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teaforghosts's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, and Alcohol
rooree's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Really liked it, straight into book 2. The method of telling a story through the main c narrating his story worked a lot better than I thought it would. Classic gothic vampire genre. Good character development as well as plot development. Overall plot reveal is probably quite slow (definitely done across the three books), but the events that happen through the development of that plot are quite fast paced so works quite well. Brilliant narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Grief, and War
exteenawreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
(3-4 ⭐? can't decide) I have two wolves within me: one finger-gunning and saying "Niiice, hot slutty vampires" and the other screaming "The Bechdel Test! Misogyny! Fridging!! Gross obsession with sexualizing underage kids!"
So ya, I dunno.
I think the writing was excellent, the world was immersive and thrilling, and the story compelling. The battle scenes are expertly written and many moments are truly exhilarating. The prose is beautiful and poetic, the characters are memorable and unique. I really enjoyed what was basically a randomly generated DND party of diverse folks, forced together and fighting against all odds on a quest to save the broken world. It seems to heavily take inspiration from other media I love like The Witcher and The Last of Us, though that meant I wasn't too surprised by the direction. It was just so painfully obviously written by a man the feminist in me couldn't help but cringe often. And don't get me wrong, I get that the point of showing all of this violence and hatred of women is to highlight it as toxic and wrong. But the way it's written also glorifies it, and the story isn't about fighting the patriarchy - it's about a man out for revenge and glory, his enemy just happens to also be thinly veiled patriarchy and religious zealotry.
Ex: A vampire obsessed with teenage girls and turning them to be his unwilling slaves, literally pulling his carriage all half naked? = Evil, this is a villain, we don't root for him. But the writing itself directs the reader to see these things moreso as acts of great power and strength, and the simple truth of what a man would do if they were infinite and unkillable. This vampire is described very positively as beautiful, strong, something to be respected and feared. Yes he's a villain, but I'm also not convinced the author doesn't sort of revere men like him or at least see this as the average man's ideal. And the many examples of this throughout are hard to ignore.
Overall I did really like it, I just feel a little icky about it. And I truly could have done without the underage kid sexualizing. And the animal deaths :(
So ya, I dunno.
I think the writing was excellent, the world was immersive and thrilling, and the story compelling. The battle scenes are expertly written and many moments are truly exhilarating. The prose is beautiful and poetic, the characters are memorable and unique. I really enjoyed what was basically a randomly generated DND party of diverse folks, forced together and fighting against all odds on a quest to save the broken world. It seems to heavily take inspiration from other media I love like The Witcher and The Last of Us, though that meant I wasn't too surprised by the direction. It was just so painfully obviously written by a man the feminist in me couldn't help but cringe often. And don't get me wrong, I get that the point of showing all of this violence and hatred of women is to highlight it as toxic and wrong. But the way it's written also glorifies it, and the story isn't about fighting the patriarchy - it's about a man out for revenge and glory, his enemy just happens to also be thinly veiled patriarchy and religious zealotry.
Ex: A vampire obsessed with teenage girls and turning them to be his unwilling slaves, literally pulling his carriage all half naked? = Evil, this is a villain, we don't root for him. But the writing itself directs the reader to see these things moreso as acts of great power and strength, and the simple truth of what a man would do if they were infinite and unkillable. This vampire is described very positively as beautiful, strong, something to be respected and feared. Yes he's a villain, but I'm also not convinced the author doesn't sort of revere men like him or at least see this as the average man's ideal. And the many examples of this throughout are hard to ignore.
Overall I did really like it, I just feel a little icky about it. And I truly could have done without the underage kid sexualizing. And the animal deaths :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
An ambitious start to a series this book is a monster at over 700 pages. I found its format to be quite unique in its format of our tale being dictated as a story to the enemy of our protagonist. You see two sides of Gabriel , the darkened drunk who’s lost his faith, family and friends and the silver saint, national hero who still had hope and may have been the key to our problems.
