“But, damn it, she just wasn’t built that way. She wasn’t built to break, no matter how much she wanted to, and she silently and half-heartedly cursed that fucking part of her that wouldn’t—couldn’t—let her be that vulnerable, even alone.”
Like many on TikTok I had been highly anticipating Jaysea Lynn’s debut novel, For Whom The Belle Tolls. I preordered it on Amazon as soon as I saw Jaysea’s video announcing when the novel would be available. And let me tell you, I sped read the last of my current read at the time to make sure I had nothing pending for the day it was finally released to the world.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend watching Jaysea’s videos on the Hellp Desk and Hell’s Belles. Her skits, wit, humor, characters, and acting are all top notch. Do you have to watch all of her videos before reading the book? No, absolutely not. The book is like a detailed prequel to the video skits. Do I think you should watch the skits anyway? Yes. One thousand times yes.
If you like any of the following, this book is for you!
- Friends to Lovers
- Urban Romantasy
- Demon – Human relationship (and sex!)
- Strong FMC
- Demon MMC (complete with wings and tail and horns)
- Healthy, consensual relationship
- Found family
My Brief Synopsis:
Lily is diagnosed with aggressive cancer and dies, leaving behind her parents, two brothers, and all of her goals and dreams that she had for herself. She isn’t thrilled with being dead and in the afterlife, even though her personal slice of Paradise is great. And while she can visit other realms, she can’t quite bring herself to visit Heaven. Instead she is drawn to hell. Upon visiting the soul sorting area of Hell and meeting several demons who need help, inspiration strikes and she starts the Hellp Desk. She forms new relationships and a chance meeting with Bel, and later Sharkie, have her reexamining her mortal goals and thoughts on reincarnation. But not all is peaceful in Paradise. There is a threat from another universe that wants to destroy everything and everyone that Lily and her new found family hold dear. Unless they take a stand and fight like Hell.
Please note moving forward my review may contain spoilers. If you don’t care about spoilers, then read on! If you don’t want any spoilers then I suggest you stop here and go read the book already and watch all of Jaysea’s skits.
Plot/Pacing:
The beginning of the book felt a little rushed, and I only say that because we get introduced to Lily when she is still living. We go through her brief time of finding out she has cancer and dying, before we get to the main plot of the story: her time in the Afterlife. I’m not sure if there would be any other way to get around that. The meat of the book is of her starting the Hellp Desk and forming relationships, finding her found family, and all of that pacing and plot building was chef’s kiss. Wonderful. I couldn’t put the book down. I did happen to feel like the end of the book was a bit drawn out, especially when it seemed like (spoiler) every time something happened Lily and Bel had to have sex. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy sexy fun time reads, I just happen to like sex scenes to have a purpose and not to be thrown in just for the sake of a sex scene. Towards the end of the book I felt like the sex scenes didn’t help drive the plot forward. But that’s just me.
World Building:
I thoroughly enjoyed the world building of the Afterlife. I felt like I got to learn about the Afterlife along with Lily. Instead of getting long passages of info dumps, like fantasy novels tend to do, we were introduced to things as they came, as Lily explored the Afterlife and made connections and friendships.
Jaysea created a unique Afterlife, one in which I personally wish was real. And who knows, maybe it is! If you are highly religious, this book may not be for you. If instead, you experience religious trauma, you have find this book cathartic or healing in some ways. I know I did.
Character Building & Development:
I really enjoyed the character building of not only Lily, but also of Bel and Sharkie. Each character has their own issues, their own traumas, that they have to work through and deal with. But they also know that they are respected, loved, and have a community to fall back on. I loved watching Lily’s mind work as she saw an issue at the soul sorting area of Hell and developed the Hellp Desk. It was as much for her as it was for helping the demons. There is a lovely balance of also going through Bel and Sharkie’s journeys as well.
Emotional Impact/Triggers:
For Whom the Belle Tolls does go through some dark and heavy content. Where it does not show explicit abusive scenes, several forms of abuse and traumas are talked about. I know I cried in some scenes just because of my own past traumas. In some ways I found it cathartic and healing. Its nice to be seen and not feel alone.
Prose & Style:
The book mainly follows Lily, but once we are introduced to Bel it does shift between both of them. I enjoyed this dynamic as we got to see the Afterlife from both points of view – someone who is new and finding herself in Paradise, and someone who was born and works there.
Spice Level:
As far as spice level in this book, I would give it 4 out of 5 chili peppers. The first good portion of the book doesn’t contain any real spice. Sex jokes and innuendos? Yes. Actual sexy fun time comes later. And once it happens, it happens quite a lot. Almost to the point where it was too much for me. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good sex scene or two in a book. I just don’t need it to happen every other scene or every chapter. And towards the end of the book, I felt like there was a lot of sex.
Reread Worthy:
Would I reread this again? Yes. I absolutely love the world and characters Jaysea has created. I always look forward to new episodes and reading the book felt like an extension of that. It allowed me to get to know some of the characters and the world more in depth. Plus, now I can’t wait for book 2 and getting to know Penny more. I want to see Penny’s growth and development, as well as the start of her relationship with a certain demon. If Jaysea ever publishes these as a physical book, it would definitely sit on my shelf.
