The Accidental Gatekeeper

Angels, demons, witches, humans, and more! Such a great funny read that had me laughing out loud throughout the book! So much fun!

Thanks very much for giving me a chance to read ths book. I really enjoyed it. The narrator is humourous; she's smart, and I liked many of the other characters as well, as well as the beginning of a world that has been created. The first few pages read like a thriller, and then it turned into fantasy with angels and demons and good and evil. A great book. I can't wait for book 2.

Light-hearted, humorous, and sassy: The Accidental Gatekeeper had me laughing out loud and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book.

Angels, demons, witches, were-people, hellhounds, humans, and more all live within Crossing Shadows, a town that separates heaven and hell with a Gate. Add in former-resident Everly Popa, a sassy, sarcastic, witty, middle-aged woman that hasn't been home in years who accidentally becomes Gatekeeper for said Gate, and you've got yourself a great adventure.

Everly is a fun, firecracker of a protagonist that doesn't drive you crazy (I'm 21 and still found Everly just as relatable). The town of Crossing Shadows became more and more real with every chapter (you never leave the town, but it didn't feel restrictive narratively) and I found myself loving all of the side characters and their quirks. Carla Rehse did a great job with similes, metaphors, and generally humorous phrases; they were well-crafted with great comedic timing (and my personal favorite: "I did my best impression of an overcooked noodle").

Occasionally I got a bit lost in the narrative because I had to go back and remind myself who a certain character was, but that happened more at the beginning and I caught on as the book went on. The dialogue and inner-thoughts could be cheesy at times, but it didn't feel too out of place in the humorous narrative (if this book had a more serious tone, then I think it would have been distracting). This could be a case of Stolkholm Syndrome, but I actually found myself enjoying the cheesiness over time.

The Accidental Gatekeeper is a paranormal, fantasy adventure with hints of Crescent City, Schitt's Creek, and Percy Jackson. If you enjoy a little humor mixed in your fantasies, then you'll love this book. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and I would recommend reading The Accidental Gatekeeper!

Fun quirky start of what’s going to be a great series! Paranormal with fun characters. Author has a wicked sense of humor.

An amazing book a full round of laughter all around just what the doctor ordered.
Be it the main character or the utterly bureaucratic Angels .
If you love Jessica Christ or other books like it you will love this one

Filled with all sorts of paranormal types. Fun, humorous and quirky characters especially Everly. The start of a promising paranormal series! Get ready to laugh and smile! Thanks #netgalley and #BooksGoSocial for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lighthearted humor with a bit of pizzazz. What a fun, light easy read enjoyable for many. It would ,and. Good book club read.

The Accidental Gatekeeper is the first book in a trilogy by Carla Rehse. This book has a little bit of everything -angels, demons, vampires, werewolves and a LOT of laughing out loud humor! I have never read a book like this before and really enjoyed it! A great fast paced summer read!

This was a phenomenal book and I enjoyed reading this book. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

It’s not often I get to read a book where the protagonist is a less than perfect twenty-somethinger. Yes, their lives are a hot mess, but the bodes are young and perky. That is not the case here with The Accidental Gatekeeper. Knowing that the main character is not-so-young and full of flaws was what attracted me, and the blurb did the rest. So, I settled in to discover Everly Popa and to find out how one accidentally becomes a gatekeeper.

I see by other reviews this is either a love it or leave it story. I for one loved it. Middle-age and less than perfect, I found Everly to be one heck of a snarky riot. The situations she kept running into had me in stitches. The world-building was great and easy, if not chaotic, to keep up with. From hellhounds to witches, demons to angels, and all sorts of in-between, there was more than enough paranormal types to keep me happy.

Anyone looking for a book that doesn’t take itself to seriously is going to enjoy author Carla Rehse’s The Accidental Gatekeeper. I found it to be a great blend of edge of your seat suspense blended with laugh out loud crazy moments. With that cliffy type ending, and knowing this is a trilogy, it’s going to be a hard wait for the next book. Guess I’ve got another author to stalk!

