Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

115 reviews

ferouz's review against another edition

I stopped reading Empire of the Vampire when I crossed the 200 page mark. I wanted to try something different and it didn't work for me. I can see the appeal for this book, after all, it's been a very long time since we've had a vampire - fantasy story. Three things bugged me : the use of french language was a bit childish and didn't make sense ; the "blood" kink (if you know, you know) and the way the story is told. I strongly dislike jumping from time period to time period when it comes to the narration of the story.

A miss, unfortunately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, and Blood

haileyybean's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death

kinley28's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and War

jesicaj's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

taryn_g's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Torture, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Slavery, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Outing

andromeda_1998's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alanis_thespookyreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

readasadodo's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore and Violence

bee_royal_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

TW: gore, violence, mild child abuse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Blood

Minor: Child abuse

jlynnelseauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"Empire of the Vampire" is a journey. Its a long one as our main character, de Leon, is recounting his heart-rending life to a vampire historian. This is like, perhaps, an 18th-Century-esque French setting. There's a large amount of world building particularly around religion. The religion is basically Christianity but with subtle differences.

The book goes down a bit for its treatment of women. Many women are clearly there to entice the male reader. The main female vampire is often touching herself and trying to sexually manipulate the men chasing her...in public no less--very annoying. Women are often brutalized more explicitly than male characters. And if you're a woman, stay away from de Leon

Spoiler

, they have an annoying habit of dying to advance his emotional storyline

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Besides a couple people, everyone else curses like a sailor. Every. Single. Person. There is an excessive use of the word c*nt, but most often its variations on f*ck. The book is also much more sexually explicit than I'm used to reading. There's even underage sex, including a drawn photo in the book, which is not a welcome addition. Finally, it's extremely violent and bloody.

With everything being said, there are epic battles, hidden religious secrets, a vow of vengeance, and a struggle of faith. De Leon is an intriguing character. Kristoff does have some beautiful passages about choice and life and fate. I don't know if I'd be able to read a book 2 as I can't imagine keeping all of this in my head!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Rape