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thebookaddict's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
🇳🇱: Dit boek was niet helemaal wat ik ervan verwacht had, maar het was leuk om te lezen. De focus ligt veel bij de queer romance en veel minder bij het verhaal eromheen, ik had het juist andersom verwacht. Ik las in de reviews dat het boek homofobisch was en soms zelfs een beetje racistisch. Ik keek hier anders naar. Ik vond het juist wel passen bij het boek, omdat we het hebben over 100 jaar oude (witte) vampiers die nog moeten "wennen" aan het idee dat het meer wordt uitgesproken als je queer bent en dat mensen met een andere huidskleur nu ook naar school gaan. Deze dingen kwamen sterk naar voren in het boek en dit kan dus ook kwetsend overkomen (lees zeker even de trigger warnings als je hier niet tegen kan). Ik vond het boek goed geschreven en je leest er vlot doorheen. Ik had alleen iets meer verhaallijn willen zien met betrekking tot de ziekte en het "medicijn" dit voelde nu juist meer als een zijlijn in het verhaal. Ook had ik meer willen lezen over de reünisten. Het concept van vampieren en een ziekte waar ze door sterven vond ik heel origineel bedacht.
🇬🇧: This book wasn't quite what I expected, but it was fun to read. The focus is much on the queer romance and much less on the story surrounding it, I expected it the other way around. I read in the reviews that the book was homophobic and sometimes even a bit racist. I looked at this differently. I thought it fit with the book, because we are talking about 100 year old (white) vampires who still have to "get used" to the idea that it is more pronounced if you are queer and that people with a different skin color now also go to school. These things were strongly highlighted in the book and can therefore come across as hurtful (be sure to read the trigger warnings if you cannot handle this). I thought the book was well written and easy to read through. I just would have liked to see a little more storyline regarding the disease and the "medicine", this just felt more like a sideline in the story. I would also have liked to read more about the reunionists. I thought the concept of vampires and a disease that kills them was very original.
🇬🇧: This book wasn't quite what I expected, but it was fun to read. The focus is much on the queer romance and much less on the story surrounding it, I expected it the other way around. I read in the reviews that the book was homophobic and sometimes even a bit racist. I looked at this differently. I thought it fit with the book, because we are talking about 100 year old (white) vampires who still have to "get used" to the idea that it is more pronounced if you are queer and that people with a different skin color now also go to school. These things were strongly highlighted in the book and can therefore come across as hurtful (be sure to read the trigger warnings if you cannot handle this). I thought the book was well written and easy to read through. I just would have liked to see a little more storyline regarding the disease and the "medicine", this just felt more like a sideline in the story. I would also have liked to read more about the reunionists. I thought the concept of vampires and a disease that kills them was very original.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Cursing, Abandonment, Vomit, Death, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child death
finleyworm's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, and Bullying
Minor: Alcohol
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This was a little bit of a disappointing read. I had really high hopes for a sapphic vampire story, but just felt it fell short in a lot of aspects.
To start, there were some aspects I enjoyed. The world building felt solid and pretty realistic, which can be hard to do in urban fantasy settings with trying to balance the supernatural world in a way that feels realistic to the real world. I also thought some of the less touched ideas that were handled subtly were really well done. Specifically Kat and dealing with people’s sense of entitlement to hot people. There was also a really solid exploration of comp het in Kat’s development and discovery of her sexuality. Kat’s journey in sorting out her sexuality also felt ready well done and relatable.
Outside of that though, the book kept falling short. I think the book’s themes could have been handled well, but we were constantly being whacked over the head with them. It felt like someone who didn’t really get the topics the book was exploring was trying to explain them. It’s being shoved down your throat that discovering your sexuality is a journey and you aren’t entitled to know things about people, but then punishes/shames characters for being on that journey and/or not having the support systems to safely explore that.
