Janis and The Reaper by Nikki M Griggs

*Ad/Gifted

Thankful for this ARC copy I recieved from The Nerd Fam.

As soon as I came across this book on instagram, I just knew I had to read and when the opportunity to grab a arc copy came up, I snapped at it like my dog eating a ham slice. 

We follow Janis and her very short and strange life, she wakes up dead two days before her sixteeth birthday! We also follow Jay, who has been spending life being trapped in various human bodies due to being exiled from his reaper status. He is currently working as a pathologist and his world changes when he meets Janis at the morgue, they uncover a sinister secret; someone is killing reapers to cover up an illegal faerie deal. 

As they traverse across cities, Jay and Janis unravel the corruption at the heart of the faerie courts with the help of a fox fae, demigod of death, a forgetful psychic and a sometimes a friendly cat demon named Friend. They both set out to expose the fae and figure out who killed Janis. 

This is a found family trope and I love it so much. I needed more Jay and honestly it kinda helped that the cover of this book makes Jay look a little like Pedro Pascal and I'm all for this happy accident. I think Pedro would be a perfect Jay considering he has at least two roles under his belt as a father figure protecting a child. 

This isn't your typical romantasied fae, no Rhysands or Tamlins here. This is the fae we fear from our childhood stories. Of course we are also introduced to demigods, reapers, ghosts, demons and everything in between. I was just in the mood to read a story about reapers, as I think they are quite interesting in media, and this came along and fufilled my needs. I loved the lore building, the imagery and the relationships that form along the way. I even told the author we needed a prequel all about Jay's life previously and touch up on what got him exiled (we are told but I just needed more) 

I also need a physical copy for my shelves! *adds to my christmas list"

I need more reaper story recommendations, so if you have any, please leave in the comments!

I highly recommend this book if you love fantasy, found family, grumpy sunshines and heartwarming horrors.