Scan barcode
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Blood, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Alcoholism, Animal death, Car accident, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking
Minor: Racism, Homophobia, Cancer, and Death of parent
Also contains scenes of genital mutilation and substance abuse.lain_darko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
mysimas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked the book a bit less than on my first read a few years ago, my main issues being pacing and how dark the tale was. Now, this book is supposed to be dark, it’s a horror about vampires after all — and the related gore and description of Eli’s kills and the body horror of becoming a vampire was great. But then there were other things, unrelated to vampires, and the author may have taken them a tad over the top, especially what with the pedophilia and some details of Eli’s backstory. None of those things needed to be there; in fact, I would argue they bogged down the pacing, which already had its issues due to the sheer multitude of the POVs. Most of the characters were likeable, but my favourites were Oscar and Eli, and whenever the focus shifted from them I felt my attention shift away, too.
Still, I think it’s a very good book. The vampire lore was captivating enough, the characters all behaved believably, and the prose was solid, with some smooth transitions between the POVs and a collection of powerful scenes. I will likely reread at some point.
PS — I’m still not over the fact that the first time Oskar saw Eli, it was in a mirror. How awesome is that?!
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Gore, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Trafficking
Moderate: Death of parent and Animal death
Minor: Xenophobia