It’s a Matter of Midlife and Death (ARC review) – Above expectation (pun – and typo – intended)

---

The following review is part of my being in the author’s review team, which ensures that you can read it before the book comes out.

Warning: Do not read if you haven’t read the previous book of the series, You Light up my Midlife Crisis, for this review would then contain a lot of spoilers from it. If you have, or don’t mind, then you’re good to go.

---

I’ve had an extremely stressful couple of months, as I mentioned in my last post, but one thing was needed, more than ever: laughter. And for that, I wish to thank Robyn Peterman, but also A.R. Casella and Denise Grover Swank, Michelle M. Pillow, Annabel Chase, K.F. Breene, and Darynda Jones, whose books helped me pull through those difficult weeks. They are all hilarious books of theirs that I have read or reread in those weeks, exactly for that: for shits and giggles. I needed it.

In fact, Robyn’s books, in particular, are my go-to’s in those times, because I can be sure to laugh my silly head off regardless of which series I pick up, first read or reread. However, they are good for a lot of laughs no matter when, be it in hard times or in good.

This is also the case of the latest Good to the Last Death, which several times had me laughing until I nearly weed my pants… but also had me crying for other, more emotional, reasons.

What the book is about

Synopsis:

Midlife is madness—magical, messy and one freaking crisis after another.

With a new job I didn’t apply for and an extended family I didn’t know I had—midlife has become somewhat problematic. Gluing ghosts back together is easy compared to my new celestial occupation. 

The Grim Reaper wants to put a ring on it. Tim wants to be a father. Candy Vargo has lost her damn mind and Jennifer thinks we’re all sparkly vampires. I’ve been given an impossible task with catastrophic consequences for failure, but it wouldn’t be my midlife without another crisis.

What’s the saying? When in Crazytown, embrace the insanity or go insane. It’s time to lean into the madness. I’m putting down roots, pulling up my big-girl panties and getting down to business. With one month to succeed, it’s time to grow a bigger pair of lady-balls and play in the big league. 

The rules are unclear. However, when it’s a matter of midlife and death, I’m making the rules. And I will win.

Not everything is shits and giggles (but a lot of it is)

There’s a silver lining in the darkest clouds.
Sometimes you have to squint real hard to see it, but it’s there.

– June

Did I laugh when reading It’s a Matter of Midlife and Death? Oh, yes, and then some, seriously almost weeing my pants at some point. Gosh, when Jennifer and Tim, and now the Angels, are together, there’s so much poop talk that it’s almost like a dinner in my family, ergo my laughing so hard it hurt! This is also true of Tim addressing a certain issue, which had me barking out a loud laugh in class, with my pupils wondering what I was reading and me, unable to explain it to them because, well, it’s no matter for pre-teens! Gosh, is Tim a real socially awkward (emphasis on awkward) weirdo, but he is also a real darling and quite the badass!

Talking about badass, a word about Candy Vargo, a character I have loved to bits from the first book because she is so irreverent that she makes me laugh to tears more often than not. However, there is also a side of her that we have been starting to see over the last couple of books, which led to her rather unexpected friendship with Gram, something that she really needed after an eternity of being, well, gross.

You might be disgusting, but you’re good people, Candy Vargo. Real damn good.

– Jennifer

Amen to that, Jennifer!

Yes, June still looks 25, thanks to getting her soul back and Charlie picturing her as she looked like when he met her, which was at 25 years old, but we all got used to it by now. Her wisdom, however, remains intact, as shown in the quote at the start of this part. She remains the motherly, wise, and caring June that we know and love.

As for the Angels, well, read and see. I will only say this: you might fall in love with the four of them rather than only Gabe, and that’s all I will say. I might have shed a few tears on someone’s behalf or another’s at some point. Possibly. Just don’t tell them, OK?

I know, I focused more on the side characters than on Daisy and Gideon. That’s not to say that nothing happens to them, au contraire! Their love shines in everything they do, and they adjusted rather well to the now upcoming arrival of Alana Catherine (upcoming thanks to the underhanded methods of the bastard Zadkiel). However, this time, a lot has been put on the Angels’ challenge and how they will or won’t succeed in finding their humanity. But worry not: Daisy is still the no-f*cks-to-give 40-year-old we know and love, and Gideon remains the hotter-than-sin Grim Reaper. There might also be a surprise or two in store for Daisy (and us readers).

So no, not everything is shits (literally) and giggles. It never is in Robyn’s books, anyway, and you will be gripped until the very end… and end up ruing the author for the massive, and I mean massive hook she leaves us with.

My verdict

Yes, I said “hook” and I said “massive”, which means that it will be an excruciatingly long five months until 25 April, 2022, and the release of The Facts of Midlife. For now, however, I will say this: from the first book, I’ve loved this series to hell and back, above and beyond. With each book, I’ve loved the series more, and It’s a Matter of Midlife and Death adds to that love.

A totally human, yet immortal five stars!

---