Stars: 4
I received this book from Netgalley. I was not compensated for the book other than the entertainment it provided. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

En le commençant, je ne savais pas trop à quoi m’attendre, ne connaissant pas du tout l’auteur, j’ai reçu ce livre à travers NetGalley. Ce qui m’a tout d’abord attiré, c’était cette couverture et ensuite ce résumé prometteur. J’avais un peu peur de ne pas aimer le style de l’auteur ou de ne pas m’identifier au personnage principal comme Everly a 45 ans. Et bien pas du tout ! Au contraire, je suis quasi tout de suite rentrée dans le livre, je me suis prise dans le style et dans l’histoire qui est plein de rebondissements. Tellement d’ailleurs que j’ai fini par me coucher a 3h du matin pour le finir …


Avant de me perdre en digressions, rentrons dans le vif du sujet, a savoir qu’est-ce qui m’a plu et moins plu ?
Tout d’abord, je tiens à saluer le choix de l’auteur d’associer fantastique et personnage principal qui ne soit pas dans sa jeunesse et n’est pas un homme cis (6) caucasien hétérosexuel. J’ai vu assez peu de livres déviants presque totalement de ce schéma et c’est très agréable à lire car beaucoup plus réaliste sur certains aspects, notamment physiques. Par exemple, quand il s’agit d’escalader quelque chose ou même juste de s’agenouiller, elle ne peut s’empêcher de noter à quel point elle n’a plus l’endurance qu’elle avait plus jeune ou que son genou gauche n’est clairement pas d’accord avec ses plans. Cela rend son personnage d’autant plus accessible pour le commun des mortels qui n’est pas spécialement versé dans les activités physiques intensives et permet de s’y attacher. Après tout, qui d’entre vous n’a pas déjà lu une fiction ou les héros ne sont bizarrement jamais à court d’énergie, peu importe le nombre de course poursuites auxquels ils prennent part ? Cela a toujours le don de me faire rire. Mais ce n’est pas tout. Everly ayant passé les 27 dernières années dans le monde que vous et moi connaissons à faire des choses tout à fait mondaines, elle compare souvent ses expériences enfermée dans une ville aux frontières de l’enfer avec des anges, démons et autres, à celles de s’embrouiller avec un autre parent d’élève. Ce qui allège le ton, malgré certaines scènes et évènements assez durs, mais également envoie un message assez sympathique au lecteur je trouve. Peu importe ses expériences passées, on peut toujours y trouver de quoi grandir pour avancer peu importe ce que le futur nous réserve. Et enfin – promis après ça j’en ai fini avec ce premier paragraphe -, je place beaucoup d’espoirs dans le personnage de Sadie, la fille d’Everly de 20 ans et se trouve être gay, pour briser un peu ce fameux schéma. D’après la fin du tome 1, elle devrait prendre plus d’importance dans le tome 2 et j’ai assez hâte de voir comment l’auteur va la dépeindre, l’évolution de sa relation avec sa mère et j’espère ses amours ! Pour la dernière partie, je trouve que c’est assez peu fait quand il y a des personnages secondaires LGBTQIA+(7). Les seuls exemples que je trouve (et que je recommande d’ailleurs) c’est dans la série de livres The Mortal Instruments de Cassandra Clare avec Magnus Bane et Alec Lightwood, et le livre These Witches Don’t Burn d’Isabel Sterling avec un triangle amoureux assez intéressant. Et dans le cas de Sadie, je lui ai déjà trouvé un ship 😉


Après ce premier paragraphe bien dense, parlons un peu de l’univers du roman. Comme mentionné plus haut, l’histoire se passe à Crossing Shadows, une ville se trouvant près d’un des portails vers les enfers et de ce fait, la ville est peuplée d’anges, démons, humains et autres créatures fantastiques. Comme on peut s’y attendre, les humains au sein de cette ville ont tous des rôles bien précis et la ville est gouvernée par un conseil composé d’anges, démons et humains (si je ne me trompe pas). On a donc les bases pour un univers passionnant et des fanfictions. Seulement … on reste un peu sur notre faim de ce côté-là. Si on a les grandes lignes de cet univers, on manque un peu d’informations pour vraiment s’approprier cet univers. J’aurais par exemple beaucoup voulu en savoir plus sur sa mère, sur son enfance, ce que font les hunters ou encore l’archiviste.


Et cela est je pense du au rythme du roman, ce qui m’amène à mon troisième point. Le rythme du roman est très soutenu, avec action sur action ce qui est génial pour garder le lecteur plonge dans l’histoire, mais qui a aussi ses défauts … On a très peu de temps morts pour vraiment approfondir cet univers ou les relations entre les personnages, ce qui donne une impression d’inachevé à la fin du tome. Alors, c’est peut-être voulu, comme il s’agit d’une trilogie, cependant ces vitesses amènent à des scènes qui surprennent un peu à mon sens. [Attention la suite du paragraphe contient des spoilers] Notamment, sur la relation Everly-Lawson. On sait dès le départ, que ce sont des amours de jeunesse qui se sont quittés pas vraiment en bons termes et qu’Everly le trouve toujours très à son goût en revenant grâce au début du livre … et c’est à peu près tout jusqu’à une scène de baiser qui arrive un peu comme un cheveu dans la soupe en fin de tome. Alors certes on sait dès le départ qu’ils vont finir ensemble, mais ils se comportent plus comme des collègues ou des amis durant la plus grande partie du livre et surtout Lawson ne laisse paraître aucunes émotions ce qui donne un peu l’impression que peu importe ce qu’il se passe est à sens unique. Ce baiser est donc aussi sorti de nulle part que la relation entre Harry et Ginny(8) dans les films (if you know, you know).[Fin du spoiler]


