Scan barcode
thesparklyreads's review
- 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
4.5
This was a great read. It was full of action, lore, intense characters and mystery. There weren't any dull moments and I'm excited to read the second book soon.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
rmgmorrow's review
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Rape
kitkatkatdog's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Toxic relationship and Child abuse
biobeetle's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Xenophobia, Sexual content, War, Body horror, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, and Pregnancy
love_and_lilacs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Unfortunately, this was not for me. I found the execution of every part of this novel lacking, from the world building to the romance. I believe there was a compelling idea here, but what came out was a sort of pseudo-fanfiction that seemed to expect me to already be aware of the ins and outs of the fandom.
One of the main draws of the book is its romance which centers on Remy, a vampire hunter, and two vampires, Xiaodan and Malekh, who are already an engaged couple. And for some reason they're in love with Remy. I mean, literally that's the explanation. Why Remy? Why not? It hardly creates a romance that I feel invested in, let alone one that makes me feel anything at all.
The book is also full of random cursing, which is also fine, but it mostly comes across as corny. A lot of it is meant to sound like some, I don't know, made-up England time period despite not being set in our world. It's all arses and cockwombles (?) and then F-words every other sentence.
I wanted an epic gothic romance between vampires and a vampire hunter. I wanted intriguing and thorough world-building. I wanted a full exploration of the sci-fi premise of the mutant vampires. I got none of the above.
In general, I found that the female characters were much more compelling. Xiaodan and Elke drew my attention far more than any other characters in the book. Malekh is a predictable cardboard trope and Remy is the kind of dumb that is typically reserved exclusively for shonen protagonists.
This wasn't for me. But maybe it's for you if you're really into Castlevania, anything to do with vampires at all, or hey, maybe what's a problem for me is a selling point for you.
ARC provided by NetGalley
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, and Violence
nyannarb's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
banannafox's review
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Body horror, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Bullying, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Animal death, Grief, Classism, Confinement, Vomit, and Miscarriage
tifftastic87's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, and Cursing
Minor: Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Adult/minor relationship
panbread's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Hate crime, Gore, Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Child death
Minor: Grief, Murder, Confinement, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Child abuse
Wasn't sure what tag to use for this, but there is a relationship where an adult takes advantage of a teenager sexually. Exchanging sex for intel. This continues for several years, going into adult hood. It's not exactly asault or rape since it's consensual but there's definitely something traumatic about it. There is only brief mentions of the actual acts but the book spends significant amount of time handling the psychological after effects.karambit's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, War, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Vomit, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Child death, and Drug use