Reviews - Empire of the Damned ARC

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2.45k reviews for:

Empire of the Damned ARC

Jay Kristoff

4.53 AVERAGE

aquariuspeony's review against another edition

5.0

"'The road is black ahead,' I told her. 'And it's hard to keep walking when you can't see the ground beneath your feet. But that's what courage is. The will to keep walking in the darkness. To believe the end is just beyond your outstretched hand, rather than a million miles away. And while some might falter, some might fail, some might curl up like babes rather than walk on through that lonely night, you are not that girl.'"

This was an absolute showstopper of a sequel to one of my favorite fantasy reads in 2022! It's brutal, bloody, and exhilarating, especially in the last quarter of the book where everything comes to a climax. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to follow along in the beginning since I read the first book a year and a half ago, but the dramatis personae was helpful and I quickly found myself lost once more in this sprawling saga.

I loved the introduction of the duskdancers, the unveiling of the full prophecy, everything about Celene and her past, getting to see more of the four vampire courts, and digging deeper into the history of the Redeemer and the One True Faith. The character relationships were fantastic, and my heart felt so full

Spoiler

when Dior called Gabriel "Papa" after they reunited

. The cliffhanger at the end

Spoiler

revealing Dior to be alive, and Dario to have been Joaquinn all along

makes me beyond excited to dive back into this dark, but hopeful world once the third book is released!

liliandren's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

brandie's review against another edition

1.0

Is everyone just ignoring a grown man seducing a 16 yo girl in a bathtub?

thebbookeeper's review against another edition

5.0

“It’s a strange thing, to be a sibling. So much rancor and love. Hate and history. It’s a bond forged in iron, that tie. It takes a great deal of work to sunder it entirely. But it can be done.”

This book destroyed me. I read half and then put it down for a few months for some fucking reason that seems asinine now. Picked it back up and completely devoured the second half. I love Jay’s writing and how he plays with pov and narration. How he will finish the series is beyond me.