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riley_rose's review
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.5
lezreadalot's review
3.0
“It is not often that prey takes equal interest in its predator.”
Woof. I think this is the definition of a mixed feeling. This book started so strong, and in the first 50 percent, it was everything I wanted out of a super intense, kind of unhinged vampire romance. Around the 50 percent mark, I did start getting a little bit impatient and antsy for the plot to actually go places, and then when the plot did go places, it wasn't as interesting or as absorbing as I had thought it would be. And then the ending used a bunch of tropes that I flat-out dislike. So I'm ending this book liking it a lot less than I did in the beginning. But oh man, that beginning. One of thee most engaging first chapters ever.
This was another completely blind read; when I started, I had no idea that it had anything to do with Dracula. After I finished the first chapter, I paused, went and read the original Dracula for the first time, and then came back to this book. I think that was a great idea, and I do think that a familiarity with the original book will add to the experience of reading this, because it does use a lot of excerpts and the original characters are important to varying degrees. This is a universe where Dracula exists, but the book Dracula also exists. The author made it work. The best thing about this is really the writing, and you can enjoy that whether or not you read the Stoker original. So evocative and lush, and the romance of it was exactly what I wanted. So all-encompassing; they're ride or die from day one. I just love when people fall in love and are not normal about it. This did have a definite tinge of insta-love, but the way Laura phrased her proclamations, the way her love for Oasis was framed as fated and inevitable, bred in the blood, I really ended up liking it.
“How can you love me if all I am is food?” I ask.
Laura clicks her tongue as though chastising me.
“You cannot comprehend just how much I love my food.”
But as I said, it didn't work for me on all fronts.
Spoiler
Dracula/Laura is a shapeshifter, and I mostly liked the way that was handled. I do think I would have preferred if Dracula and Laura were a bit more separate than the book made them? I liked the handling of gender, but also, Dracula/Laura is basically larping as a black person? By the time the book gives us a reason/explanation for said larping, I, uh, wasn't sold on it. I would have probably preferred a poly romance where Dracula and Laura are entirely separate. But then, of course, that would have been a completely different book. So that's not really something that can change without fundamentally changing the premise that I really love.Oasis's background as a cult survivor and all of her trauma with her twin and her mother was heart-breaking and interesting, and I like how we slowly got that information filled in. On the other hand, I didn't like the way the plot with the Van Helsing Institute played out. It was just super slow, weirdly paced and kind of boring. There were some side characters who were ostensibly interesting, but I didn't really get sold on any of them. Laura's sister was a bit over the top, and the Asgardian warrior came out of left field. And then, of course, we ended with an amnesia plot, which is one of my least favourite things in fiction ever. I felt like we were just retreading ground that we had already covered, just with Dracula instead of Laura. I kind of actively disliked the last 20 percent or so, or however long it took for Oasis to regain her memories. Amnesia is not my thing.
The thing is, this is pretty long. I prefer long books these days, books that spend a lot of time letting the reader get to know the characters. But this is a case where I'm not sure if all of the page time is used effectively. There's also the fact that I took a pretty long time to read this, just because of the fact that I don't have a lot of time to actually sit down with my Kindle for long stretches of time. So that probably impacted my enjoyment and my feelings as well. I still think this was amazingly written, and it's a very unique idea. I'd definitely be interested in returning to this world if the author does so.
Also, huge kudos to the cover artist. This is gorgeous.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
cults, rape, extensive self-harm, forced anorexia, blood, violence, injury and gore, menstruation“Home is where you went. If you had gone to the bottom of the deep blue sea, I would have followed you there, too.”
mausoleum's review
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Torture
emmaskies's review
3.0
Maybe more of a review to come but this book desperately needed to be *at least* 150 pages shorter. Possibly a low three stars.
siavahda's review
5.0
One of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it DID NOT LET ME DOWN
If anything, it exceeded my wildest hopes!
11/10, FLAWLESS, WONDERFUL, HILARIOUS, ORIGINAL, I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT
PROPER REVIEW TO COME!!!
HIGHLIGHTS
~Black vampires!
~so many flavours of queer
~own your scars
~#BatsAreBest
~beware pink flames
Darknesses is officially my new favourite vampire novel.
Seriously, there is nothing I do not love about this book! It had me laughing my head off, reading quotes aloud to the hubby, clutching my ereader to my chest, and breathless on the edge of my seat by turns. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop until I reached the end – I ended up devouring the whole book in two sittings, and it would have been one if I hadn’t had to break to sleep!
Where do I even start???
If I were pitching Darknesses to a friend, I’d probably say something like: this is Twilight grown up, Black, queer as fuck, and featuring vampires that are unapologetically deadly.
…So nothing like Twilight, basically. The anti-Twilight, in fact.
IT’S SO FREAKING AWESOME!
