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clacksee's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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
5.0
Jude used to be a firefighter – until the day he saw something he shouldn't. He knows a vampire killed his colleague and friend. But no one believes him. Hell, he's not entirely certain it's not just PTSD. Until the day his undead former neighbour crashes into his life.
Cosy-ish but noir-ish. Lighthearted but tinged with dark. Complex and uplifting.
Cosy-ish but noir-ish. Lighthearted but tinged with dark. Complex and uplifting.
bibim's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
madartyst's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
iam's review against another edition
3.0
Stake Sauce, Arc 1 is the first book in a mystery series featuring vampires, the arcane and found family.
Content warnings include:
For some reason this took me a lot longer to read than length of the book warrants.
The writing was good (though there were quite a few editing errors), the story engaging, I really adored the cast of diverse characters, and yet...
One thing that I can definitely tell didn't work for me was the fight and action scenes. The timing was so off, which seemingly huge stretches of time where characters do nothing. Obviously the focus can only ever be on one character or one action at a time, so parallel events have to be told sequentially, but in this case it truly seemed like the events were happening one after another which just... didn't work out. The majority of vampires here seem to be extremely fast, like moving-so-fast-you-can't-even-see-them, so it didn't make sense to me that ages seem to pass where the human character do.... something and the vampires just.... wait? Stare? Watch? Apparently do nothing, before the focus of the humans shifts back and then the attacks/actions resume. Idk what was up with that, maybe I read these scenes wrong/misinterpreted them, they just really didn't work for me.
What I really loved was the diverse cast of characters. Jude, the protagonist, is gay and grey-aro-ace, trans, has PTSD and wears a prothesis, Eva is aro-ace as well, Jasper has migraines, Pixie is chubby, and while we don't know the identities of all the other characters, all of them are queer (or seem to be) and there's a poly relationship in the works!
I also loved the tarot card drawings at the beginning of each chapter. They were so beautiful, and I believe drawn by the author. I recommend looking at them on a device that displays colour if you buy this as ebook.
Overall a very nice read that I wish had done more for me because the stats on paper are awesome, and I recommend anyone to give it a chance!
Content warnings include:
Spoiler
violence, kidnapping, assault, crucification, burning buildings, loosing a limbFor some reason this took me a lot longer to read than length of the book warrants.
The writing was good (though there were quite a few editing errors), the story engaging, I really adored the cast of diverse characters, and yet...
One thing that I can definitely tell didn't work for me was the fight and action scenes. The timing was so off, which seemingly huge stretches of time where characters do nothing. Obviously the focus can only ever be on one character or one action at a time, so parallel events have to be told sequentially, but in this case it truly seemed like the events were happening one after another which just... didn't work out. The majority of vampires here seem to be extremely fast, like moving-so-fast-you-can't-even-see-them, so it didn't make sense to me that ages seem to pass where the human character do.... something and the vampires just.... wait? Stare? Watch? Apparently do nothing, before the focus of the humans shifts back and then the attacks/actions resume. Idk what was up with that, maybe I read these scenes wrong/misinterpreted them, they just really didn't work for me.
What I really loved was the diverse cast of characters. Jude, the protagonist, is gay and grey-aro-ace, trans, has PTSD and wears a prothesis, Eva is aro-ace as well, Jasper has migraines, Pixie is chubby, and while we don't know the identities of all the other characters, all of them are queer (or seem to be) and there's a poly relationship in the works!
I also loved the tarot card drawings at the beginning of each chapter. They were so beautiful, and I believe drawn by the author. I recommend looking at them on a device that displays colour if you buy this as ebook.
Overall a very nice read that I wish had done more for me because the stats on paper are awesome, and I recommend anyone to give it a chance!
firstorderpixie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
nightjar656's review
3.0
Pretty good! I enjoyed reading this.
Negatives: It felt a bit cliche at times and the summary was a little misleading.
Positives: It was fun and unique and I really liked the characters. The way the theme of grief and trauma and moving on was dealt with was really cool, especially with the vampires existing in that universe.
Overall, I liked this! If you’re looking for a paranormal book with vampires, this is def one of the books I’d recommend.
Negatives: It felt a bit cliche at times and the summary was a little misleading.
Positives: It was fun and unique and I really liked the characters. The way the theme of grief and trauma and moving on was dealt with was really cool, especially with the vampires existing in that universe.
Overall, I liked this! If you’re looking for a paranormal book with vampires, this is def one of the books I’d recommend.
artareadsatnight's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this book. I truly did. It represents several important topics. And does it pretty well. But. This story seemed like a retelling of a story. Not a full story in itself. Relationships progressed very quickly, like skipping several steps between them and lacked depth. The same goes for the plot. It seemed there was blank places. Just like a retelling of a good story.
_p0ssum_'s review
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Eating disorder
scrow1022's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a little while to warm up into this book - after finishing I realized that was because it took me a little while to warm up to the characters - not surprising as they've all experienced recent trauma and their struggles with it form the backbone of this book. But I was racing along by the end, desperate to know how things were going to turn out, how they were going to turn out.
I think one of the things I liked best about this book came at the very end when two women are talking. Most of the book centered around Jude and his male friends which was fine, but there's a brief moment when the women are talking about what's coming next and mention that "now the boys are going all soul-searching", and that little slip of a line grounded the whole book (and the one to follow, I assume) in the whole set of relationships, and that pleased and excited me.
And the images fronting each chapter are glorious!
I think one of the things I liked best about this book came at the very end when two women are talking. Most of the book centered around Jude and his male friends which was fine, but there's a brief moment when the women are talking about what's coming next and mention that "now the boys are going all soul-searching", and that little slip of a line grounded the whole book (and the one to follow, I assume) in the whole set of relationships, and that pleased and excited me.
And the images fronting each chapter are glorious!