The Grim Reaper's Lawyer by Mea Monique-A critique

"The Grim Reaper's Lawyer" by Mea Monique is a 2022 book of more than 200 pages. It is the first book in the "Life After Death" series.

Book Overview (according to Amazon)

When having to decide between spending her afterlife in hell or as the Grim Reaper's Lawyer, it's not even a hard choice for Joyce Parker. Of course she'd choose hell. Joyce thought her prayers were finally answered when her client killed her. Yes, she knows, it's morbid. But, so is being a lawyer. Now dead, Joyce thought it was blue skies, angel wings, mimosas and Jesus. Well, she was embarrassingly wrong. The insufferable, but good-looking Grim Reaper needs a favor. He needs her to represent him in the newly formed Reaper's Court. That is, of course, if she wants to go to heaven rather than to hell, which is exactly where she was heading. What starts off as a favor turns into a whirlwind of chaos with Joyce and the Grim Reaper being in the center of it all. Not only does Joyce have to help the grumpy Reaper, but she also has to save the whole Afterworld - a job she most definitely did not sign up for. Joyce's life on earth was boring, but her afterlife ends up being the most alive she's ever felt. Trials, secrets, evil reapers, missing souls, traitors, stolen mimosas and unexpected romance - all the elements for one hell (literally) of a life after death.

Critique

There are homages or mentions of some dead celebrities including Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Tupac etc. The book answers some faith-focused questions. They believe there is no God, Hell is not full of fire but of repeated personal nightmares, and when you die you would be taken to Eden for sorting. Eden acts as purgatory to hold the souls before being assigned to either Heaven or Hell as it's named after the peaceful garden where Adam and Eve were. Eden is a giant corporation that works for soul collection, placement and more where many work as Grim Reapers including Aiden. Joyce agrees to work as his lawyer to avoid eternal damnation to Hell despite hating it. She's saddened that there's no everlasting peace in the afterlife because she still has to work. They talk about fate and death and how choices determine your death date like how her's was determined when she was assigned the case of Mr. Reynolds who murdered her after being charged with murder which he was guilty of. She fought the case against her ex-boyfriend, Richard who cheated on her with her best friend. She has 3 cats in the living world. 

Aiden was called to the new Reapers Court for assigning the wrong soul to Hell. He is sure he assigned the right twin with the predicted death date but when he returned from getting her soul he was told that she was the wrong one, therefore unjust death. So he's been called to trial and persuasively recruits ex-lawyer, Joyce. They signed a contract for her to work for him until the end but if she lost, she would go back to Hell where he briefly took her as she preferred it to working as a lawyer again. Aiden died at 25 being hit by a car. Technically they're both 30 years old but he says he stopped aging. Your good or bad karma levels determine if you go to Heaven or Hell but if it's balanced you become trained to be a Reaper. There's a process to it, you apply and are chosen. Oh, they teleport. The soul ties explanation is adorable. Director Young, who seems to have a thing with Taevian, is one of the last original directors at Eden. In court, it is revealed that Director Taevian Jackson is Joyce's dad. Chris tried to warn her not to call him as a witness but she did it anyway trusting Aiden despite thinking it was a bad idea. She left court thoroughly pissed. Oh, Aiden knew? Wow.

Yirah helps her understand that her father died but when he saw her file and saw her karma leading her to Hell, he did everything he could to try to help her. Aiden respects him and probably feels conflicted about it. She felt betrayed because Aiden didn't want them to be fully established because she is not a reaper and would be leaving after his case. She felt that he viewed her as temporary but because she shared so much with him she felt he should have told her. She draws a line and says they would only be on a lawyer-and-client basis. Yirah says she should try to understand and talk to the men she loves before the case is over and she goes to Heaven. Chris does not reveal how he found out but reveals that Joey did speak to him about her relationship with Aiden. Aiden never told Joey about his case or about them because he knew he couldn't keep a secret but Joey still found out. Taevian talks to Joy. He confesses that he broke the rules to look after her while she was alive and begged Aiden to hire her because he needed a lawyer. That way she would be prevented from going to Hell at least for some time. He died after pushing his pregnant wife out of danger. She was heartbroken and left Joyce in foster care but no one adopted her as she was in the system like Aiden after his parents died. 

Aiden was a collection reaper who got the souls and he loved it. It's the most important department to get and guide the souls. Joey is jealous of his best friend, Aiden. In court, Joey's character is revealed. After some provoking from Joyce, he insults her and heads for her but Aiden protects her while expressing his feelings of betrayal. Joey says he thought Aiden would just be demoted but she points out that when he found out the punishment would be more severe he didn't say anything. The charges were dropped against Aiden and Joey was set for trial. I'm happy Joey was exposed. Off with this fake friend to Aiden and off with his flimsy interest in wonderful Yirah. Joy and Aiden talk. She felt he had overlooked Taevian's requests before when it was something he cared about so she felt he didn't care about her enough to do it. He pleads, expresses and they make up. Joyce was granted the ability to go to Heaven after some time at Eden. Aiden says Heaven won't keep them apart. He says he will visit or even transfer to the Heaven department if he has to but their blissful moment is interrupted by a reaper who shoots at Aiden but Joyce is shot as she pushes him out of the way. 

