Scan barcode
thelittlestlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I didn’t realize that this was a Poe retelling until the end! It was amazingly well written and I read it so quickly. Seraphina as an imposter princess was a fantastic plot device and the romance with Nico was so sweet. I loved Nico’s character the most. He’s so kind and tries to do the right thing and he cares about the people around him so much. The ultimate soft masculinity. I felt like I was in the castle with how well it was described. Very well done!
linara4522's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 82%
I couldn't even push through to the end. The plot was nonsensical. The character dynamics weren't mature enough, nullifying their new found motivations, and that revelation was just plain stupid. If only Seraphina had had two working braincells... She could've avoided a hella lot of trouble, and I mean most of the characters think like children. There's no ounce of intelligence anywhere.
2 stars because ut had prette writing
I couldn't even push through to the end. The plot was nonsensical. The character dynamics weren't mature enough, nullifying their new found motivations, and that revelation was just plain stupid. If only Seraphina had had two working braincells... She could've avoided a hella lot of trouble, and I mean most of the characters think like children. There's no ounce of intelligence anywhere.
2 stars because ut had prette writing
sarahp85's review against another edition
3.0
I've read other books by Rutherford and always loved them but I struggled with this one
And maybe it is just me and when I started to read it, the hecticness of life at the moment. But I just couldn't get hooked to the story.
And maybe it is just me and when I started to read it, the hecticness of life at the moment. But I just couldn't get hooked to the story.
nanaya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
graceannee's review against another edition
I went in expecting a medievalesque dystopia. The plot ended up being more brigerton with vampires. I found it far too graphic for my taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, and Death
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
This book screamed my name. Loudly. I can't even pinpoint exactly why. Firstly I really love the cover. The atmosphere is amazing, the colors are wonderful and I love the expression on the woman's face. On top of that the summary sounded really intriguing. It sounded dark, but with a glimmer of hope. It sounded contemporary, but with a touch of fantasy. I was really curious what kind of story would be waiting for me inside.
What I absolutely loved about this book is that it takes a while before it's showing its true colors. Quite soon we notice that something is terribly wrong, both in the castle and outside of it. It just takes a while before we understand what is truly going on. And since we as readers kinda go through the same emotions as the characters it becomes easier and easier to understand who they are and why they're doing what they're doing.
I also like the contrast in this book. We have our heroine living in the palace. The plague has never reached the palace, there has always been enough food and she has been relatively safe. We have our hero on the outside. He has lost his entire family and has seen what the plague has done with the world and with the people who are left behind. No wonder he believes the royals are spoiled and entitled. So, you can imagine it's a lot of fun when they finally meet.
There are also a few unexpected twists in this book. I don't wanna give too much away, because the not knowing is certainly part of the fun, but I like how the author clearly thought about the science behind everything that's happening. I believe without a doubt that she might have taken some liberties here and there, but in a way it also really felt like everything that had happened, as far as possible, made sense.
I'm now very curious to dive into other books by this author!
What I absolutely loved about this book is that it takes a while before it's showing its true colors. Quite soon we notice that something is terribly wrong, both in the castle and outside of it. It just takes a while before we understand what is truly going on. And since we as readers kinda go through the same emotions as the characters it becomes easier and easier to understand who they are and why they're doing what they're doing.
I also like the contrast in this book. We have our heroine living in the palace. The plague has never reached the palace, there has always been enough food and she has been relatively safe. We have our hero on the outside. He has lost his entire family and has seen what the plague has done with the world and with the people who are left behind. No wonder he believes the royals are spoiled and entitled. So, you can imagine it's a lot of fun when they finally meet.
There are also a few unexpected twists in this book. I don't wanna give too much away, because the not knowing is certainly part of the fun, but I like how the author clearly thought about the science behind everything that's happening. I believe without a doubt that she might have taken some liberties here and there, but in a way it also really felt like everything that had happened, as far as possible, made sense.
