Death Is My BFF By Katarina Tonks

 This review will be about Death is My BFF by Katarina Tonks. It was published on September 5, 2023 but the unedited/edited original was published on Wattpad on July 6, 2011. It's the first book in The Death Chronicles with the second book, Death is My Ride or Die published on September 17, 2024. This series is listed as a Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance. 

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis:

“When Faith Williams almost loses her life during a robbery, Death is there. While he spares her soul, he makes a promise to return when she’s eighteen and collect it.

Now it’s the eve of that special birthday, and Faith has no recollection of that fateful day. But echoes of Death appear in her art―his intense eyes, his intriguing demeanor―and she can’t get him out of her head. When he arrives in person, Faith is drawn into an epic supernatural battle where her very existence is questioned at every turn.

To add angst to agony, she meets the infamous David Star at a Halloween party, and he begins to show an interest in her. He’s handsome, rich, ambitious, and every girl’s dream, but Faith doesn’t know if she can trust him.

As Faith learns more about who David really is, and as Death pushes harder for her soul, an ancient prophecy emerges. When she discovers the secrets that bind all three together... all hell breaks loose.”

Review:

I’m not sure why I haven’t reviewed this book yet as I’ve had the physical copy since it came out, but I guess it works out perfectly because I just got the second book this year to review as well! I do have to say, this review will be a little different as this series and author holds a dear place in my heart. I think I was in middle school or early high school when this series was first being published on Wattpad. I remember I was tired of seeing the same stories over and over with just different names and places until I came across a title called, Death is my BFF.

Immediately, the title caught my attention and I had to check it out. I remember reading what was published and having to patiently wait for the next chapter to be uploaded and I always got excited as soon as I got a notification for it. I was OBSESSED with this series, it’s all I would ever talk about and it was always hard for me to read any other books at the time because I wanted something just like DIMBFF. 

Since I read the unedited and some of the edited originals on Wattpad, I was able to see what was edited out and added to the published physical book, which made me so excited. While reading specific scenes in the book, I thought to myself, “Hey! This is different!” and immediately got nostalgic and thought about the very first time I read it. I also really enjoyed being able to compare them and see what’s different. 

The writing style makes it easy to follow along with the story and get lost in the world that’s created. The world building is phenomenal, it takes place in modern day New York but with some supernatural realms (I’m sure there will be more of that in the series), Warlocks, Demons, Angels, and a snarky Grim Reaper? You got yourself a deal! 

I know this is listed as a Y.A. (Young Adult), but for me, it feels more like N.A. (New Adult). It is Y.A. content but I feel like there are N.A. elements in there as well. I’m pretty sure with the originals, they had some mature scenes after book 1, so I’m curious to see how it differs from the published versions. 

Characters:

There are two main character’s in this book, Faith Williams and Death, the Grim Reaper. Throughout the book, the point of view switches occasionally, by chapter, but is mainly in Faith’s. 

Faith made a deal with Death when she was dying as a child, he would bring her back to life but on her 18th birthday, Death would collect her unique soul... Now that she’s 18, he’s come to collect. Faith has a witty attitude, hilarious comebacks, and has a strong sense of will power. Her interactions with Death, she was scared of him but she gave him witty comebacks instead of trying to show her fear, which Death obviously loved considering all the snarky comebacks and sexual innuendos he makes. 

““Swallowing hard, I shrank back, which drew my attention to the cold silver chain that shifted at my throat. My cross. 

“Burn, asshole!” I unclasped my necklace and held it out between us. “The power of Christ compels you!” 

Death’s hooded head dipped down to my hand. The tiny space between us shrank down to nothing. “The power of Christ bores me.”

In one last attempt at freedom, I threw the cross at him. It anticlimactically smacked against his broad chest and clattered to the ground. Cringe. 

“Oh,” the words came out flat, “the agony.” He cut his concealed glare to me and kicked the cross aside. “That was pathetic.”

“Not as pathetic as your cliche Grim Reaper costume,” I snapped, before I could stop myself. 

He moved in an instant, pinning me against a mirror with a single gloved finger. I knew he could have easily drilled that finger straight through my flesh and bone. 

“Even when Faith is scared shitless, she still had a mouth on her.” Death snickered in a low, sinister way. “Sounds like a great obituary.”””-DIMBFF by Katarina Tonks Pg.101

Death’s character is definitely unique and his personality is *Chef’s Kiss*. Kat did a tremendous job on creating this different character. When reading, you get to learn tidbits of his past, which Faith does as well, and can’t help but feel bad for the guy which kind of turns him morally gray and not so evil anymore. 

 There are a lot of other characters in the book that definitely compliment the main characters but also cause danger and mischief. 

There isn’t really any romance per se, as it is enemies to lovers, but there is a tiny bit. There is a lot of flirting and sexual innuendos from Death though.

I feel like I have so much to say about this book but the things I want to say, I don’t want to spoil it for any of you who are interested in reading this masterpiece. If you are interested in fantasy, enemies to lovers, paranormal, morally gray MMC, hilarious banter and comebacks, I HIGHLY recommend that you check out this book!