Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death - Maria Vale - ★★.¼

AUTHOR: Maria Vale

GENRE: Fantasy-Romance.

RATING: 2.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: The premise had potential, but something went wrong in the execution. I am still trying to figure out what it was!

Story synopsis:

Azrael, or Death as he is now known in the human world, made a mistake. When he had to take Molly Molloy’s soul, (she was supposed to choke over a chicken wing, you see?), he ended up patting her back and thus saving her life.

Mistake no. 2: Because of this near-death experience, Molly can now see him, talk to him, hit him. So even if he wants to set his mistake right (or rather, he has to do so as per his boss’s instructions), he can’t because she is always ready for him. And fed up of his interference.

Mistake no. 3: Death ends up falling in love with Molly. Now he doesn’t want her to die. Yikes! Talk about conflict of interest!

What will happen next?

Bookish Yays:

✔ The cover, the title and the blurb: 100% marks for each. I wouldn’t have picked up this book had all three not been so attractive!

✔ Great premise. I loved the promise of the blurb. It had so much potential, especially for comic and endearing moments. (It meets only a part of this, unfortunately.)

✔ Death as the lead character is interesting. This isn’t the first book I have read having a personified version of Death (My favourite is Death from the Sandman series, with Death from ‘The Book Thief’ coming a close second.) But this is the most humanised Death of the ones I have read. (Yup, I know it is an oxymoron.) Death here is an eccentric but loveable simpleton who adores Molly. (God knows why!)

✔ I also enjoyed the language and vocabulary. (This also makes me an odd one out because most reviewers seem to have hated the language!) The book has a nice mix of Latin and English, with Death’s grasp of English being quite questionable at times. Moreover, Death and his fellow Custodes from the upper realm have an eccentric way of speaking and of evaluating time. It adds a layer of fun to the story.

✔ There are plenty of humorous moments, courtesy Death and his poor knowledge of the human world.

✔ There are some thought-provoking points about mortality.

Bookish Nays:

❌ Despite the great beginning, the book gets quite weird very soon. I know that this is a fantasy, but surely fantasy also has some limits to what is logically possible. The ending is just bonkers!

❌ The writing feels quite flat. It’s as if we can see the characters but we can’t feel the characters. This is especially true for Molly. We know that she is a strong woman and has endured a lot, but I still couldn’t feel sorry for her because of the way she is written.

❌ There are random shifts in the point of view, with the narrative baton being handed over to a minor character for a few paragraphs. This breaks the flow of the story.

❌ Death’s portrayal is not consistent. He seems to be hyper-aware of a few human activities and totally in the blank about other things. Could he really be so naïve considering how long he has supposedly been in existence?

❌ I could not see the connect between Molly and Death. Molly’s ‘relationship” with Death felt more like Stockholm Syndrome. There’s no justification as to how she was fed up with him in one scene and romantically involved with him in the next.

❌ Molly meets people at two jobs, and yet we see her interacting only with Death. Surprisingly, it is Death who has more friends than her. Human interactions would have added some genuineness and balance to the plot.

❌ The final quarter strives to pack in as much as possible. The first three-fourth focusses even on moments (because Death is free only for moments), but the final quarter zooms by months and years like no one’s business.

❌ The humour feels very forced at times, almost like a standup comedian laughing first at their own joke in a bid to get the audience to crack a smile.

❌ ----------------------------------SPOILER ALERT----------------------------------

The pregnancy and everything connected to it, right from conception to delivery. Don’t get me started on that! Without it, the book might have been a 3-star for me. But once this trope came in, there was no saving the story for me.

----------------------------------END OF SPOILER----------------------------------

I ought to have loved the story for the quirky romance, but it just bored me after the first few chapters. I don’t DNF books easily, but I came very close to giving up on this one. I might have been a bit lax had it been by a debut author. (In fact, the writing style made me assume that it was a debut work!) But from an experienced writer, I expect more finesse.

The author describes this work as ‘an odd little book that fit nowhere.’ I agree. It attempts to be a mash of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett but ends up doing justice to neither. So I don’t know whom to recommend this novel to, or even if I should recommend it at all. Then again, we all do have different tastes. So it just might click better with you if you are a more patient and forgiving soul. Do check out the other reviews and take a call. But yes, if you are expecting a light paranormal romance because of that premise, this isnt the book for you.

My thanks to Wild & Ashe, LLC and NetGalley for the DRC of “Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.