I'm now very curious to dive into other books by this author!
restlessreason17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
This was an... odd book. Not necessarily bad (yes I know I'm giving it 2.5/5) but nothing stood out.
I feel like this had a strong beginning. I was literally thinking about The Masque of the Red Death a couple days before picking this up, so when I realized it was a retelling, I was so excited!! The first 20% had me absolutely hooked, especially when I stared to realize thatvampires were involved.
And then the world building started to break.
This shouldn't have been just fantasy, with all due respect. I think that, given that our MC is a Jew, this book would've been better as a historical fantasy book. While I respect and enjoyed reading bits about Judaism, it was an element that just didn't fit! Here's why:
- The Torah is explicitly mentioned but never explained. That means, as far as I understand, that Moses is a canonical figure in this world. Except we're in fantasy land. Like there's not a single real place mentioned!
- Yiddish??? I had to double check myself of this, but Yiddish is essentially a mix of Hebrew and the German language. (I am not Jewish or a linguist, so deepest apologies if I'm wrong. I read an article I found on Google lol.) But again, fantasy land. And it also explicitly says that Eldrich Hall (and the country, but I can't reme ber if that has a name) speak English. So HOW did Yiddish happen??? Pilmont?? Why didn't we mention that??
Now, this element could've made sense if further explored. For example, how interesting would it have been if the Torah was literally given to the Jews in this world by God? Or what if the Torah had different prophets, but still ultimately conveyed the same ideas and included Jewish law? And if there is a fantasy Germany, why not reference Germanic culture or language? Why did we even make this a fantasy and in the first place, when we could've just had this been historical and all of these elements would make sense? Like there were ways to make this work. I legitimately would be criticizing this same element if Christianity was thrown in here. All in all, this part felt really unfinished.
Also it's never explained why people in the world hate Jews. Like the most I could gather was that people thought they caused the sickness, but if Giselle found Seraphina at the beginning of the pandemic, why would she hate them...? It really sounds like the hatred came mid-plague. But it didn't, because Henry/Lord Greymont also was anti-Semitic and then went "oh hah Seraphina is a Jew? Ok maybe the stereotypes are wrong." I just feel like this should've been more explored, ESPECIALLY since there's so much emphasis on her keeping such an essential part of her identity under tight wraps.
The romance had actually zero chemistry and I wasn't particularly drawn to any of the characters. (Also everyone called Seraphina clever and firey and I was like "girl no you're stupid for the plot and firey because you're running for your life. Like I would be "firey" too? I guess??)
I saw someone call the romance slow burn, which was an odd decision, since the MCs don't meet until there's about 200 pages left.Also I have to talk about the fact that they hooked up literally after being exhausted and almost killed. Sorry but the last thing I'd be thinking of is boys. I'd be out light a like snoring in my nice comfy bed. Or I'm up worrying all night if everyone is ok, if we're even going to find food and live, etc. It just felt so forced.
The magic was poorly explained, I feel. To be fair, they were sort of learning about it as they went. However, here's an example that really shows the rushed quality behind finding answers.
Seraphina becomes an immune after originally being Immaculate, someone who never came into contact with the disease. How? Is it the fact that the vampire bit her and she lived, OR is it the fact that she just so happened to get the blood of an immune into her system?
It's the second. But how in the world did. Nick just know. He was like "it's a guess" and then he was right. He had to be SO exhausted when he was treating Seraphina's wound, so how did he even notice they shared blood?? Why isn't the VAMPIRE the first thought?
The same kind of thing happened with inviting a vampire in.
Also wait. How are some people just immune without ever coming into contact with the disease. Doesn't that make them imma ulate?? I thought they needed the disease make immunity happen? And why didn't any vampires care about killing the immune if they're in their way. Like what.
I was also hoping to see more of rebuilding society, since those were the vibes I got from Nico's POV. Also he never reached his goal of becoming a physician?? Like didn't even get textbooks. Just did blood guesswork.
