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rwsmith's review against another edition
reflective
medium-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
3.75
I went into this book wanting a high-fantasy vampire tale, which wasn't quite the right expectation. The focus was more philosophical than I originally expected, but not necessarily in a bad way. If you are into discussion of life and the human condition, this is a great vampire read for you.
I think due to my mismatched expectations, I found some of the characters less "lovable", but I was no less interested in the characters. They ended up being slightly predictable towards the end, but the plot of the story kept things moving forward anyways.
As far as diversity, there is 1 female main character (who is literally a child, classic) and few, if any, non-white characters. There is at least one queer relationship, and the fact that it is queer does not have an effect on whether that relationship is good, bad, etc. which I appreciated. However, the child female character has a very complicated and vaguely problematic relationship with the main character, which is where all the reviews mentioning pedophilia comes from. The main character acknowledges this complexity, so it isn't an oblivious presentation, but it is still present.
Overall, I love vampires, and so I enjoyed this book, despite the mismatched expectations causing it to be a bit of a slog to finish. If I was reading a hard copy and not an audiobook, this likely would have been a DNF for me, simply for attention span reasons. I recommend it to other vampire people and philosophical peoplw though!
I think due to my mismatched expectations, I found some of the characters less "lovable", but I was no less interested in the characters. They ended up being slightly predictable towards the end, but the plot of the story kept things moving forward anyways.
As far as diversity, there is 1 female main character (who is literally a child, classic) and few, if any, non-white characters. There is at least one queer relationship, and the fact that it is queer does not have an effect on whether that relationship is good, bad, etc. which I appreciated. However, the child female character has a very complicated and vaguely problematic relationship with the main character, which is where all the reviews mentioning pedophilia comes from. The main character acknowledges this complexity, so it isn't an oblivious presentation, but it is still present.
Overall, I love vampires, and so I enjoyed this book, despite the mismatched expectations causing it to be a bit of a slog to finish. If I was reading a hard copy and not an audiobook, this likely would have been a DNF for me, simply for attention span reasons. I recommend it to other vampire people and philosophical peoplw though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Child death
eauderat's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Child death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Colonisation
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Pedophilia, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Slavery
Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Dementia, and Sexism
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