With days death, the light is nearly gone making it perfect for the vampires to rise and walk in the day when they previously couldn’t. This story definitely focuses on worldbuilding to set the scene for the rest of the series, but also sets a tone of revenge between Gabriel and the Voss ruler. I enjoyed how intricate the world is, with nations broken down into main and indigenous areas as well as establishing a ruling religious system as well as opposing pagan beliefs.
From grief to religious trauma, death to homophobia, murder to betrayal, and more this book covers a lot of tropes and topics and can certainly be a hard read with its length and depth. For some it may be confusing to follow at points as we jump from the story back to a scene of our MC being made to tell the story for documentation so it isn’t linear in its timeline but it was a unique choice to format which certainly had me intrigued.
It’s a shame that kristoff is the author as honestly i enjoyed this and would continue the series but with his fetishisation of wlw minors and appropriating and criticising Māori culture in nevernight i morally can’t support him as an author and wouldn’t have purchased had i know this beforehand.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sadspringroll's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
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
5.0
I loved this book. The world it built was akin to the Witcher, bloodborne, and/or castlevania. I loved the characters, the world building, aesthetic, lore, diversity, fight scenes and reveals.
My only criticisms are the overuse of some French words/phrases. I liked most of them and thought it added depth and charm, but “ma famille” and others did grate on me. The first half definitely had a few too many sexual innuendos in the dialogue for me. Sometimes it felt like forced humour (imo). I didn’t like the interview method as the storytelling mechanism at first, but got used to it fairly quickly and began to enjoy it. Finally, Locked like a secret was a phrase I’d never heard before yet read at least 3 times, but I know a lot of authors are guilty of this.
So ultimately, if you hate French and aren’t keen on time jumps (or it’s the journey not the destination type stories) it may not be for you. But I can safely say this is a 10/10 book for me, even with its quirks.
My only criticisms are the overuse of some French words/phrases. I liked most of them and thought it added depth and charm, but “ma famille” and others did grate on me. The first half definitely had a few too many sexual innuendos in the dialogue for me. Sometimes it felt like forced humour (imo). I didn’t like the interview method as the storytelling mechanism at first, but got used to it fairly quickly and began to enjoy it. Finally, Locked like a secret was a phrase I’d never heard before yet read at least 3 times, but I know a lot of authors are guilty of this.
So ultimately, if you hate French and aren’t keen on time jumps (or it’s the journey not the destination type stories) it may not be for you. But I can safely say this is a 10/10 book for me, even with its quirks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Torture
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy
nesstayls's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Even though this had quite a slow start, once the characters and world were established, the twists and turns really kept me on my toes. The slow reveal to the backstory of the main character was well done. The exploration of religious themes and faith really helped cement the motives of the characters and overarching plot. The action scenes kept me hooked and I will definitely be reading the next book to see how this all turns out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Religious bigotry, and War
Minor: Drug use and Homophobia
mathcatscats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Dang. That was rough (complimentary)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
rouyuriko's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
5.0
Wow. Fantastic book. If you find yourself not loving the main character at first, hang in there. The way everything comes together at the end is wonderful. While covering a very dark world with a lot of hatred stemming from religious zealotry, the themes are well handled and there is a beautiful light in the ending message.
I borrowed this from the library but love it so much I want to buy a copy. The illustrations are also gorgeous! I don't even like vampire stories normally.
I borrowed this from the library but love it so much I want to buy a copy. The illustrations are also gorgeous! I don't even like vampire stories normally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Child death
Minor: Homophobia
kal517's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
caspianabound's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-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
4.5
I went in pretty blind to this story and woah was I swept up. I admit that I'm a sucker for anything vampire but I've never read anything quite like this. The storytelling was rich and immersive - that paired with the world building was definitely ny favorite part. I enjoyed most of the characters and plot. I will also admit that I saw the ending coming (I won't spoil it for others) but I had a feeling that a particular aspect was going to unfold a specific way, and it did. Other aspects were a surprise, though! Will definitely be continuing this series and seeking more from this author, the writing was just *so* good and atmospheric.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gore
Minor: Homophobia