Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

28 reviews

caidyn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow, what a great book. It was so winding and Gothic and just amazing. Definitely a favorite book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, and Blood

srm's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.75

There's a lot I like about this book, but ultimately it's a loooooooooooong time to spend to get where we got.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Murder

Minor: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Confinement, Grief, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Death, Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Gun violence

rorikae's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

‘The Historian’ by Elizabeth Kostova is a complex story about three generations of a family that have been pulled into a search for information about Dracula. 
The story twines between the story of a college student as she seeks to learn what happened to her father and his mentor as they searched for news about Vlad the Impaler and the legend of Dracula. It is mostly told through recollections that the daughter (and her father before her) have found, including letters, journals, and notes. 
I’m quite conflicted about this book. I enjoyed it but I feel that the length is unnecessary (even though it is well paced). So much of this story is recollection that it feels very passive as other characters are doing things and the daughter’s story is really just a frame narrative. For the length of the book, it doesn’t feel like a great much happens, which is part of why I feel it could have been greatly cut down in length without sacrificing the story. There were some interesting revelations throughout the story, which I did enjoy. The ending was very quick (especially considering how long the book is). This is very much a book for people that want an academic focused but fictional look at Vlad the Impaler and legends of Dracula. Action is minimal but Kostova does a good job of keeping questions moving throughout the story in a way that pulls along the interest of the reader. 
Important note: this book was published in 2005 and uses the slur for the Romani people multiple times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Abandonment, Racial slurs, Death, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Kidnapping and Confinement

jelliestars's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt, Torture, Islamophobia, Suicide, Car accident, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Stalking, Medical content, Rape, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Mental illness, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, War, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

itisnatal's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, and Racial slurs

spellbookspines's review

adventurous informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

renettereads's review against another edition

informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Despite having the physical copy, I listened to the audiobook version of The Historian and really enjoyed the narration of it. Because there are ultimately two timelines and a varied cast, it helped to have different voice actors perform this. 

Now The Historian ultimately follows several historians as they track down Dracula after they each have a strange encounter with a book. Though this is an interesting take on vampire mythology, I found it very dense. 

Combined with a slow pace and suspense that often didn’t pay off, I thought a book about Dracula would be more adventure and less research-based. In saying that, I did enjoy this angle, but just felt like it was a little bit too much fact and not enough vampire for my liking. Plus, in my opinion, this could’ve been a lot shorter. 

Still, the prose is beautiful and the worldbuilding strong, but I couldn’t help feeling that it was a little convoluted. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

A young lady discovers an antique book and a stockpile of yellowing letters written ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor' late one night while browsing her father's library. Her revelation transports her to a world she never imagined existed - a labyrinth where the mysteries of her father's past and her mother's tragic fate are linked to an evil concealed in the depths of history. 

 

During those few calm moments, she unintentionally embarks on a mission that she will find is her birthright: a search for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval king whose barbaric reign inspired the Dracula legend. Deciphering cryptic clues and buried passages, deciphering codes woven into the fabric of ancient monastery traditions, and escaping deadly foes, one lady gets closer to the truth about her own history and a confrontation with the very meaning of evil. 

 

This book is different from the usual assortment of novels I read, and the very notion that it is different terrified me into picking it up. Going into this, all I hoped for was that it would be rich with history, since as someone who loves history and researches, I enjoy seeing those in books— and it did not disappoint. 

 

The Historian has such lovely prose that if I were reading it as an owned copy, I would have underlined a lot of it. The manner the narrative was conveyed was also really interesting—though some portions felt a little protracted. This novel could have been a hundred pages shorter—and the fact that the finale wasn't really satisfying—killed my mood as I enjoyed the book for the first three quarters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage and Racism

Minor: Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Sexism

princessxnicole's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Torture, Gun violence, Suicide, Death, War, and Miscarriage

Minor: Child death

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Animal death, Grief, Medical content, and Miscarriage