can believably develop feelings for all of them without looking like a bitch.
This is a prime example that you indeed can do RH in a really believable and enjoyable way and that it is worth holding the RH flood in general to a higher standard show more than it currently is.

Sadly, the final L-word acceptance seemed very forced and out of place to me despite not being insta-lovey at all. The series fell short at the final hurdle in this. The author stretches the whole antagonistic back and forth for so long that when she finally tries to resolve it, it just feels wrong.

Something similar happens with the worldbuilding. The more we know, the more it limps and in the end, it all feels much more clichée than I think it deserves because there is so much original stuff in here.
It's tragic really. Great mind with great ideas but she is just not able to properly finish any of them.

There are so many interesting and (at least to me) new ideas in this book especially at first that I very much enjoyed it but it really struggles to get them all under the same hat towards the end of the series.
Things start to fray at the edges and more and more obvious intervention by the author is necessary to keep it all together.
There is a lot of long term planning with a great payoff in some cases but at the same time, there are lots of plotholes between all these interesting and/or new things.

As a reader, you need to be willing to suspend disbelief in a big way especially towards the later books to properly enjoy it and I always struggle with that. I rarely was completely booted out of the story flow by contradictions but there was always one thing or another nagging at me.


Despite these shortcomings and all my complaining, I think this is a must-read for everyone that enjoys and want's to read this because of the RH aspect.
It is so different and unique that I think everyone should give it at least a try just to get a taste again of how much can be done in seemingly stale genres. show less

Initially, it was nothing special but somewhat entertaining.
It got a bit tedious throughout the middle because there is just a lot of repetition which, among other things, slows plot progression to a crawl.

The final death strike came at the end of the last chapter in the final revelation climax.
Any logic or common sense flies out of the window to preserve the reverse harem setup.
Broken trust? who cares, betrayal? who cares, vicious slaughter? kidnapping? sexual assault? nobody cares! Gotta show more get that harem working!
I dropped the audiobook not 15 minutes before the end and I regret nothing.
This was a colossal waste of time because the book only revealed its true face right at the end. show less