For Whom the Belle Tolls

Publishes 14th May 2025. Pre-order now at orders@lanebook.com.au or call us at (08) 9384 4423. 

Darci's Review 

For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn is a fun and uplifting fantasy debut. From booktoker Jaysea Lynn, we are introduced to a unique world. Inspired by Dante’s Inferno and Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, Lynn has created an Afterlife in which Judgement is given not from one faith, but from the individual’s choice of faith. The novel makes many references to Christianity, Nordic gods, Hinduism, ancient myths, and Greek gods, painting the Afterlife and its souls and denizens in a welcoming place filled with a sense of community and the chance for rehabilitation.

A fun romantasy with plentiful spicy scenes, For Whom the Belle Tolls also has many important themes. The main character, Lily, dies of cancer and is transported to the Afterlife. At 34 years of age, Lily had lived a full life, but she also had many experiences she didn’t get to live and was given the option of reincarnation for when she felt ready. Lynn used Lily’s character to explore religious trauma, the value of human life, and the eternal nature of the present. Due to her traumatic experiences with youth pastors and childhood friends who were devoted to the church, Lily feared Heaven and yet to face the omnipresent God. But despite her old peers’ judgements that she would find a place in Hell; Lily decided to waltz straight down there and offer a helping hand to the demons who filed souls through to their rightful place of rest. Lynn constructed Hell beautifully, describing nine levels, the first two of which were dedicated to therapy to help those darker souls rehabilitate and work their way up towards reincarnation. The lower levels, increasing in the inherent evil of the soul from level 3 to 9, focused on more psychologically and physically painful methods of karma and retribution for the characters’ dastardly deeds.

Lynn explores similar themes to Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, including the possibility of love during a time of war, cultural connections, romance as salvation, and violence, cowardice and death. This can be seen in the plot, in which Lily quickly becomes friends with a demon known as Bel, and as they get closer is surprised to discover he is the son of Lilith and the General of Hells armies. We become privy to a war brewing between universes, in which Lily and Bel need to navigate their relationship and come to terms with their own needs and desires while looking after each other and fulfilling their other obligations. Lily is thrust into many situations in which she is exposed to the diverse cultures the Afterlife has to offer, and discovers that she can still feel alive, especially in her Paradise within the afterlife.

With such a heartwarming story told in a witty, humorous, and insightful way, Jaysea Lynn has created a romantasy novel perfect for contemporary society. Affirming the values of community and self-therapy, For Whom the Belle Tolls is an ambitious novel and that will have you crying, laughing and even blushing throughout.

For Whom the Belle Tolls will be published on May 14th 2025. You can pre-order now at orders@lanebook.com.au or call us at (08) 9384 4423. 

Publisher's Review

They told her to go to Hell. She went, but on her own terms.

Lily isn’t exactly thrilled with her arrival in the Afterlife, but what awaits her there is more fantastical than she ever could have imagined: Deities wait in line at the coffee shop. Fae flit between realms. Souls find ways to make death a beginning.

As she explores the many corners of the Afterlife, Lily finds herself surprisingly drawn to a place most people would avoid at all costs: Hell. Armed with years of customer service experience and pent-up sarcasm, Lily carves a job out for herself amongst Hell’s demons, sending souls to their rightful circles with more than a hint of sass.

Lily’s expectations are subverted every day in Hell—especially by Bel, a demon general with a distractingly sexy voice. The two meet by chance and form an immediate, deeply healing friendship, but the undeniable heat between them threatens to combust.

Meanwhile, something stirs beyond the boundaries of their world, threatening to destroy everything they’ve known and everything that could be…unless they fight like Hell to stop it.

This debut novel from BookTok sensation Jaysea Lynn invites you to lose yourself in a world where love ignites in the unlikeliest of places, magic defies the rules, and the Afterlife proves more thrilling than anyone could imagine.