Rating: 3 out of 5.

This was a fun, fluffy urban paranormal fantasy that features the daughter of Death, Jocasta, just trying to be normal at college. She’s got great friends and a complicated relationship with a TA, Carter. Instead of killing people she feeds on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. All is going well until a sexy guy named Devon, a descendant of Lust—shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target. When a friend of Jo’s is murdered, Jo becomes the number 1 suspect. As the body count rises, and Jo does everything she can to protect those she loves, she tests the limits of her power and doesn’t know who to trust.

I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job. She kept me invested in the story even when it lagged. The book is a bit slow for my taste. The pacing is off on the book and there were too many things going on with little follow-through. I think paring certain elements down and focusing on doing those well would help in future books.

The book centers on Greek mythology-inspired deities, here called Old Ones, but there isn’t much worldbuilding. The little we do know comes from Jo learning it from Devon. Jo is a bit all over the place. She’s timid and uncertain one minute, and then bossing everyone around and being the self-sacrificing hero the next. She needs to slow down and build on how she eventually wants to deal with her new status as Death’s successor. Jo’s relationship with Carter is messy and his character is pretty one-note, although based on the way the book ended, I think we’ll learn more about him later. Hopefully he will get a personality and is fleshed out more. Same with Devon. He was a bit more developed than Carter, but he definitely needs more work so he can come to life.

Overall the story is good and I think is strong enough to support future books that provide more depth in all the characters. The book ends on a cliffhanger that works well for the intended next book in the series.

I received a complimentary audio of the book from Macmillan Audio. All opinions are my own.