Book Review: Sign Here by Claudia Lux

I picked up this book because of the notice of it being turned into a TV show. I got intrigued by the premise of someone working at Hell’s bureaucratic machine. So I went and got the book. I happily read onward, finding the mystery of how two storylines would connect together. The book follows Peyote, a worker at Hell, whose job is to get humans to sign away their souls and the Harrison family and their twisted lives. Unfortunately, the farther I got with the book more disappointed I got. The premise seemed to fall apart, and Peyote’s experience and the Harrison family’s situation moved farther away. It felt like the writer didn’t want to go with the obvious choice that would tie the two storylines together. There could have been a more heartfelt finale if, instead of making the end twist as it was. It could have been about what it means to love your brother. I cannot go further into the details as it would spoil the mystery that was the gist of the book. And again, unfortunately, the only gist.

The main character Peyton didn’t have agency. Okay, being trapped in Hell might steal that away from you, but still, I found it off, making the character weak and uncompelling. Then there was Calamity Peyton’s coworker. The friendship between those two was messy and not in the way genuine relationships are messy. The storyline distracted from the main plot and made Peyton look uninteresting. Okay, it was a way to show the compassionate side of the main character. Still, I don’t quite understand why it didn’t matter and why the friendship made the whole point of the book moot. Again, I can’t go into the details. It would spoil the plot. But the relationship with the Harrisons and Peyote should have been the focus. Harrisons and their lives felt real, and there was so much wasted potential to be explored. Yet, even there, how the events unfolded was like the writer didn’t again want to go with the obvious solution and thusly messed up the ending, making it all gimmicky and irrelevant.

I’m annoyed with the book. The premise was great. It had so much potential. The writing was compelling, and how it toyed with the mystery kept me reading, but the delivery fell flat. Still, I don’t feel sorry having read the book. It didn’t waste my precious time. I found it entertaining, and it had that thing a book should have. I’m interested to see if the TV show goes more to the funnier site and plays with the storyline.

Thank you for reading! Have a great weekend ❤