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florecita_lectora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Stalking, Confinement, Sexual violence, and Body horror
vixenreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A mixed bag of a novel, with great suspense and worth-building while suffering from trying to rely on the original texts in order to fill in characterizations and relationship dynamics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Misogyny, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Stalking, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Infidelity
Minor: Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Sexual content
Beware of violence against women, mentions of mold and decay, vicious wild wolves, and deterioration of property.decie's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
charlotte bronte would love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Stalking
mfrisk's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
I absolutely adored this book. I’ll be honest I haven’t read Jane Eyre or Dracula (though I’m aware of the stories enough to get the gist) but despite that I really enjoyed getting to know Jane, Bee, Lucy, Mina, and Daisy through this new lens.
This book highlights what these stories left out through a reimagining of the stories of the women who fight monsters both in life and in death. And I mean monsters in a literal sense but also a figurative sense in terms of entitlement and manipulation by dangerous men which is a line this book leans into well. We see both these monstrous elements fully realized and in constraint we see the power of women able to fight back and reclaim who they are.
The descriptions in this book of characters, settings, and the journey itself I thought were very vivid and if you haven’t been to San Francisco or LA this is a great read to transport you there. I could picture this book easily being made into a tv series or movie and am excited to read other books by this author in the near future.
This book highlights what these stories left out through a reimagining of the stories of the women who fight monsters both in life and in death. And I mean monsters in a literal sense but also a figurative sense in terms of entitlement and manipulation by dangerous men which is a line this book leans into well. We see both these monstrous elements fully realized and in constraint we see the power of women able to fight back and reclaim who they are.
The descriptions in this book of characters, settings, and the journey itself I thought were very vivid and if you haven’t been to San Francisco or LA this is a great read to transport you there. I could picture this book easily being made into a tv series or movie and am excited to read other books by this author in the near future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Gore and Blood
Minor: Abandonment
kiaras's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
2.0
Review originally published here: https://waitingforfairies.com/2022/09/06/review-reluctant-immortals-by-gwendolyn-kiste/
I don’t think that this book was for me. For me, it lacked the depth that I was expecting. Possibly because, while I’ve read Dracula, I’ve never read Jane Eyre. I’m sure there’s nuance I’m missing, and as always your mileage may very. I didn’t enjoy this.
I don’t think that this book was for me. For me, it lacked the depth that I was expecting. Possibly because, while I’ve read Dracula, I’ve never read Jane Eyre. I’m sure there’s nuance I’m missing, and as always your mileage may very. I didn’t enjoy this.
Most of the book was a repetition of how horrible these literary villains were to the women in their lives, without the women’s perspective that I was expecting. I’m not one to revel in the retelling of trauma, but this book holds the women’s emotions like an oil slick on the surface of the San Francisco Bay. I could tell that there were worlds beneath, but frustratingly, this book gave no more insight into what happened to these women than the original books do.
I wanted to hear the story from their perspectives. This book isn’t that. It also isn’t about Lucy and Bee being empowered to confront and defeat their abusers. They do that, eventually, but the confrontation is played off as their absolute last resort. They simply don’t have the resources to run anymore, and therefore defeating their villains is the only alternative. They are more exhausted than angry, ground down by their long history with no real desire to fight back. This doesn’t play as a satisfying story.
The ending is hopeful, at least, after pages and pages of despair. Yes, this is a gothic tale. I guess I should have expected it to be flat and empty and gray. I find that sort of story unsatisfying.
I’m also disturbed by the underlying narrative of the book: that men are evil or useless or simple plot devices. It wasn’t a good look when men were doing this to women in their novels, and it’s not great here, either.
Rochester and Dracula are villains through and through. Abusers with no redeeming qualities at all. That part is to be expected. But the other men in the story aren’t great either. Michael, the sweet ex-soldier just returned from Vietnam who becomes Lucy’s thrall barely has a backstory. His uncle, who owns a decrepit and failing drive-in movie theater, is one-dimensional. All we know about him is just what I’ve said.
I’m also disturbed by the underlying narrative of the book: that men are evil or useless or simple plot devices. It wasn’t a good look when men were doing this to women in their novels, and it’s not great here, either.
Rochester and Dracula are villains through and through. Abusers with no redeeming qualities at all. That part is to be expected. But the other men in the story aren’t great either. Michael, the sweet ex-soldier just returned from Vietnam who becomes Lucy’s thrall barely has a backstory. His uncle, who owns a decrepit and failing drive-in movie theater, is one-dimensional. All we know about him is just what I’ve said.
The only other man in the book is Renfield, the original, and his narrative in the book seems to say that men will betray you 99% of the time, and can only be persuaded against that through the careful application of feminine compassion. I honestly found it kind of gross, and the sort of feminism that champions women not by elevating them, but by stomping down the men in their way.
I don’t know that this is what the author meant. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but taking the story by itself in isolation of what the author actually meant, it says things that I don’t agree with at all. That women are pure and innocent until corrupted by men, who betray and abuse as a matter of course. Maybe the author just meant these women, and those men, or maybe she didn’t mean that at all. But I found it disturbing, and the book flat and bland. It definitely wasn’t meant for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: War
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- Embarassingly, I've never read the original DRACULA, but I'm a big fan of JANE EYRE and any and all retellings, and I blew through RELUCTANT IMMORTALS in one sitting.
- I loved the reimagining of Bertha and Lucy as the main characters, trying to take control of their narratives even when trapped. And (MILD SPOILER) Mr. Rochester as cult leader is completely inspired.
- I didn't think all of the magical elements made total sense, but I was held in such suspense by the rest of the story that it didn't really matter. Pick this one up if you're in the mood for something weird, dark, funny, and unexpected.
- Embarassingly, I've never read the original DRACULA, but I'm a big fan of JANE EYRE and any and all retellings, and I blew through RELUCTANT IMMORTALS in one sitting.
- I loved the reimagining of Bertha and Lucy as the main characters, trying to take control of their narratives even when trapped. And (MILD SPOILER) Mr. Rochester as cult leader is completely inspired.
- I didn't think all of the magical elements made total sense, but I was held in such suspense by the rest of the story that it didn't really matter. Pick this one up if you're in the mood for something weird, dark, funny, and unexpected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Cursing, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content
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