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willow1113's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Gaslighting, Medical content, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
analenegrace's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Vampires are not a genre I usually read, and I was intrigued to read this as I haven't read many polyam books. I liked the characters' relationship in this more than other polyam books I've read recently, and I look forward to the sequel. The world-building and action were fun, although at times, I got bogged down by the sheer amount of information being told to the reader. I saw the twist coming, and I have to admit, I was hoping I was wrong, but I'm still interested in seeing where the story is going to go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, War, Cursing, Grief, and Stalking
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.0
Did you love the Netflix Castlevania show and wish for more between Alucard, Trevor, and Sophia? Do you hate “love triangles” that aren’t true triangles? Do you also love bloody, brilliant fight scenes? Then you’re in luck! This novel will for sure satisfy that itch. I loved every moment of this fantasy adventure and would read a whole series about the 3 main characters—I hope there’s more coming! Some of the writing was a bit clunky but I chalk that up to English not being Chupeco’s native language, paired with a potentially inexperienced editor. Those instance did pull me out of the narrative a bit but, as a whole, it didn’t affect how much I enjoyed the story & characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Body horror, Drug use, Medical content, Blood, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Animal death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Biphobia, and Death of parent
Minor: War
crinkledmochi's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
4.0
so much going on but in a good way, plus i wish there was a map for reference. i kept getting confused about all the different locations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Classism, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence
just_one_more_paige's review
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
3.0
The publisher reached out to me about this one, to see if I'd be interested in a NetGalley eARC of this one. While I actually normally do not say yes to too many of those offers, mainly because my NetGalley feedback percentage is already abysmal, and I have so many other things I want to read that I'm usually sure I won't get around to it in a timely fashion, this one did sound really good. We all know I'm a suck for a vampire situation. Haha. And standalone adult fantasy is tough to come by. So...I decided to give it a try. And I had already started this year with a couple pretty heavy contemporary lit reads, so this kind of escapism was exactly what I needed.
Remy Pendergast is a very well-known and extremely successful [rogue] vampire hunter, if not a particularly popular one (what with his father's terrible reputation and the rumors about his mother's relationships leading many to question if he is half-vampire himself). When Remy is sent out to hunt down a new, and especially terrifying, breed of vampire, he crosses paths with some others who have the same goal. Xiaodan Song is a vampire heiress with a uniquely terrifying (for vampires) gift and her partner, Zidan Malekh, is an ancient and powerful vampire lord. When the two request that he join them in their efforts to hunt down the source of the virus that is causing this horrible new vampire mutation (dubbed "the Rot"), he decides to go with them, despite myriad reservations about associating with vampires that closely. As the three spend time together, Remy learns not just more about his own family's reputation and history, but about himself as well. As the mystery around the Rot unfolds, he realizes that he hasn't been told the full story by his father. And his complicated growing feelings towards Xiaodan *and* Zidan might, in fact, be reciprocated by both.
Well, I am on an unexpected roll (decidedly not purposeful, but I'm very much not complaining) with polyamorous vampire reads. Though while A Dowry of Blood leaned more dark romance, this one was definitely more vampire/creature hunting horror. However, there were some really great threesome scenes once we finally got to that section in this book. And I mean finally, because let me tell you, the slow burn and sexual tension was real. It was drawn out and teasing in the best way. And, while it isn't usually my favorite romance/steam aspect, I did think the dirty talk/innuendo (well, let me be clear, I love innuendo, I am less into direct dirty talk, but anyways...) was great. Overall, definitely the highlight of this read, at least for me, was the relationship amongst Remy, Xiaodan and Zidan - their interactions physically and verbally were all great, unique to whether it's one-on-one in any combination or all three together. (Side note, there was lots of swearing in this very casually written
I also really enjoyed the general storyline. While some things were maybe not as clear as they could have been, especially regarding the drop straight into the details of the human and vampire courts from the beginning, with a bit less exposition than might have been necessary, I eventually got caught up in the story enough to push through and more or less get a handle on things. And I liked the overarching mystery-solving/investigation framework for the plot. It was a major part of what helped me push through some of the more convoluted world-building things, because at the very least I was following the mystery parts. And while there were some definite horror aspects, in the way the new vampire-types were able to regenerate (and the descriptions of some of their visual impacts were pretty visceral), it was a low key enough paranormal horror that it was fine for me (a big horror scaredy-cat). There were also some super creepy aspects, like the mind control pieces and very young vampires, that gave me icky feels or shivers, but with enough removal from reality to not be too much. As far as how the mystery wrapped up...I can't say it was a total surprise. At a certain point, it felt like the only possible "solution." But it was still satisfying to read.
Finally, I know this was an ARC variation, so hopefully some further editing was done before final publication, but it definitely did feel a bit unfinished. Like, some lack of smoothness in the language, weird transitions in some of the dialogue that occasionally made it feel like there were some lines missing, and a few details here and there that might have made the world/plot feel more tangible...just an overall sense of distance was created by this somewhat slippery reading experience. And don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it overall (and loved the relationship pieces), but in getting into some of the more specific (nit-picky ish) review points, there were some finer aspects that left something to be desired.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Murder
zarhara's review
adventurous
dark
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
4.5
Reads like fanfiction. And yes, that's a compliment
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, War, Death of parent, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Cursing, Animal death, Medical content, Alcohol, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Child death, Child abuse, and Gaslighting
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