A Fig For All the Devils

This novel is an extremely quick read. It starts off with Baba Yaga entrapping a random soul in order to take over as the bringer of death. She gives him no time to object and consider his options before killing his newborn son. The conclusion of the ceremony solidifies his sentence to spend the next 1000 years as the grim reaper. After his reign is over, he too searches for his successor or risks spending another 1000 years as the Reaper.

Then comes Sonny. When saying goodbye to his father on his death bed, he encounters the Reaper for the first time. As scared and confused as he is, he’s pretty confident the apparition is real due to the lingering smell of cigarettes in his wake.

The reaper then confronts Sonny later in his home to proposition him for the role of Reaper.

Despite losing his father just to be stuck with an unloving mother, he rejects the offer to die in order to keep on living. Not taking non for an answer, he gives him additional time to consider the offer.

In enters Eugene: a vulgar new character in their new hometown of Tillamook, Oregon. We first encounter him in the midst of an impatient exchange with an elderly woman which ends in him shoving na raw chicken thigh down her throat—alright.

Shortly after, we find out that Sonny’s mom has chosen this loser to replace her recently departed husband.

With all the changes, this time period is extremely difficult for Sonny. Despite all he wants to fell and express, he’s left emotionless and unable to even mention his father’s to his mom.

Though we all hope it to be the mother, it is actually the Reaper who is able to help him through everything. By giving Sonny permission to grieve, he was able to begin a transformative healing process. He is taught to let go of fear and aggression in order to fully ascend into what matters—a rebirth.

This was a good book because Sonny was able to confront his demons head on. He was able to forgive his mother and finally empathize with her and he was able to understand his dad better.

The story’s resolution felt a little bit rushed tbh, but the book was fast-paced throughout. Good book for seeing death through a different lens.