Monday, February 8, 2016

Reaper's Deliverance: Book 1 of the Grim Alliance Series by Miranda Stork

Ungood

Ryder is a typical bad boy who dies running from the police. After his death, he chooses to become a reaper instead of moving on to his next life. While on a collection, he meets Elizabeth and her son, Thomas. It's after meeting them that he discovers the job of being a reaper might be harder than he realized.

I thought this was such a cool concept, and I was really interested in it. But I had a problem with the stereotypical main character and a few of the plot points. When Ryder is first introduced to the rest of the reapers, they all unload their super personal deep, dark secrets to him. I felt like this could have been eased into, maybe spread out over the series and not just spewed out in the first meeting. Also, a lot of the bad past lives the other reapers led involved drugs, and it felt a little preachy to me. 

I also did not enjoy the writing style most of the time. Stephen King said "the road to hell is paved with adverbs," and I'm beginning to believe him. Ryder's eyes were described so often and in so many different ways that it was incredibly distracting to me as a reader. I understand his eyes are blue, but does it have to be pointed out every time he looks at someone? The adverbs were carried into the action scenes near the end and instead of being excited and held in suspense, I was bogged down and trying to sift through the descriptors to find the action. 

Overall, I did think this was a really neat concept, though, and I think young adult readers would really enjoy it. 

Buy Reaper's Deliverance: Book 1 of the Grim Alliance Series by Miranda Stork at Amazon.com

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