Lastly, it was definitely a choice to give Seraphina 3 names, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SUMMARY CALLS HER PRINCESS IMOGEN. I was so confused when I read the first chapter and it was all about Seraphina. And her father called her Genny sometimes??
I dunno. To sum it up, I had it in my head at first that this was a debut novel. Idk why. But yeah it kinda read like one. Could've had another round of editing or two.
I feel like this had a strong beginning. I was literally thinking about The Masque of the Red Death a couple days before picking this up, so when I realized it was a retelling, I was so excited!! The first 20% had me absolutely hooked, especially when I stared to realize that
And then the world building started to break.
This shouldn't have been just fantasy, with all due respect. I think that, given that our MC is a Jew, this book would've been better as a historical fantasy book. While I respect and enjoyed reading bits about Judaism, it was an element that just didn't fit! Here's why:
- The Torah is explicitly mentioned but never explained. That means, as far as I understand, that Moses is a canonical figure in this world. Except we're in fantasy land. Like there's not a single real place mentioned!
- Yiddish??? I had to double check myself of this, but Yiddish is essentially a mix of Hebrew and the German language. (I am not Jewish or a linguist, so deepest apologies if I'm wrong. I read an article I found on Google lol.) But again, fantasy land. And it also explicitly says that Eldrich Hall (and the country, but I can't reme ber if that has a name) speak English. So HOW did Yiddish happen??? Pilmont?? Why didn't we mention that??
Now, this element could've made sense if further explored. For example, how interesting would it have been if the Torah was literally given to the Jews in this world by God? Or what if the Torah had different prophets, but still ultimately conveyed the same ideas and included Jewish law? And if there is a fantasy Germany, why not reference Germanic culture or language? Why did we even make this a fantasy and in the first place, when we could've just had this been historical and all of these elements would make sense? Like there were ways to make this work. I legitimately would be criticizing this same element if Christianity was thrown in here. All in all, this part felt really unfinished.
Also it's never explained why people in the world hate Jews. Like the most I could gather was that people thought they caused the sickness, but if Giselle found Seraphina at the beginning of the pandemic, why would she hate them...? It really sounds like the hatred came mid-plague. But it didn't, because Henry/Lord Greymont also was anti-Semitic and then went "oh hah Seraphina is a Jew? Ok maybe the stereotypes are wrong." I just feel like this should've been more explored, ESPECIALLY since there's so much emphasis on her keeping such an essential part of her identity under tight wraps.
The romance had actually zero chemistry and I wasn't particularly drawn to any of the characters. (Also everyone called Seraphina clever and firey and I was like "girl no you're stupid for the plot and firey because you're running for your life. Like I would be "firey" too? I guess??)
I saw someone call the romance slow burn, which was an odd decision, since the MCs don't meet until there's about 200 pages left.
The magic was poorly explained, I feel. To be fair, they were sort of learning about it as they went. However, here's an example that really shows the rushed quality behind finding answers.
It's the second. But how in the world did. Nick just know. He was like "it's a guess" and then he was right. He had to be SO exhausted when he was treating Seraphina's wound, so how did he even notice they shared blood?? Why isn't the VAMPIRE the first thought?
The same kind of thing happened with inviting a vampire in.
Also wait. How are some people just immune without ever coming into contact with the disease. Doesn't that make them imma ulate?? I thought they needed the disease make immunity happen? And why didn't any vampires care about killing the immune if they're in their way. Like what.
I was also hoping to see more of rebuilding society, since those were the vibes I got from Nico's POV. Also he never reached his goal of becoming a physician?? Like didn't even get textbooks. Just did blood guesswork.
Lastly, it was definitely a choice to give Seraphina 3 names, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SUMMARY CALLS HER PRINCESS IMOGEN. I was so confused when I read the first chapter and it was all about Seraphina. And her father called her Genny sometimes??
I dunno. To sum it up, I had it in my head at first that this was a debut novel. Idk why. But yeah it kinda read like one. Could've had another round of editing or two.
st_ve'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5