Reviews

Had moments of intrigue and tension, and did a good job of capturing a mood of paranoia and uncertainty. Unfortunately there was also lots of info dumping and exposition that was frankly very dry and that overtook any of the positives for me.
Thank you to Net Galley & the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

hehemai's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Starting the story with Jessiersky entering the catacombs was intriguing and hooked me instantly. What followed were four chapters (1/3 of the book) of info dumping about family trees and heritage that took me out of the story and made me lose my momentum until the very end.
The decent into madness and the different situations that ended up with the perishing of characters was fascinating to read and the historical context of the story was very interesting but the narrator made the reader always step back and full pause throughout the whole book by pages and pages of information that didn’t really add anything to what was actually happening. Therefore my enjoyment dwindled the more I read. I would’ve dnf‘d if the book wasn’t only 160 pages long.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

chillcox15's review against another edition

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5.0

A fascinating portrait of the ruinous moral state that is obliviousness and 'business as usual' mundanity in the face of fascism. A legitimately scary continental gothic.

elluna_'s review against another edition

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adventurous relaxing medium-paced

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

3.0

flexluthor's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

I love a book where the author uses a character to explain exactly what the thesis is at the conclusion, although I gotta say this thesis is sort of problematic when you look at what the book as a whole represents. Outside of a fantastic last chapter there are some great moments, and a lot of mind numbing history and lineage discussion. It's short enough that it's not a waste of time, but it does get pretty grating

merlaux's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5. There is definitely something with a capital S going on here, just not the kind of something I care to puzzle out.

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