I wasn’t sure what to expect of Death’s Daughter especially after Ghost Station, but I enjoyed this mystery take on old Gods. I’m not sure if this is really that dark academia, because it’s more a setting, but I enjoyed the character work and the mystery. Keep reading this book review of Death’s Daughter for my full thoughts.
Summary
Jocasta’s carved out a normal life at Beecher University—well, as normal as possible with a name like Jocasta and being the only child of Death.
She has good friends and a messy situationship with her former TA. But her friends, her crush, and her classmates don’t know the truth about who—what—she is. They would be horrified to discover Jo must feed to survive—and she feeds on them. But she refuses to take lives, feasting instead on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. It’s not a perfect system, but it works.
Until a sexy stranger—and descendant of Lust—shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target.
Jo’s safe little bubble is about to burst, but she will do anything to protect the people she loves. Even if it means becoming what she hates…
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Death’s Daughter is perfect for those who love old Gods with Greek influences and human-ish characters who want no part in these power struggles. As the daughter of Death, Jo has spent her whole life running from this power and her father. But when she is unknowingly named as his successor, she’s thrown into a power struggle that destroys her illusion of a normal life and endangers everyone she loves. Right off the bat, I enjoyed the idea of death’s power and Jo just wanting to live a normal life. She wants to go to her job, drink with her friends, and make bad decisions at parties. But in a night her whole world is changed and not only is she out for revenge, but for the survival of everyone around her.
It’s about a ‘hero’ who doesn’t want to even be in that place. About what happens when we inherit the trauma, the power struggles, of our family. What would we do to protect our corner of the world? The ones we love. She’s convinced she has to do it alone, so Death’s Daughter is about her realizing she’s not alone, that she can ask for help. She’s convinced to protect the ones she loves, she has to do it alone. It also asks us about the true cost of power, and what happens if we won’t pay it.
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Overall,
It’s a fabulous series starter and Ava Lucas is a great narrator who encapsulates Jo’s stubbornness and her own betrayals. I will say that it’s definitely light on the romance plot and the academia is just a setting not really a critical look at the actual structures of academia. Death’s Daughter has intricate and rich character work which I should have expected given Ghost Station and I’m excited for the future! Find Death’s Daughter on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.