I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell — Mackenzie Reed
Title: I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell
Author: Mackenzie Reed
Genre: Paranormal Romance | Fantasy | Romantasy
Format: eARC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐¾ — 3.75/5
Synopsis
After the unexpected death of her parents, Brie Benson is mostly going through the motions, working a painfully mundane receptionist job at a life insurance company.
Then she stays late one evening and catches her attractive, uptight boss Luke performing an exorcism on Deb from Accounting.
Apparently, Luke's managerial responsibilities extend slightly beyond spreadsheets and performance reviews.
Luke reveals that he comes from a family of demon hunters and warns Brie to forget everything she saw. But when one of Brie's closest friends at work disappears and demonic activity continues to increase, forgetting isn't exactly an option.
Luke believes he knows where the missing people are being taken:
Hell.
Soon Brie and Luke are heading into the Underworld on a rescue mission, where they'll have to contend with demons, monsters, magic, a weakening barrier between worlds and some increasingly inconvenient feelings for each other.
Just your standard corporate business trip.
My Thoughts
Brie works a boring corporate job and...
Unfortunately...
I occasionally felt like I worked there with her.
Which is honestly SO frustrating because I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell has one of those premises that immediately made me go:
YES. GIVE IT TO ME.
I mean...
You're working late at your incredibly boring life insurance job when you accidentally discover your hot, uptight boss performing an EXORCISM ON DEB FROM ACCOUNTING.
COME ON.
That's fantastic.
Brie is already struggling after losing her parents and basically existing in survival mode when she discovers that Luke, her very attractive but rather mysterious boss, is secretly a demon hunter.
Then one of her closest friends at work disappears, demon activity is increasing, Luke has an idea where the missing people might be and suddenly...
ROAD TRIP THROUGH HELL.
I was READY.
The beginning was really strong. I was intrigued by Luke, I liked Brie, I wanted to know what was happening, and I couldn't wait for them to actually enter Hell and see what kind of chaos awaited them.
And then we got there.
And...
Why did Hell feel so... Plain Jane?
This is the part I'm struggling to explain because things DO happen.
There are monsters. Demons. Danger. Different adventures. Magic. Problems with the barrier between the worlds. Brie and Luke are running around trying not to die while also figuring out how the hell they're supposed to save everyone.
On paper, there is absolutely no shortage of stuff happening.
But I don't know...
I just wasn't feeling the excitement.
I kept waiting for that OMG WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?! feeling, and I don't think it ever completely arrived.
The deeper we traveled into Hell, the more I realized I wasn't as invested in the journey as I'd expected to be.
And considering we're literally in HELL, that's...
Slightly unfortunate. :/
Brie & Luke
Thankfully, I did like Brie and Luke together.
Their bickering and banter were fun, I enjoyed watching Brie slowly discover there was considerably more underneath Luke's manager exterior, and I liked the way their relationship developed throughout their completely normal, everyday business trip to the Underworld.
You know...
Team-building exercise.
Very standard HR stuff.
I'm sure there's a form for it somewhere.
And I think that's ultimately why I'm sitting around 3.75 rather than going lower.
I didn't dislike the book at all. There were things I genuinely enjoyed, I liked the characters and romance, and I still think the premise is fantastic.
I just couldn't completely click with it.
Final Thoughts
The beginning had me expecting a wild ride, but once the actual journey through Hell began, something about the story lost that initial spark for me.
There was plenty happening, but weirdly, it never translated into the level of tension or excitement I wanted.
And I'm extra sad because...
cough
I may have already preordered the physical book.
With the swag.
BEFORE reading it.
Look, the premise sounded amazing and the swag was cool, okay?!
At least my shelf will look pretty while silently judging me.
3.75⭐
ARC Disclaimer
Thank you to Headline Eternal and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
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