En conclusion, malgré quelques petits défauts, c’est un premier tome très solide avec de l’action, de l’humour et un univers prometteur. J’ai beaucoup apprécié cette lecture et j’ai hâte de lire le tome 2 pour voir l’évolution des personnages et les péripéties qui attendent Everly !

I received an ARC of this book. I loved this book. It had me laughing out a laugh on the train and many strange looks. I like that the book was a middle-aged woman instead of standard 20 something. It has all the good stuff like angels, demons, werewolves, vampires…. It was interesting and kept your attention. If there was really such a place as Crossing Shadows – I go… The story was a fast-paced book and a good start to a new series. I gave it a 4 because it was part of a series instead of a stand-alone. I do look forward to the rest of the series. I would recommend it. This story is worth putting aside the time to read; you will not regret it.

"The Accidental Gatekeeper": 4 ⭐

(Unpaid Review: thanks to @netgalley, @carlarehse and the publishers for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review).

I really enjoyed this book. The narrator has a twinge of humor while making this thrillery and full of suspense. I confess I chose this book for the cover but the premise was so satisfying, I had to give it a try.
The story about a middle - aged woman was a little weird to read about, but I enjoyed it.

Very funny and light hearted. Found it to be a fast paced quick read and I really enjoyed it. Left me waiting impatiently for the next book.

The Story:

Everly Poppa is a 45 year old woman with a sassy teen daughter and a husband in jail. With no one else to turn to, she heads home to her Mom, despite having left her home town, years before, vowing never to return. Home is a small town in America that happens to be one of the Gates to Hell. Angels and demons govern the town which is in a state of flux. The old Gatekeeper has died and their successor has disappeared. A hellhound bites Everly. The town is locked down. Everly must find her daughter and the new Gatekeeper, battle the demons, support the angels and find a snarky witch. Oh – and deal with her old high school boyfriend just for good measure. Then perhaps she can deal with her real world issues: the FBI wanting her to testify against her husband and his drug-dealing friends who don’t.

This is a joy of a book. Everly Poppa is the the new premenopausal heroine of women everywhere. Anyone who is a daughter or a mother will love it.

Review
The Accidental Gatekeeper is a delight of a story that keeps you reading right to the end. Everly is very relatable and the relationship with her daughter and her mother very real. The fact is that we never grow up and humans can keep making the same mistakes over and over again. The paranormal element is well-drawn: the demons are annoying until things get messy and the angels are grand and judgemental until the chips are down. There are also shapeshifters, werewolves, ghosts and poltergeists and witches. The world is wonderfully drawn and I enjoyed the story immensely. I would recommend this story for people who enjoy paranormal stories. There will be two more books about Everly coming in the future and I am looking forward to reading more about her adventures.

This was a pure joy to read. Something about the writing style and story meshed perfectly for me and I read the book in one sitting. It was an easy recommendation to reading groups for future reads. Well written and plotted with enjoyable characters.

I thought that the book, was such a page turner. A great read. The plot was very well written and I cannot wait to read another book by this author.

I'm delighted that sassy, snarky, funny urban fantasy stories are having another moment and this book kept me laughing through all of the best parts. We have a misfit who left her small town years and years ago, had a bit of a wild life and is now returning home for good reasons. Everyone remembers her, some less fondly than others, and before long she is the only one who can fix a rather nasty problem. I very much enjoyed this light read and have started recommending it to our library patrons and random people in bookstores. You should read it too.

Thank you BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

#TheAccidentalGatekeeper
#NetGalley

I loved this book… the fact that the protagonist wasn’t a twenty something pretty slim girl but a middle aged woman with a bad knee I felt was fantastic. The story flowed well, on the most part the characters were likeable and I felt for Everly as she ran around with all her health problems trying to save her life.

It was funny, paced well and really really enjoyable. I couldn’t put it down.

Lighthearted fun, full of humour , I was addicted to this it’s fast paced, great characters and a whole cast of wonderful characters, definitely recommended for a smile