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chazleyk's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Alcoholism, and Body horror
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gore, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Animal death
amy14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Gore, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Torture, War, Slavery, and Vomit
mmmicah's review against another edition
I got suckered into reading this book because it was initially marketed as "The New GAY Vampire Fantasy- Like that Ann Rice book!" Ann Rice deserves an apology... She could actually write queer characters well. Jay Kristoff can only drool over Sapphic characters (which to be fair, he does it with all his female characters, which is the main reason I put it down) the queer characters are all side characters and purely exist to make the main character look good when he rises above everyone else and decides Homophobia Is Bad Actually!! What an Ally!! That shit might've flown in the 90s but in the year of our lord 2021 I expected the "GAYYY Vampire Fantasy" to have queer characters that actually mattered than just to exist to make the MC look cool.
I also HATED the MC with a burning passion.
If I wanted to listen to someone talk very pretentiously about the "eViLs Of ReLigEon" I would go read a book by someone who actually knows what the f#@k they are actually talking about. I don't think Jay Kristoff could've been even bothered to open a Wikipedia article about any religious institution, let alone catholicism. His research (as it seems like the rest of his works) seemed to consist of a single edgy pinterest board and a self congratulatory pat on the back for his newfound expertise in the topic.
I could continue on, but this book frankly doesn't deserve my time.
Graphic: Gore, Death, and Sexual assault
Extreme violence to womenbooksalacarte's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Cursing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Drug use, Grief, War, Confinement, Alcoholism, Animal death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Stalking, Body horror, Torture, Excrement, and Adult/minor relationship
freckleface3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, and Torture
pacifickat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
"We'd fought side by side [...], and like I said, there's a bond between men who have placed their lives in a brother's hands and asked that brother to do the same. But there's fanaticism, too. There's faith unbridled and minds unquestioning, the soldier at the order of his commander, the faithful at the word of their priest. [...] My brother trusted me not so much as once he had."
Ok, so first off, my big beef with Kristoff as a writer:
He seems to have ripped off major elements of other writers and creators, such as
Do readers who adore this book simply not recognize all the glaringly obvious borrowed plot elements, or do they enjoy the references and not mind that it makes the storyline easy to anticipate? I felt like this blunted what probably should have been the most surprising plot twists, and saw several big reveals coming a mile away, somewhat gobsmacked the author would so directly pull from other books and media. When I described some of these overlaps with other works to my husband, he asked if I thought the book was partially written by AI. (I don't believe it was, but that would exlpain the number of things pulled from existing sources.)
I also didn't really like how sanguimancy was never really explained other than it fixes a lot of problems in a pinch in the story. Feels very convenient, a very squishy element of the magic system.
Now, on to things I liked:
In the end, I still very much enjoyed the audiobook. The audio narrator did a brilliant job bringing the characters to life with various distinct accents and voice intonations. I honestly probably would have given up on the book otherwise due to all of the seeming copy/paste from works of other creators and the subsequent predictability of the storyline.
I know the author doesn't like the term, but the story is grimdark through and through, meaning no good and noble deed goes unpunished. I like what this kind of story says about those who do good in a bleak world in spite of great personal cost. Kindness and mercy are only extended at great risk. I think this is one of the most compelling things about EotV. Allowing oneself to love takes the greatest sort of courage.
I liked how Kristoff used this dark and bloody setting to explore ideas about faith, fate, fidelity, fanaticism, family, friendship, and the stubborn endurance of hope. (I know, that last one should have started with F as well.) There are elements of the One Faith, the book's thinly veiled version of Christianity, that are just as dark and frightening as the impending vampire invasion: a torturous inquisition, corporal punishments, acts of violence in the name of blind faith, fidelity to the cruel teachings and practices of church leaders, fanatical interpretations of scriptures and prophecies, and an underlying religious lore that makes sacrificing individuals for the sake of the whole an acceptable and honorable wager (in the pattern of the Christ figure they call the Redeemer). This is a world of characters caught between a rock and a hard place, each deciding what to do in the face of their humanity becoming a liability. What will they hope in? What hill will they die on? Who/what will they sacrifice for redemption? This is where the book is at its best.
The best action sequence imo was
I wish that
Anyways, that's my meandering review on this 27+ hour listen. I will likely listen to book 2 next month.
Graphic: Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Gore, Slavery, Homophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gun violence, Bullying, Body horror, Death, Outing, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, Grief, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, War, Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Confinement, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault, Classism, Rape, and Sexual violence
Religious trauma, religious fanaticism, clergy abuse, fridged female characers, biting, eyeball injuriesbookscatsandtats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content
malreadsthebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Torture, Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and War
Minor: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
bev3203's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Addiction, Murder, Violence, Gore, Cursing, Blood, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying
cici2's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, Sexual content, War, and Violence
Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Cursing