#Bookreview Death Warden by C.J. Stilling, Be good, or the death wardens will come for you
Be good, or the death wardens will come for you. Walls cannot stop them. Blades cannot cut them. They will track you down, and when they find you, they will steal your soul. Reen thought they were only stories meant to scare children. Then she became one. Divinely selected to assassinate a few for the good of the many, Reen learns to jump from shadow to shadow and claim her victims without question. For a time, she even finds a sense of family amongst the Haven Isles' most adept killers—something she’s never had before—though none of them can protect her from the parade of victims that haunt her dreams. If only the nightmares were the worst of her problems. Someone is hunting God’s killers, and an ancient evil has returned, slowly turning the Isles’ inhabitants into nightmarish creatures. Fighting to stay alive and protect those around her, Reen’s faith is tested as her quest for answers uncovers sinister secrets that shake the foundation of everything she believes until all that remains is the edge of her knife and the certainty that death comes for all. Keep writing C.J. Stilling. I'll read it!
My Review 4 out of 5 Black Cats
I got Death Warden from Book Sirens. I enjoyed this book. Reen is our main character a teenage orphan who unfortunately becomes a death warden, a person picked by the life giver to kill people who will do terrible things in the future. She is a good person and hates killing but does because if she doesn't bad things happen.
This book is very well written and edited. You are brought right into the world and not forced to read a bunch of boring explanation. You learn as you go about the main characters surroundings.
In the beginning of the book Reen hates killing and for two years had a ring that keeps her from seeing her custodian who is the person that assigns the kills. She looses the ring immediately. Where and how she got this ring is never explained. Why all the death wardens wouldn't wear them so they don't have to kill is never explained. Maybe the author will write a story about this ring, but this novel never goes into it.
The world Reen lives in is very interesting and I feel pretty well developed. There are a few things here and there that left me scratching my head, but it does leave room for more books going deeper into these anomalies. And I would be interested in reading them.
The book also time jumps and at first left me a little lost, but a few chapters in I figured out the pattern and was then fine with the jumping and thought it worked well to tell the story.
I think both adults and young adults will enjoy Death Warden. It is unique and does have some violence, but not super gory violence. It's probably not a good book for kids 12 and under, might be a little too violent and had for them to follow. I'd say 15 and up would be mature enough to handle the violent material.
Why only 4 out of 5 black cats? Only because of the few things not explained like the ring and how things are structured and work. Small things that might be explained more in future books I hope.