On top of that I found every character pretty unlikable. I want characters to have flaws and blind spots, however there’s also only so much I can deal with before I decide the character’s just not a good person. Which is what I felt like every character fell into. Entitlement to know someone’s sexuality who you haven’t seen in three years, putting down more fem girls for being fem and not masc, ignoring boundaries setup by other characters (especially in the romance), and thinking someone is faking a panic attack for attention who has never displayed that kind of behaviour are just a few examples.
The final biggest issue is a really weak plot and ending. The book spent its entire run meandering about, occasionally dropping crumbs of plot, and then speed ran the entire plot in the last 25% or so. It just felt poorly done. Pair that with a poorly thought out ending (they took down the Big Bad Evil Conservative Capitalist and suddenly everyone everywhere was super accepting and no more bigotry happened) just mixed so well together to make the plot feel as flimsy as a piece of single-ply.
Overall it had a lot of potential and could have handled its complex themes in a nuanced, subtle way. However, it just ends up feeling like the author bit off more than she could chew.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Classism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cursing, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Death, Murder, and Sexism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual assault
dododenise's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed reading this book but it also didn’t do what I wanted it to do. It started promising. It really leant into the highschool cliches with the added vampire flair. The premise is amazing. But the romance just didn’t hit. I wasn’t feeling the tension or connection. The miscommunication was getting really tiring at some point and I don’t know why these characters like each other. The character work needs improvement.
The mystery element of the book was fine. I kind of wanted it to be bigger, as it relies on big political and ethical questions, but I understood the scaling choices for this kind of book. This way it kept the high school element of the story.
It definitely wasn’t perfect and I really hoped the premise would fulfil its potential, but regardless of its flaws it was a fun book to read.
The mystery element of the book was fine. I kind of wanted it to be bigger, as it relies on big political and ethical questions, but I understood the scaling choices for this kind of book. This way it kept the high school element of the story.
It definitely wasn’t perfect and I really hoped the premise would fulfil its potential, but regardless of its flaws it was a fun book to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Death
lunep's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Classism, Colonisation, Infertility, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence
evelynyle_88's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, and Racism
Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
shindanker's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Racism
bookishvicky's review
4.5
I LOVEDDDD the world and lore and characters of this book. One thing I will say is that it felt very #woke at times for the sake of being progressive, and while I agree a lot of the problematic shit was a bit much, I think it adds a layer to the idea that Vampirdom is a metaphor for the upper class and ignorant, and having Kat go from public school to Harcote is Meant to be jarring, we’re Meant to hate Harcote and the vampires from the bat.
While I wasn’t a fan of Taylor and Kat constantly feuding and just seeming to be straight up conflict drama til the end, I loved Taylor with all my bi heart (and that cover art!!!). I was surprised that this was such a politically charged pandemic story (that did feel a bit rushed at the end, but the twist was easy to figure out as you read) with not as much lesbian vamps as I would have liked given the premise, but everything about it was just so good, I literally couldn’t stop reading. I don’t usually cross my fingers for a sequel, but I’d LOVE to explore more of this world and unique vampire lore.
While I wasn’t a fan of Taylor and Kat constantly feuding and just seeming to be straight up conflict drama til the end, I loved Taylor with all my bi heart (and that cover art!!!). I was surprised that this was such a politically charged pandemic story (that did feel a bit rushed at the end, but the twist was easy to figure out as you read) with not as much lesbian vamps as I would have liked given the premise, but everything about it was just so good, I literally couldn’t stop reading. I don’t usually cross my fingers for a sequel, but I’d LOVE to explore more of this world and unique vampire lore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Medical content
thaliareads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Such a fun take on vampires and vampire society, I loved all the the ethical and moral hypotheticals raided throughout the book looking at how vampires and humans coexist. Such a well done queer slow burn romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Classism, Gaslighting, and Blood
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Emotional abuse, Murder, and Infertility
In general, the boarding school that the MC's go to is elitist and lacks diversity, meaning there are many instances where the other students seem like classist bullies, and they are not very open to queer people. In addition, as a book about vampires blood is quite frequently discussed. Finally, it is mentioned that while some vampires can have children - others find themselves infertile. Now for the content warnings that require spoilers:maev_e's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Homophobia, and Murder