From Goodreads:  Grief-stricken by the murder of her twin, Keely Morrison is convinced suicide is her ticket to eternal peace and a chance to reunite with her sister. When Keely succeeds in taking her own life, she discovers death isn’t at all what she expected. Instead, she’s trapped in a netherworld on Earth and her only hope for reconnecting with her sister and navigating the afterlife is a bounty-hunting reaper and a sardonic, possibly unscrupulous, demon. But when the demon offers Keely her greatest temptation—revenge on her sister’s murderer—she must uncover his motives and determine who she can trust. Because, as Keely soon learns, both reaper and demon are keeping secrets and she fears the worst is true—that her every decision will change how, and with whom, she spends eternity.

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I am in awe of Muto’s sheer writing abilities!  This book sucked me in and didn’t release me until the final page was tucked neatly inside my head.  I can’t get over how amazing, how breathtaking, and how riveting this book is.  Don’t Fear the Reaper is one of those books that I’m going to read again and again.  It’s one of those books I wish could hit the big screen; it’s that good. This is that book that leaves you stunned and wanting more, much more, upon its conclusion.  Seriously, why are you still reading this review?  You need this novel now!!!

Muto has created a very powerful novel about suicide, and though I feel like the messages it portrays to the readers are subtle undertones, they speak volumes, nonetheless.  Yes, this novel is about the netherworld and Keely’s attempts to reconnect with her sister, but it’s about so much more than that.  Muto portrays the raw truth concerning suicide and its effects on those left behind, and even though this is just a book, I felt so strongly for the characters that I actually cried on multiple occasions.  I am not a crier, by any means, but this novel really touched me and made me feel as if I was a part of it, looking the awful truth of suicide straight in the face. What the person committing suicide doesn’t realize is how much of an affect they’ll have on those they leave behind, devastating everyone around them, just as Keely does when she succeeds in killing herself.  The fact that she has to stand there and witness the chaos she left behind in a fit of selfishness, watching her family mourn her, is all too powerful, and I feel like this novel does a phenomenal job showing readers that suicide really isn’t the answer.  Yes, I realize that this is the subtle undertone of the novel, and that it really isn’t about the suicide as much as it is about Keely making the correct decisions in the netherworld, but it spoke volumes to me and I can’t get over how powerful this story really is.

This is an action packed novel, full of in-depth characters that feel so real it’s hard to remember they’re not.  I am extremely impressed with Muto’s characterization and am eagerly awaiting more from this author. Five stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.