Reviews with content warning for Death - Empire of the Vampire

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

124 reviews

lifeonasofa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-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

4.5

Empire of the Vampire 🧛🏼‍♂️ Review

“Finally, he retrieved a tarnished royale from his pocket. 'Here.'

'What is that for?' Jean-François demanded.

'I want you to take this coin to market, and buy me a fuck to give.” - Jay Kristoff 🪙

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5 Stars

If you’re looking for an adult vampire world to live in for the foreseeable future…this is it. At over 700 pages, this is only part one and Jay Kristoff is taking his TIME telling Gabriel’s tale. But for an opening, this book was art 😘

It took me some time to get through this. It’s definitely not a relaxing read, it’s an experience. Having said that, when I did read it, the plot still moved pretty quickly. The book jumps everywhere along the timeline so it keeps it interesting 🤔

I LOVED Gabriel, his character was so fleshed out. He felt so real. The whole silversaint thing, so interesting. Surprisingly, the religion side of this was probably my favourite part. Particularly, the loss in belief and light - it really helped flesh out the history of the world👌🏻

Heads up, it’s a blood bath so if you’re put off by blood, death (some pretty sad) and foul language…I’d be wary 😂 it’s definitely not a kids book. I really loved how Kristoff combined such a classic story telling writing style with the relaxed banter dialogue, it somehow kept it light 👏🏻

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hannaws's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

There’s no misery so deep as one you face by yourself. No nights darker than ones you spend alone. But you can learn to live with any weight. Your scars grow thick enough, they become armour.

It took me 507 days to read this book. It was my most anticipated book for 2021 and I preordered two copies of it. I started reading immediately when it arrived at my doorstep. BUT IT IS A BEAST OF A BOOK! IT IS A BRICK YOU CAN HURT SOMEONE WITH! Yes, I do read big books, that is not the main problem. The reason it took me over a year to finish, is that it felt unnecessary for it to be this long. I finished it today just by doing my plant chores and listening it on audio. I really like the narrator.

To be completely honest, even though I tapped the life out of this book when I was reading the physical copy, I don't remember much of the start. I have to admit, I had a year long reading slump where I only read couple books and this one every now and then.

But I didn't like the multiple timelines. Mostly because there were so many of them. We jump from present to the past but multiple different times of the past. I'm fine with back and forth but if there's too much to keep track of, it takes all my will to keep things straight in my head.
With the timelines, there came so many people! Some of them stuck with Gabriel and his adventure, some of them didn't. And those who didn't, might pop up sometime later.

I don't really care about the characters in this book. Though my heart goes out for Gabriel, he didn't have it easy. Well, none of them does.
But I'm a little baffled by the fact that the females don't make it in this world. No matter how kickass they may be, they simply die a horrible death at some point. Men's world.

What else. The historian, whatever his name was, has no manners. I hate it when someone interrupts someone else, and with this book, it was no different. Why do you make someone tell you their story, IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LISTEN?! Gosh, that dude irritated me the most. Just shut up and listen.

All in all, this was a journey. This book has definitely been one to go with me over a year. I didn't want to DNF it, in hopes that it would pick up and pique my interest enough to devour it. It never came. And I'm a little sad about it. I really wanted to love this book! I mean, I have never kept on reading a book for over a year. Never.

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xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

A beautifully written high fantasy novel. The only issue I had with it was how long it was coupled with how slow-paced it felt. I did find the anachronistic structure interesting but I was much more interested in the earlier stages of Gabriel's journey at San Michon rather than the journey with Dior. It wasn't until I'd reached the middle of the book that I felt connected to Dior, Chloe and the other characters.

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

While I liked the narrator style and the world we were in, it was super long for no reason? The amount of detail for someone recounting their life was absolutely ridiculous. I also can't believe there are going to be 5 books

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thecourtofreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this only took me so long because a) it’s massive, and b) i realise i have a very short attention span. regardless, this book was such a rich, dark fantasy book and i love the worlds jay creates. can’t wake for book 2!

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jesicaj's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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alba_marie's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

Finally threw in the towel after réalising getting to the end wasn't going to change anything. I really didn't care for this book. I like vampire tales but this one was just not for me. Could be sumerised as "I killed a vampire, bloood, death, silver, random mention of a holy grail, ooh sexy nuns, grr don't want to tell my story to à vampire bloodsucker so I'm gonna tell it in a random order just to be annoying.... OK gonna kill another vampire."

It was incredibly boring and repetative. It was described a Name of the Wind plus Interview with the Vampire. I liked the first but hated the second (never finished it either) and this one feels very remanent of that book. So maybe that explains why I couldn't stand it! Anyway, I won't be continuing with the series and don't think I'll try this author again as I was already on the fence with him. It's way too long for what it is. Audiobook is NOT the way to go with this one.... Had it on 2.5x speed and still couldn't get through the book! Gah.

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