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sandrae04'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexism, Violence, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Homophobia, Addiction, Grief, and Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Drug use
jlynnelseauthor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The book goes down a bit for its treatment of women. Many women are clearly there to entice the male reader. The main female vampire is often touching herself and trying to sexually manipulate the men chasing her...in public no less--very annoying. Women are often brutalized more explicitly than male characters. And if you're a woman, stay away from de Leon.
Besides a couple people, everyone else curses like a sailor. Every. Single. Person. There is an excessive use of the word c*nt, but most often its variations on f*ck. The book is also much more sexually explicit than I'm used to reading. There's even underage sex, including a drawn photo in the book, which is not a welcome addition. Finally, it's extremely violent and bloody.
With everything being said, there are epic battles, hidden religious secrets, a vow of vengeance, and a struggle of faith. De Leon is an intriguing character. Kristoff does have some beautiful passages about choice and life and fate. I don't know if I'd be able to read a book 2 as I can't imagine keeping all of this in my head!
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Animal death
Moderate: Homophobia and Rape
sws004's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Empire of the Vampire is a dark, pulpy, good time. The book's strongest point for me was its atmosphere. There's a powerful sense of dread and hopelessness that made this a fun Halloween read for me. The atmosphere was great, with dilapidated cities and scary-as-fuck forests filled with bizarre mushroom monsters. The vampires themselves work well as over-the-top cartoon villains whose level of atrocities start out as scary but quickly become kind of silly. If you want a complex take on vampires, à la M.L. Brennan's "Generation V" or Barbara Hambly's "Those Who Hunt the Night", look elsewhere. These vampires are here to kill bloodily and die painfully.
The most divisive element for most readers will likely be the narrator. Gabriel is a whiny, arrogant, and unabashedly edgy little shit. His character development is somewhat hampered by the dual timelines, as teenage-Gabriel displays considerably more faith and respect than his jaded, moody twenty-something self, and the book obviously needs to provide some reason for this. The eventual explanation is some of the most blatant fridging I've seen in a while (and it happens twice!), combined with a general attitude of misogyny from Gabriel that I found unpleasant. In general, the teenage sections are rough going, filled with cliche training montages, stock characters, and repetitive info-dumps. Gabriel narrates his story to a vampire captor, so why does he need to fill in the details that a vampire should know about his own kind? The narration does mention the absurdity of this but also provides no explanation and continually repeats information.
Thankfully the future timeline is considerably more enjoyable with characters who feel like real people and play off Gabriel well. His interactions and gradual friendship with the character of Dior, in particular, are handled very well. It gives the book a much-needed character who pushes back against Gabriel challenging his cynicism, providing some of the book's most emotionally satisfying moments. Their relationship reminded me of Joel and Ellie from "The Last of Us" and is the element I'm most looking forward to in the eventual sequel.
It's also worth noting that the book has just surprisingly good pacing. Despite its 700+(!) page count, it flew by with tons of action and quippy dialogue. The last 150 pages, in particular, have some of the most exciting showdowns (and one of the best final villain kills) that I've read in a long time.
Despite some issues, I greatly enjoyed the tone and action of Empire of the Vampire. If you want a read filled with bloody and intense monster-hunts and a fun sense of pulp and melodrama, I'd recommend checking it out.
3.5/5
CWs: Homophobia, Misogyny, Child Death, Animal Death, Extreme Violence and Gore
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Gore, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Death of parent, and Animal death
Minor: Alcohol
clairew97'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
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Ableism, Animal death, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Abandonment, Bullying, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Torture, Alcoholism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War
lostinworlds'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: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, and Animal death
anntharai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The issues I have with it REALLY irk me.
The world building is immaculate if a bit on the nose, really vivid writing and visceral descriptions, a great mechanic. Love the use of tattoos and the lore building. Overall I liked the story itself.
The issues, though?
I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of the vulgarity because it was genuinely ludicrous at times. Swearing doesn’t bother me in the slightest but the lengths to which these characters went just to get a “banged your relative” joke in was over the top.
Everything has a simile. Everything. The doors locked like a secret. The floors cold like the night. The night air cold like knives. Wind like knives. Words like knives. Running frightened like a startled horse in a barn on fire and the devil whipping it all the way. The lips red like red things.
The repetitive phrases (fuck my face, like his lady’s lips the last time he kissed her, better a bastard than a fool) stopped feeling symbolic and started feeling like a crutch about half way through and using the same *twist* mechanic used twice (gender neutral names being the crux of two stories told so closely together) made it feel less polished than it could have been.
Thanks to various reviews etc I was also expecting a “big thing” to shock me at the end but I kind of felt it was obvious…?
Anti-climactic, in a word, but I do want to know what happens so it’s not like I hated it.
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, War, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Outing, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gore, Excrement, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Blood
caitlinbutcher's review against another edition
Graphic: War, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexism, Self harm, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Addiction, Violence, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, and Drug abuse
manicsunflower93's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death
shadeyc'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? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed it mostly. There is always that moment when I read Kristoff books (actually not just Kristoff books, there are a couple that do it) where I sigh and roll my eyes and think 'here we go again, some more torture for your MC that doesn't actually give much to the story'. It's not bad, it's just a little tiring. Sometimes I think his books could be much shorter and properly breathtaking all the way to the end.
Anyway. I like Gabe. He's a bastard as intended. But he's also a dumbarse, but I guess that's the point.
I LOVE the illustrations, that was a cool touch. I have a special spot in my heart for Baptiste. And all the good good dogs, and good good horses, and good good giant kitties.
In general the story is pretty solid, and the format it unfolds in works really well to keep intrigue going (aside from that aforementioned horrid momentum dragging bit).
Oh also, I hate it when a reveal or reveals happen and you see them coming for miles, I cannot be the only one who saw all that foreshadowing, it was pretty heavy handed, there was A LOT.
Maybe I'm just tired and cynical, and want to get all my jolly's faster than I can read these bricks.
Will be interesting to see what actually gets put into the next book.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Gore, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
karapillar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Stalking, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Moderate: Excrement, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, War, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Stalking
Minor: Pregnancy and Rape