3.5 stars

Note: This review is for the first three books in the series so there might be a spoiler or two if you haven’t read any of them or only the first one.

After reading the first book in the series I was really undecided. Especially since the first book really was setting things up for the main story arc. There was a pretty cool twist at the end though.

So I decided to read the second book as well and found it… lacking. It was not as good as the first and the first was already average at best. But again, it was continuing to set things up and it appeared that the ending was actually the real start for Zoey’s adventures.

So call me gullible but I decided to gamble and read the third book as well. The third book was better than the second but still… I was hoping for more. I did not feel that I wasted my time though. There was indeed some enjoyable moments but unfortunately also a lot of rubbish parts.

Overall I give the series three stars but only two of the three books I’ve read was worth three stars and that was barely.

So, as I wrote, the first book is a lot of setting up. The books feels a bit slow and a lot of it is spent on Zoey not being able to reap. Since she is supposed to be a Grim Reaper that is a bit of an issue. The books is also dragged down by a bunch of woke bullshit that the author felt he had to throw in to appease the small but loudmouthed woke/cancel mob.

I mean, seriously? A homosexual hellhound with three heads. Is there no end to this crap? And don’t get me started about the silly “head” jokes. At least the hound himself, who talks by the way, is quite cool once you filtered out the rubbish.

The first book is saved by the ending which has a quite cool twist. One that sets the path for Zoey’s future adventures.

The second unfortunately felt mostly boring with a bunch of scheming, plotting and backstabbing. It kind of continued the story from the first book but it wasn’t until the very end that Zoey was finally released on the path that I assume she will follow in the coming books.

The third book is better than the second. Zoey has assumed her role as “reaper for hire”. Overall the story is not that bad and I do like Zoey and her Hellhound. But the story is just that, not bad but not great either. There are quite a few enjoyable moments but also quite a few silly or stupid moments.

For example the just standing there staring while the bad guy is nocked over and wait until he recovers stupid moment. Then we have this idea of Charon the ferryman on the river Styx apparently investing in crypto and buying Gummi bears. What the fuck? Did the author really think that was funny?

So, the bottom line is that this series is just barely good enough for me to give it three stars and that is with some hesitation. Will I continue this series? Well, that is a big maybe and I am certainly not in a rush to do so.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was good, the story brilliant and the whole thing flowed.