Oasis is a survivor still adapting to the ‘normal’ world after years of being brainwashed and brutalised by a cult. Laura is the glorious woman who sweeps into the bookshop where Oasis works to buy every copy of Dracula she can find – so that she can burn them. Because they’re libel against the true Dracula – Laura herself.
When the two of them hit it off, it’s a catalyst that changes them both forever.
Oasis is no simpering, meek, swept-off-her-feet romance heroine, seduced to the dark side by the big bad vampire; she’s fragile in some ways after what she’s been through, and has healing to do, but she’s a survivor, tough as nails and fierce and infinitely far from passive. She accepts Laura’s strangeness lovingly, easily, and reading along as she grew into her confidence and strength over the course of the book was a joy. I can’t remember the last time I cheered on a character this much!
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
If anything, it exceeded my wildest hopes!
11/10, FLAWLESS, WONDERFUL, HILARIOUS, ORIGINAL, I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT
PROPER REVIEW TO COME!!!
HIGHLIGHTS
~Black vampires!
~so many flavours of queer
~own your scars
~#BatsAreBest
~beware pink flames
Darknesses is officially my new favourite vampire novel.
Seriously, there is nothing I do not love about this book! It had me laughing my head off, reading quotes aloud to the hubby, clutching my ereader to my chest, and breathless on the edge of my seat by turns. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop until I reached the end – I ended up devouring the whole book in two sittings, and it would have been one if I hadn’t had to break to sleep!
Where do I even start???
If I were pitching Darknesses to a friend, I’d probably say something like: this is Twilight grown up, Black, queer as fuck, and featuring vampires that are unapologetically deadly.
…So nothing like Twilight, basically. The anti-Twilight, in fact.
IT’S SO FREAKING AWESOME!
Oasis is a survivor still adapting to the ‘normal’ world after years of being brainwashed and brutalised by a cult. Laura is the glorious woman who sweeps into the bookshop where Oasis works to buy every copy of Dracula she can find – so that she can burn them. Because they’re libel against the true Dracula – Laura herself.
When the two of them hit it off, it’s a catalyst that changes them both forever.
Oasis is no simpering, meek, swept-off-her-feet romance heroine, seduced to the dark side by the big bad vampire; she’s fragile in some ways after what she’s been through, and has healing to do, but she’s a survivor, tough as nails and fierce and infinitely far from passive. She accepts Laura’s strangeness lovingly, easily, and reading along as she grew into her confidence and strength over the course of the book was a joy. I can’t remember the last time I cheered on a character this much!
“You were born in the 1400s?”
Laura licks wine off her lips, nodding.
“January 26th, 1431, in Sighisoara.”
“I was born July 13th, 1996, in Wichita,” I say. “I should check and see if we’re astrologically compatible.”
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
kaitpeot's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
sproutedpages's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-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
4.0
Thank you to BookSirens, tRaum Books, and author Lachelle Seville for providing me with a digital copy of this novel to review. All opinions within this review are voluntarily given and entirely my own.
A queer modern vampire novel utilizing classic vampire mythos, in which Dracula meets a traumatized cult survivor and begins an obsessive romantic relationship. It does lean heavily on the instalove trope at times, but because of the author’s willingness to commit to this throughout the novel, it remains enjoyable. It is surprisingly fun (and funny) despite the abundance of emotionally challenging subject material, and the characters– even secondary and tertiary characters– are well-rounded and interesting. There are a generous amount of references to pop-culture vampirism, music, and nerd-culture, though it never feels at-odds with the narrative. Beyond these elements (and undoubtedly more importantly), Darknesses is told from a Black, Queer perspective– which is shockingly underrepresented in Vampire novels, and especially in Vampire romance. Really looking forward to seeing where the next novel takes this series when it is published!
A queer modern vampire novel utilizing classic vampire mythos, in which Dracula meets a traumatized cult survivor and begins an obsessive romantic relationship. It does lean heavily on the instalove trope at times, but because of the author’s willingness to commit to this throughout the novel, it remains enjoyable. It is surprisingly fun (and funny) despite the abundance of emotionally challenging subject material, and the characters– even secondary and tertiary characters– are well-rounded and interesting. There are a generous amount of references to pop-culture vampirism, music, and nerd-culture, though it never feels at-odds with the narrative. Beyond these elements (and undoubtedly more importantly), Darknesses is told from a Black, Queer perspective– which is shockingly underrepresented in Vampire novels, and especially in Vampire romance. Really looking forward to seeing where the next novel takes this series when it is published!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault and Racism
Graphic cult traumaamberimagines's review against another edition
Not in the mood and the beginning wasn't grabbing me. Might try again another time!
valedeoro's review
4.0
Holliday reading. You know that the worldbuilding really worked, when you totally accept that the Dragon Minty Fresh smells like, well mint, and don't think that's ridiculous. . Meaning, I was sad when I was done :)