Reaper’s Novice by Cecilia Robert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
What is it about Death that fascinates us so? We can’t explain it, so we make up a person who picks up what’s left of us and takes us on…*shakes head* REAPER’S NOVICE is, as you might guess, about Death’s newest helper. Ana Maria lives in Vienna and plays violin, and has hopes and dreams just like any teenager. But when her family is killed in a car accident, Ana learns she can become a Reaper and one day rescue the souls of her family. Of course, this means that she can’t have a regular life (shades of Buffy, anyone?), losing a chance to play violin at a conservatory and running into many issues with her friends.
Ana takes the job, and learns how to reap souls, but she also finds out that there are more than simply humans walking among us. Ana is introduced to the supernaturals of the world, and she ends up being part of a prophecy. This means the story takes a turn from where I expected it to go, which isn’t horrible, just a bit jarring. I liked the setting–Vienna isn’t exactly exotic, but it’s a different place than your typical American high school YA, so the descriptions of Ana’s home city are a nice change of pace. My mental map did sometimes lead me astray, because I have no concept of the European city, being a typical American. There is a sad, consequential subplot about drugs, portrayed realistically with all its horror. Ana suffers many betrayals and reversals, and is left in the dark more often than not. She’s also portrayed as a person of color on the cover, but I didn’t have the sense that this affected her much or that it gave her a different culture for the reader to explore. Perhaps Vienna is more cosmopolitan and skin color isn’t so important.
Sometimes the writing is uneven, and still, the switch from a story about a girl working with Death to save her family into a story about saving the world from paranormal threats bothers me a little. But I’m interested in the premise, and if I come across the next book, I’ll give it a try.
Received as a free digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher.
[amazon asin=B00AYPCP9K&text=See book on Amazon]