The Accidental Gatekeeper by Carla Rehse: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

The Accidental Gatekeeper by Carla Rehse

There’s a recent trend in urban fantasy to make the protagonist a middle-aged woman. She’s usually in her early forties and facing a sudden change, be it a divorce or something else, when she’s believed her life perfectly set. The Accidental Gatekeeper by Carla Rehse, which starts the Accidental Midlife trilogy, is part of that trend.

Everly Popa, 45, returns to her childhood home after ratting her (soon-to-be-ex) husband to FBI for his criminal activities, which has caused his partners to threaten her life. She’s had to leave her adult daughter behind, after she sided with her father.

It's not an easy homecoming for her. She hails from a town that sits on a nexus of heaven and hell, populated by humans bred to guard the place and all sorts of supernatural and otherworldly creatures. She’s fled the town in a huff in her teens after being denied a post as a Hunter for her gender, and hasn’t been back since. The semi-sentient town isn’t willing to let her in, which is only the start of her troubles.

Everly has barely been let in when she’s attacked by a hellhound, which indicates that she’s been chosen as the Gatekeeper of the town, because the person who was supposed to inherit the post has gone missing. And she’s not the only one. Things go from bad to worse to apocalyptic in no time, and it’s up to Everly, who isn’t exactly in her teenage shape anymore, to save the day.

This book started well, with an interesting premise and good pacing. But once the action began, that’s all there was. I’m not a fan of a narrative where mayhem follows mayhem, with no pause for reflection. And I absolutely dislike the trope where the protagonist is kept deliberately in the dark. Everly is swept along by the events around her and at no point does she influence them. Add in a few deus ex machina saves (literally), and she’s a pretty useless protagonist. That she ends up saving the day in the end was thanks to the power invested in her, and not to any particular action of hers.

The book never answers any of the questions set by the premise. The criminal husband and the threat to Everly’s life are forgotten, and the issues with her daughter aren’t solved. And many questions are given unsatisfactory answers, including the antagonist’s motivation or how they were able to do what they did. The treatment of the elders of town especially left me flabbergast.

But what made me dislike this book was Everly herself. At forty-five, she’s already going through the menopause (apparently that’s the only valid experience for a woman that age to have, never mind that it’s a tad early) and is inconvenienced by it (apparently medical treatment for it isn’t available where she lives), and suffers from aches caused by age (because forty-five is old and not the new black).

Yet she doesn’t seem to have a proper past. References to her daughter’s childhood could be made by a woman fifteen years younger, and her husband doesn’t exist even that much. Her interaction with the people in the town are only about their high school years. She has insecurities from her youth she hasn’t managed to work through during her adulthood and is only facing now. And she has no common sense at all.

Despite the flaws, this was a passable UF starter, if much too long for the content. There’s some attempt to kindle an old romance, but the guy left me cold. In the end the most important relationship turned to be with one of the angels guarding the town. The ending sets the next book, but I don’t think I’ll continue with the series.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.