For centuries, Death has only known the Work, the reaping and administrating of souls. Their routine is disrupted when a mortal named Zelda refuses to die and offers Death her hand instead.

With great befuddlement, Death accepts.

Husband and wife have little in common. Death is grim (ha!) and work-oriented, perplexed by the intricacies of relationships. Zelda is beautiful and can do no wrong.

(She’s also quite good at hijacking blurbs.)

As Death and Zelda navigate their unconventional marriage, the affection between them grows, resulting in a relationship that is as sweet as it is whimsical.

Death my be ready for Zelda, but she is not so willing. Determined to get more time anyway she can she offers Death a deal, do not reap her soul, instead marry her and she will spend six months a year in the underworld with him, and six months in the living, and Death accepts. What starts as a deal grows into something more, into friendship and eventually love, with Zelda teaching Death the ways of the living and Death preparing her for what will inevitably come. Death may be coming for Zelda, but he is determined to live with and love her first.

Zelda was a great POV to read this story from. Tenacious and determined, when Death arrives for her, she simply says no. She needs more time, doesn’t feel as though she has truly lived yet and will do anything to get to live that she can… including propositioning Death. She’s a bit flighty and fanciful, but you can’t help but appreciate her boldness of character and determination that now is not her end. Death on the other hand was understandably perplexed when Zelda offered her hand and, not in the habit of granting stays on ending lives, took a little convincing to agree. I thought he was written incredibly well and because he’s a more traditional Death, skeleton frame, dark hood and cape etc, the story had a humorous and quirky twist.

Each chapter talked about Zelda getting Death to experience new things for example; How Zelda dined with Death, How Zelda Slept with Death. She brings him out of his shell, gets him to experience new things as well as delve more into the living world, getting him to understand the complexities of humanity. And alongside this we have Death allowing Zelda to come to terms with dying and her future in the underworld. There were definitely some emotional moments, but thanks to Rose’s writing style, as well as her characters personalities, the story reads more quirky and there were plenty of moments that had me laughing out loud.

Overall, this was a fun and incredibly fast read. I enjoyed following Zelda’s life both living and in the underworld, and loved Rose’s portrayal of Death. Perfect for readers who enjoy a little quirkiness when it comes to their characters and plots.