This was a welcome deep dive into Death personified and all the other elements as told through the centuries by different cultures. The idea that reapers are slow aging immortals and Shinigami are gifted soul-suckers really played into this fear-fascination relationship we have with death and even the imminent threat of fatal wounding.

The only negative was the over use of similes in this text - everything was like something else or as blah blah as something else. But...That would be me nitpicking. The simile infestation really did help paint a picture very vividly - I just kept thinking the writer could stand to do better.

The ending (which is the perfect segway to the final book in this duology) was really well done.