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tallangryplanet's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
In a world where the sun barely shines anymore, the last Silversaint shares the tale of his life with a vampire.
The vampires in this story are not the sparkly kind, but rather brutal creatures with an incredible hunger for power. I would like to start by saying that this book was way more explicit than I expected, so if you're sensitive to gore and violence I'd advise to go in mentally prepared. However, even though those elements sometimes threw me off, the book was still pretty enjoyable.
There are two timelines here, following two different moments in the protagonist's life. In the beginning it felt a bit info-dumpy because of how complex the world was and all the interruptions to explain some aspects of the lore, but it picked up later, and it wasn't too hard to follow the different stories. The plot itself was interesting, and the different characters made it more dynamic without getting too confusing.
This was, in general, a pleasant reading experience. I don't have a particular reason for my rating, but rather the feeling that it could've been better, and that some parts were just too heavy and dense. However, it was not at all a bad book, and if you don't mind taking some time to read it (this is not the kind of story you're done with in an afternoon), I totally encourage darker fantasy fans to give it a go.
The vampires in this story are not the sparkly kind, but rather brutal creatures with an incredible hunger for power. I would like to start by saying that this book was way more explicit than I expected, so if you're sensitive to gore and violence I'd advise to go in mentally prepared. However, even though those elements sometimes threw me off, the book was still pretty enjoyable.
There are two timelines here, following two different moments in the protagonist's life. In the beginning it felt a bit info-dumpy because of how complex the world was and all the interruptions to explain some aspects of the lore, but it picked up later, and it wasn't too hard to follow the different stories. The plot itself was interesting, and the different characters made it more dynamic without getting too confusing.
This was, in general, a pleasant reading experience. I don't have a particular reason for my rating, but rather the feeling that it could've been better, and that some parts were just too heavy and dense. However, it was not at all a bad book, and if you don't mind taking some time to read it (this is not the kind of story you're done with in an afternoon), I totally encourage darker fantasy fans to give it a go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts
rabidpookie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, War, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual content
itsraveekah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, and Drug use
firstdreams's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Drug use, and Animal death
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, War, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual violence
michelles_book_nook's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
⚠️ TW: violence, alcoholism, gore, graphic content, animal death, murder, homophobia, torture ⚠️ Wow I don't even know where to start with this review because this book left me speechless, it is an absolute masterpiece of epic dark vampire literature and I loved every second!! This book follows Gabriel De León, a half man, half vampire creature known as a paleblood who is a sworn brother of the holy silver order, the Silversaints, dedicated to protecting humanity from the war waged by vampires since daysdeath happened 27 years ago when the realm was plunged into a constant state of night. But as the vampire royalty known as highbloods continue to build their eternal empire Gabriel, the last remaining Silversaint, is all that stands between the world and its end. Now as he finds himself imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy he is forced to tell his epic tale filled with legendary battles, forbidden love, family and friends, lost faith, wars of blood and the forever king and the almighty quest for humanity's last hope, the holy grail. Firstly this book will have you feeling every emotion possible as it takes you on an immense dark, high fantasy journey. You will swoon, get hot under collar, laugh, cry and more importantly be absolutely enthralled from the very beginning. The world building and character development in this book is just utter perfection and I genuinely believe this book will be known as a vampire classic in the future because it is impeccable. Also, it has given me so many new one liners and insults too and I love it 😂 Overall, if high fantasy, vampires and epic journeys sound like your thing then you need to read this book and I cannot recommend it highly enough and I need book two ASAP 🦇
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, Animal death, Murder, Alcoholism, Torture, and Homophobia
ridleyreadsthings's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
Okay let me first start off by saying I loved this book. The story was insane and gritty and the worldbuilding was to die for. Kind of like if castlevania and the witcher had a baby.
You can tell Kristoff really took his time with the worldbuilding and character building. It's a incredibly dark, dangerous world that is far from boring and every chapter brought more depth and lore. No two characters were really the same either. He's blended vampire horror and mystery and fantasy to create something truly epic. Definitely not for kids this book. It's visceral and brutal and will leave you bleeding for more.
It's not your typical vampire story either. While they are beautiful, elegant eternal creatures, they still are monstrous and act as monsters. They aren't climbing through your bedroom window to read you poetry, they are evil - but even that evil had layers. Full of characters you love to hate, and hate to love, I can't wait to see where this epic journey ends up.
On the downside though it was what I expected of Kristoff - arrogant "woke" MC with the mouth of a sailor. All the swearing and childish playground insults kind off took me out of the story, and I found myself rolling my eyes alot.
But in the same breath I was incredibly suprised by this book. It's different from anything he's ever written, and I enjoyed the back and forth of the story into two points in the past, and I liked the narritive of that it's Gabriel telling his story, but we are still building up to something greater in the present day.
I think everyone can find something they love about this book, whether it's the worldbuilding, the cast of diverse characters, the brutal horror aspects, the tattoo worthy tattoos or the twists and twists and twists.
You can tell Kristoff really took his time with the worldbuilding and character building. It's a incredibly dark, dangerous world that is far from boring and every chapter brought more depth and lore. No two characters were really the same either. He's blended vampire horror and mystery and fantasy to create something truly epic. Definitely not for kids this book. It's visceral and brutal and will leave you bleeding for more.
It's not your typical vampire story either. While they are beautiful, elegant eternal creatures, they still are monstrous and act as monsters. They aren't climbing through your bedroom window to read you poetry, they are evil - but even that evil had layers. Full of characters you love to hate, and hate to love, I can't wait to see where this epic journey ends up.
On the downside though it was what I expected of Kristoff - arrogant "woke" MC with the mouth of a sailor. All the swearing and childish playground insults kind off took me out of the story, and I found myself rolling my eyes alot.
But in the same breath I was incredibly suprised by this book. It's different from anything he's ever written, and I enjoyed the back and forth of the story into two points in the past, and I liked the narritive of that it's Gabriel telling his story, but we are still building up to something greater in the present day.
I think everyone can find something they love about this book, whether it's the worldbuilding, the cast of diverse characters, the brutal horror aspects, the tattoo worthy tattoos or the twists and twists and twists.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, and Gore
Minor: Torture, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
sennaje's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
kommatator's review
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reasons to not read this book:
- Dislike of illustrations
- No fan of anoying bards
- Hating the found family trope
- Family freud with a vampire clan is a no go
Reasons to read this book:
- Love of the drug addicted, alcoholic main character who's grieving and a bastard
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Alcohol, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Cursing, and Murder
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Sexual content
katerbugg13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Violence, and Torture