Reviews

Another wonderful entry from Brom. His other work, Slewfoot, is one of my new favorite books. And I genuinely enjoyed this romp, although it did fall short in my opinion. I enjoyed how fun Krampus was, how Brom worked exposition into his character, the adventure of this particular Yule season. I also like how neither Krampus nor Santa are really the evil beings they believe each other to be. Getting that perspective as a thrift party is interesting, as both believe they are doing what is right, but their own perceptions make them want to fight the other. They're both wrong and right at the same time, although obviously the book is designed to favor Krampus, although we all know he's also unreliable. But, I didn't like how so much of the plot revolved around miscommunication and brashness. A lot of the events that unfolded in this story occurred generally due to idiocy, impatience, or some refusal to talk something out. And every time something got too dicey, a dues ex machina would come into play to keep the important characters from getting killed.

Well, except Krampus himself I guess, but even the end makes it clear that he isn't really dead.

I love a good choatic story, I love modern takes on Pagan beliefs, but I do think I was spoiled on how Brilliant Brom can be from his other book I've read. I feel the driving force of the story and its events could have been more streamlined. And I really would love to see a sequel to figure out what happened to all the remaining characters.

bookish_withsky's review

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4.0

While I didn't outright dislike our main character Jesse, I did find him very whiny and annoying. However, everyone else was prettying intriguing. There were a few issues. I thought Krampus would be more powerful and less moody I guess? It could be said that his moodiness and the fact that he's not this super powerful being adds to Krampus' likability? I did enjoy him quite a lot, even though he does have a habit of talking a lot. The plot was great, up until the ending. I was hoping for something different and no longer quite understand the purpose now. However, it was really fun and an interesting take on everything. I loved Krampus and what he stood for and can't wait to read more from Brom.

janagaton's review

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3.0

Loved how it started, but I think this could've been a novella if I'm being honest. Also, Krampus is a surprisingly likeable character lmao

qjbrown96's review

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5.0

This was exactly what I wanted and more! This may be a top 5 horror novel for me even though it’s more Urban Fantasy than anything. It had elements of Norse Mythology, Horror, great illustrations, and fantastic character development. I cared for every single character, even Krampus.

This isn’t the Santa Claus or Krampus that you may know from western culture or even most European cultures but instead he goes back even further to Norse Mythology and finds similarities with Odin and Baldr to Santa which he talks about at the end of the book. (If you’re a mythology purest then you won’t like this book)
Santa isn’t some fat jolly man but thick, massive and muscled like a Norse version of Thor (not Marvel’s version).

The story follows Jesse, who is down on his luck trailer trash. His wife left him with his daughter for a crooked cop who wants him dead. He comes across Santa being chased by strange looking people and later finds Santa’s bag which will give him any toy he wishes. Krampus has been imprisoned by Santa for 500 years and needs the bag to escape his prison in the Virginia mountains. He wants to kill Santa for his wickedness from a previous life and spread Yuletide across the world. Santa serves the Christian God now and will use his powers to destroy Krampus forever, with Jesse in the middle of it. The story has an awesome cast and has lots of Norse characters like Odin’s ravens, large wolves, and Flying Goats (which I never knew was a thing in mythology). Highly recommend this book to anyone unless you’re a Mythology purist!

heatheroakes's review

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4.0

4.5 for sure ...maybe even 4.75. Not quite enough that it will keep me thinking but ....the writing is amazing. Finally getting to a Brom book. All I have heard is good and its so true . The story was fun ! The illustrations are beautiful !

hauntedantiqueshop's review

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dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Meh, it was alright. This was my second Brom book (first was Slewfoot) and was a little let down. The artwork was way more interesting than the story for me. But making Krampus and Santa hot and enemies? A+, no notes.

Content Warnings

elisanns's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

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

3.5

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