Never mind, Director Young is evil too. They really can't catch a break. Jia craves power like Joey who is on her team with some other reapers. She wants to be the central power to be "God" which is the reason she stayed at Eden when the other original directors retired. She was intimate with Taevian which allowed him to find her plans. As he was about to expose her, she kidnapped him and used Joyce to threaten him to be on her side. She gets "the obliterator" gun to erase her soul which completely erases one's existence. There's no Heaven or Hell and it was banned for being a punishment too cruel. Joyce does not want Eden to worsen with her due to the thirst after realizing she caused the havoc to fix it. However, Aiden doesn't care because her life is being threatened. She wrestles with the gun with Jia and Director Young shoots her. She can't catch a break and it's the 3rd time she's been shot. Two times by her horrible client, Mr. Reynolds and now by Jia. She disintegrates as they all watch. We get Aiden's POV and he is horrified. Jia dared to offer herself to Aiden saying she could make him forget Joyce before he's sentenced to Hell forever. Mac who valued Aiden so much that he helped them sneak into Heaven for Joyce helped in kidnapping them. He tries to apologize about Joyce being shot but Aiden doesn't want to hear it as he's being escorted to Hell which Jia sentenced him to. Taevian is appalled.

Jia said she would plant all the evidence of the problems at Eden around him. She adds that no one would believe what happened if he were to try exposing her but he's too disheartened to care about anything. By sheer luck or the reaper tattoo on her arm, Joyce returns. She uses Mac to find Aiden. She gets him and gets justice. You gotta love Aiden. He protects! Director Onai of the Hell department agreed with Joyce that nobody is as nice as they thought Jia presented herself to be. They took Jia away, Aiden shot Mac as promised, and Taevian was freed. Everything was done thankfully from Joyce's secret recording of the incident before she was shot and she asked Valerie to play it for all to hear. She said the tattoo that gave her temporary reaper abilities saved her. Wouldn't Mac's reaper abilities save him unless he was still weak from the serum therefore vulnerable and susceptible to it working? Hm not sure but that aside. After going through the repeated torture of losing her while in Hell, her pain during the happy reunion informs them that as the tattoo fades so does she and he can't do this again. She was happy to come back to at least save them while Aiden scrambled hoping for something to prevent this. She is saved by soul-tying with Aiden making her a reaper and allowing her to stay at Eden. Yirah eventually joins them and she's grateful she wasn't late.

Aiden and Joyce are solid and agree that they shouldn't worry about anything as long as they love each other. Joyce gets her own department after trying to get a law firm due to rejecting working for Reapers court. Her number department is 7 and their colour is purple. Yirah seemingly explodes after saying "God" who appears in his physical form for the first time in a while with black eyes. Everyone except Joyce is unconscious from the blast of energy from Yirah. She is joined by Aiden who felt her pain and appeared. God introduces himself after Joyce questions him and I'm half surprised she didn't say, "There is a God." The story is set to continue in the next book titled "The Missing God's Lawyer." I hope the others are fine though. There are pop culture references and more such as the imperfection of humanity and the poison of jealousy and craving power in this book. Jealousy is normal but it can get bad overtime like it did for Joey who had been there longer than Aiden. He thought he deserved to be promoted for his hard work and wanted more power. The imperfection of humanity is portrayed in several ways including the system of Eden glitching, and the fact the reapers required food and human activities to prevent being emotionless. I was happy Joyce got back into loving law again. She got to visit so many places and gained genuine friendships in Yirah and Valerie. She and Aiden were cute, supportive and passionate. I liked them.

Favourite character: Yirah, Joyce, and Aiden. Joyce was bold, good at her job, charismatic, and fashionable. Aiden was dependable, goal-oriented, and thoughtful. Both are intelligent.

Favourite scene: I like the scene of Joyce helping Ms. Jean with the landlord after she gave her the food she'd been craving after her hard day. Valerie's phone service. Aiden taking her to Heaven to alleviate her guilt. His showing Sam at peace was beautiful. Joyce pushing Aiden out of the way of danger because her dad pushed his love out of the way as she did too.

Most memorable thing: Aiden desperately begging everyone to do something as Joyce starts disappearing before they tie their souls.

Overall: I enjoyed this book with so many interesting opinions and descriptions of the afterlife. I look forward to seeing how the story continues.