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khrischinn's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The first 60 pages it was giving The Between and I thought the author was gonna give the same subplots, however at the end of the 1st part I knew this was definitely a whole other level and I should shut up on how it would turn out. I think the climax of the ending is one of the best I’ve read in a while and I definitely look forward to continuing this series in the future.
adesinabrown's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
deebeaver's review against another edition
4.0
Now I want to read the next book. I'm wondering if I'll like where the series goes after this first book. This definitely kept my interest throughout. It's not something I would typically read, so I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did.
youshouldreadthisif's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
emilycirrus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.0
libraryofcakess's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
dae_4's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? N/A
4.25
The book starts slow but once you get read more it gets better and better.
ruxandra_grr's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
This book is recommended on the front by Stephen King, on the back by my fave Octavia Butler and I am definitely recommending it from cover to cover. I loved it.
She looked directly at Jessica. “A mean monster,” she said. “Or, maybe a good monster too.”
“There are no good monsters, Kira,” Jessica said suddenly, her voice barely a breath.
It starts out slow, but it takes the time to build the characters and their dynamics and I was soooo invested by the end that I had massive stress for what was going to happen to these characters I truly cared about. Not just Jessica, Kira and David / Dawit, but also Alex, Jessica's sister, and Bea, Jessica's mother, whom I completely adored. And of course my lovely furball cat Teacake!
So this is not a vampire novel, per se, but I would say it's vampire adjacent, cause it explores similar themes like immortality and ephemerality, done through some sort of blood exchange. We see Dawit, a 500 year old person, in different phases of his life (including being sold into slavery, which was one of the more difficult parts of the book). His relationship with his wife, Jessica, an up-and-coming Miami journalist (on track to win a Pulitzer!) is incredibly fraught and very satisfyingly so, and becomes even more emotionally and ethically complicated when he starts to reveal some truths. It's incredible how Due manages to still make Dawit sympathetic (I really wrestled with this, because he was a walking red flag central in so many ways) while doing some extremely nuanced commentary on gender dynamics and power imbalances.
The pacing felt perfect to me: 5 parts - the last one being more of an epilogue and the first four are almost exactly book quarters. By the halfway point, the tension from various strands was steadily accumulating and creating more and more complication wrinkles. It was amazing, but also stressful. Still, it's clear to me how masterful the plotting/ pacing is done here.
And then that ending! I can see that it's mildly controversial in some of the reviews here, but I had known what was going to happen (it was very well foreshadowed, and yet it felt subtle) and still my heart was very much wrenched!
I think I need a huge break before I continue on in the series, but I'm very happy to have read this (my friend at a second hand bookstore with a sort of lending library system put this in my hands and I am grateful to her now!)
I don't know if I did a good job explaining why this book was awesome, but Tananarive Due (insert 'getting her due' pun here) is becoming one of my favorites.
She looked directly at Jessica. “A mean monster,” she said. “Or, maybe a good monster too.”
“There are no good monsters, Kira,” Jessica said suddenly, her voice barely a breath.
It starts out slow, but it takes the time to build the characters and their dynamics and I was soooo invested by the end that I had massive stress for what was going to happen to these characters I truly cared about. Not just Jessica, Kira and David / Dawit, but also Alex, Jessica's sister, and Bea, Jessica's mother, whom I completely adored. And of course my lovely furball cat Teacake!
So this is not a vampire novel, per se, but I would say it's vampire adjacent, cause it explores similar themes like immortality and ephemerality, done through some sort of blood exchange. We see Dawit, a 500 year old person, in different phases of his life (including being sold into slavery, which was one of the more difficult parts of the book). His relationship with his wife, Jessica, an up-and-coming Miami journalist (on track to win a Pulitzer!) is incredibly fraught and very satisfyingly so, and becomes even more emotionally and ethically complicated when he starts to reveal some truths. It's incredible how Due manages to still make Dawit sympathetic (I really wrestled with this, because he was a walking red flag central in so many ways) while doing some extremely nuanced commentary on gender dynamics and power imbalances.
The pacing felt perfect to me: 5 parts - the last one being more of an epilogue and the first four are almost exactly book quarters. By the halfway point, the tension from various strands was steadily accumulating and creating more and more complication wrinkles. It was amazing, but also stressful. Still, it's clear to me how masterful the plotting/ pacing is done here.
And then that ending! I can see that it's mildly controversial in some of the reviews here, but I had known what was going to happen (it was very well foreshadowed, and yet it felt subtle) and still my heart was very much wrenched!
I think I need a huge break before I continue on in the series, but I'm very happy to have read this (my friend at a second hand bookstore with a sort of lending library system put this in my hands and I am grateful to her now!)
I don't know if I did a good job explaining why this book was awesome, but Tananarive Due (insert 'getting her due' pun here) is becoming one of my favorites.
orion93's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.25