Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite

Katie Death by EM Green is entertaining, clever, and humorous. Katie Death's life has been a series of moves and friends left behind whenever her family relocates to somewhere new. All she's ever wanted is to have a normal life with friends, but the last time she let anyone in on her family's secret, it did not go well. Her family has a rather unusual secret. Her father is a Grim Reaper. This makes it hard for her to have anything resembling normalcy, so when she moves to another new school, she falls into the usual routine of trying to make new friends. Then she befriends Matt who is facing his own family drama when his mom gets sick and starts saying things that couldn't possibly be true. The two are quickly brought together and learn that they have more in common than they thought. Demons are chasing after them, and now the fate of humanity is placed on their shoulders.

Katie is an ordinary teenager who wants a regular life with friends, but her family is anything but normal and she soon learns that she isn't as normal as she thought. The beginning of the story finds her firm in her attempts to have the normal life she longs for after yet another move. All she wants is to be like everyone else and hang out with her friends, play field hockey, and go to games. Her dad's secret job pushes her to keep a distance between herself and her normal life. She sees the opportunity to have everything she's ever wanted when she's welcomed with open arms by new friends. Jodie is the first real friend she makes who greets her with a warm welcome. Her new friend provides her with a way to get a taste of normal life until she discovers a shocking truth about herself. The story weaves between the high school, supernatural elements, and her family in a fun urban fantasy about coming of age. The story is grounded within Katie as a teenager with the supernatural elements woven into her journey in action-packed moments, demonic showdowns, and divine intervention.

EM Green places a unique spin on the mythology of Grim Reapers with death being a day job that allows them to interact with archangels and demons. Green captures the supernatural elements within a high school setting that has an eerie undertone and the rule of the Shiny Girls (aka popular girls). Katie's journey takes her from the idea of normalcy to learning to embrace the other part of herself, which allows her to become a hero, make genuine friends, and find a place for herself within the world of Reapers. Katie Death is an entertaining read that puts a supernatural twist on the high school setting with a world of reapers, demons, angels, and the teenager caught between it all.