The Day Death Stopped

By: Rebecca Thorne

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

**Desperation is the most dangerous type of magic.**

This shouldn't be her problem.

Listen. Claire Bishop is Las Vegas’s greatest stage magician, and she’s perfectly happy with that fame. Ozarik is the next Zaro, the leader of the world’s witches, the modern-day Darcy everyone swoons over. Just because Claire shares a Zaro’s unfathomable magic doesn’t mean she shares the responsibility.

So, if Ozarik wants to make himself a villain by casting an ultra-dangerous spell to stop death on Earth “for her,” to “protect her,” that sounds like a him-problem. Claire has a show in four hours. Skipping it to save the world might give her manager a heart attack.

Ozarik may be her friend, but it sounds like a lot of work.… Ugh. Fine.

Narrated by the legendary Moira Quirk, this book is perfect for fans of the quirky narration of "Good Omens," or the ever-shifting timeline of "This is How You Lose the Time War."

©2023 Rebecca Thorne (P)2024 Rebecca Thorne

Critic reviews

"It's honestly brilliant. [Rebecca's] best YET." (Meg's Tea Room)

"I get it now. This is so freaking good." (Wren Jones)

Deep Emotions, difficult narrative

The multiple timelines aspect of this story makes it a bit of an effort to really get into, but the story itself is really solid. I think I was crying at least 3-4 times and really felt the heart-rending parts throughout the story.

Good narrative overall, and I've given it 4.5 if Audible would let me.

Moira Quirk's narration is still very well done as always, although she's using a different tone than I usually hear with her, which threw me off from the sample. Overall, this was a wonderfully-written story.

Excellent well woven story.

Her technique of going back and forth in time by anchoring it with the time death stopped.

A little hard to follow

I loved the narration, as always. The characters were great and well rounded.
The back and forth was a little hard to follow. Perhaps because w audible you have to listen carefully. I’m not sure but it was a struggle to finish the book. Which is normally not the case for this author. Overall, yes it was worth listening and purchasing. Especially towards the end.

A lovely treat, kept me entertained on long drives

Just finished The Day Death Stopped by Rebecca Thorne. I picked it up on a whim because I love the narrator (Moira Quirk) and it had elements I was interested in (magic, stubborn asexual anti-hero).

The story is told out of order in that we start with the big main event and then go back to see how we got there. It was a pretty good hook.

Sometimes it was a bit confusing since we jumped from the way past to the slightly past but it did all work its way together nicely.

It ended up being a touching story about human relationships and human faults with just enough lore/world building/magic to keep me interested and a memorable set of characters. Moira Quirk's reading, her emotion and accents, really added a lot to the story for me.

Would recommend this book you like stories that have a lot of heart but might not necessarily surprise you a ton. Warnings for emotional and physical abuse and manipulation of children, but no SA and low intensity.

Intriguing but flawed - still recommended!

While I love Rebecca Thorne and have torn through her other books (Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea and it’s sequel, and This Guilded Abyss), it took me FIVE tries to get to 25% in The Day Death Stopped! And because I felt like things were just sliding off me - I started from the beginning again, and again, and again. And yet - when I got past 25% the book finally stuck. It still took a while before I cared about a lot of stuff, but by the end I was fully engaged. But did I like it? Kinda - but I had issues.

The writing itself continues to show remarkable growth over a fairly short period - the depth of prose and imagery is absolutely wonderful.

The pacing was a struggle. The constant time jumps reminded me of that infamous cafe scene in Bohemian Rhapsody with 60 cuts in 1.5 minutes! I accept the design choice to bounce around the threads of time, but making it so constant resulted in difficulty getting attached to the characters.

Speaking of which - I think there was a romance? I say that jokingly, but for an author who penned such amazing romances in her other books, this felt like it would have been better left as best friends. Because THAT worked.

Ultimately I had a number of issues with this book and it is my least favorite book for one of my favorite recent authors. But it took an amazing and courageous leap - and if that reach exceeded its grasp, that is OK. It remains a highly recommended ambitious work.

idek

I sincerely have no idea what to write. this story defies genre and tropes. it's magical, worldly, heartbreaking, but also heartwarming. I think ilthis story will be top of mind for a while.