Review: The Reaper's Daughter by KM Randall

The Reaper's Daughter

by KM Randall

Release: 5th May 2015

Other books by KM Randall: Fractured Dream

Goodreads Description

I’ve always felt like an average girl ... except for my strange relationship with death. You could say I like to court it. Whether I’m soaring through the air as a flyer for Specter University’s cheer squad, or speeding down the steepest mountain with only grace and balance keeping me from an icy end, I’ve always needed to feel a rush. But now Death is courting me―in more ways than one. First, there’s Rishi, a rogue death deity who has a penchant for annoying me nearly to my grave and whose intense gaze has the power to see right through me. Then there’s Hades, who I’d rather had stayed just a myth. Now that he knows I exist, he’s not going to leave me alone until I meet the same end as my mother.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention her? I spent my whole life thinking she had died when I was a baby, but now I’ve found out she’s much more than dead. Fifty years ago, Hades banished my mother from the underworld and took away her ability to cross over souls―souls that have wandered lost through the world ever since. Now she wants me to clean up the mess. You may have​ heard of her before ...

They call her the Grim Reaper.

My Review

        This was very much a "meh" book for me. It wasn't absolutely mind-blowingly brilliant and neither was it excruciatingly tedious and boring. It was enjoyable though and I'd recommend you give it a go if you're into YA Paranormal!

        Blake is your standard American teenager. I don't claim to know much about American teenagers being British, but from what I've observed of Youtubers and the like, she's fairly standard. She's a cheerleader with a quite dominant thirst for thrill. All her life Blake's lived a normal life as a normal teenager. That's until a strange boy appears in her life. This boy, Rishi, has been living with Blake's dead mum since he was a child. Turns out she's not dead. In fact, she is death: she's the Grim Reaper. Unfortunately, she's death with a bit of a chunk of her missing. The Reaper's Daughter follows Blake, Rishi, and Blake's best friend Shelby, on their journey to retrieve the stolen scythe that will give Grim back her humanity.

        As with a lot of books from newer authors, this got progressively better as it went on, the quality of the tone and the quality of the characters increasing dramatically. Unfortunately though, for most of the book the tone was rather lacking. It seemed very cheery "I'm a teenager living a teenager life" contemporary. Sure, it's YA and it's about teenagers, but it's also about death. I feel like this book was lacking the more morbid imagery that would have made the book so much better. I don't mean turning it into a gothic novel, but the tone just didn't fit the theme of the book and it did seem to disrupt my enjoyment.

        The character's in this book are more likeable as you get to know them. (I'm speaking for Blake and Shelby here; I'll talk about Rishi later in this section) At first Blake was as annoying as they come. I really considered stopping reading it near the beginning because I just couldn't stand her characterisation. However, I did begin to see the more likeable side to her as the story progressed. Shelby, though...well...I guess there's always going to be that one character you just can't get along with! Rishi, on the other hand, was an amazing character. I loved him since the beginning. He's fantastic and just knows what he's doing. He's not annoying once in this book, which is great! I'd say the only really 3D characters in The Reaper's Daughter are Rishi and Seba, however Blake does become a bit more of an expanded character as the novel progresses. Shelby though...we've already been through this. ;)

        One thing I loved in this book, just to lighten up the mood a bit here, was the scenery. Everything had it's image in my head and the world wasn't left grey and misty like a lot of books that I've read. Not the best imagery, but still relatively strong and very clear. Maybe that was the main thing that kept me going and enjoying it? 

        In the next novel I'm hoping we'll get to know some lost souls and maybe even get to know Grim! It would be great to meet all the people who've died and learn about how they all feel about everything. I'd also love an eccentric character, but I always love an eccentric character!

Will I be buying this book for my collection?: Probably not. 

Will I be reading the next book in this series?: Definitely!

Abi Ainley