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fionamatilda's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Torture, Sexual content, and Animal death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, and Homophobia
crosberg's review against another edition
First DNF in like...five years. I don't know if I've ever bailed on a book this fast, and I honestly was really hoping to find out more about Rasputin.
First of all: Opening a book with a guide to the cast doesn't make me confident in an author's ability to tell a story in a way that allows the readers to know who everyone is and tell them apart.
Secondly: The first actual prose is about the murder of an entire family in a particularly gruesome manner, specifically the murder of a bunch of kids as part of a political uprising, and that feels pretty gross. I know that vampire books lean into the idea that some vampires are famous people from the past, but starting off with the murder of a bunch of children (even though they were famous children) isn't necessary to any plot.
Third: There is no suburb of Chicago that is 30 minutes away from downtown AND fifteen minutes away from Northwestern University except in the middle of the night when there's no one else on the road. That level of detail is absolutely unnecessary, and distracting enough that I started to wonder what was going on with this book. Mentioning how close Fulton Heights is to Chicago but then refusing to acknowledge its existence when August talks about escaping Fulton Heights is weird.
Fourth: I was a student teacher at 21-22 years old to high school kids that were 14-15. I never in my life would have said "I wish you were straight. And about four years older." to ANY of them. The idea that August's college-aged tutor says that to him and it's not immediately alarming and gross turned me off in a HUGE way.
Fifth: I'm honestly kind of shocked that no one has mentioned how poorly this book is written. The pacing is definitely off, but the whole book is TELLING readers everything instead of showing them anything. Metaphors and imagery are so heavy handed they feel like a slap to the face and nothing happens without intense and repetitions explanations from the narrator/main character. There's no trust for the readers to figure stuff out on their own, which links back to the point above about the character guide in the front of the book. Things happen so fast, but are only revealed through exposition, so there's no sense of urgency or danger. The dialog does not at all feel natural to teenagers.
Though the book is marketed as YA it feels like it's actually aimed at adults who like YA books and want to bask in some nostalgia. There's absolutely nothing wrong with adults how like YA books (I love reading YA and genuinely enjoy a lot of YA fantasy and supernatural stories in particular) and I love fanfiction as much as the next person but ultimately this feels like poorly edited self-insert fanfic for Buffy or Twilight instead of a fully fleshed and developed story. I couldn't figure out what it was reminding me of until I got to this part of writing my review and realized it was the infamous "My Immortal" fanfic. Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way and August would probably both enjoy putting their middle fingers up at a bunch of preps.
First of all: Opening a book with a guide to the cast doesn't make me confident in an author's ability to tell a story in a way that allows the readers to know who everyone is and tell them apart.
Secondly: The first actual prose is about the murder of an entire family in a particularly gruesome manner, specifically the murder of a bunch of kids as part of a political uprising, and that feels pretty gross. I know that vampire books lean into the idea that some vampires are famous people from the past, but starting off with the murder of a bunch of children (even though they were famous children) isn't necessary to any plot.
Third: There is no suburb of Chicago that is 30 minutes away from downtown AND fifteen minutes away from Northwestern University except in the middle of the night when there's no one else on the road. That level of detail is absolutely unnecessary, and distracting enough that I started to wonder what was going on with this book. Mentioning how close Fulton Heights is to Chicago but then refusing to acknowledge its existence when August talks about escaping Fulton Heights is weird.
Fourth: I was a student teacher at 21-22 years old to high school kids that were 14-15. I never in my life would have said "I wish you were straight. And about four years older." to ANY of them. The idea that August's college-aged tutor says that to him and it's not immediately alarming and gross turned me off in a HUGE way.
Fifth: I'm honestly kind of shocked that no one has mentioned how poorly this book is written. The pacing is definitely off, but the whole book is TELLING readers everything instead of showing them anything. Metaphors and imagery are so heavy handed they feel like a slap to the face and nothing happens without intense and repetitions explanations from the narrator/main character. There's no trust for the readers to figure stuff out on their own, which links back to the point above about the character guide in the front of the book. Things happen so fast, but are only revealed through exposition, so there's no sense of urgency or danger. The dialog does not at all feel natural to teenagers.
Though the book is marketed as YA it feels like it's actually aimed at adults who like YA books and want to bask in some nostalgia. There's absolutely nothing wrong with adults how like YA books (I love reading YA and genuinely enjoy a lot of YA fantasy and supernatural stories in particular) and I love fanfiction as much as the next person but ultimately this feels like poorly edited self-insert fanfic for Buffy or Twilight instead of a fully fleshed and developed story. I couldn't figure out what it was reminding me of until I got to this part of writing my review and realized it was the infamous "My Immortal" fanfic. Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way and August would probably both enjoy putting their middle fingers up at a bunch of preps.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death
longlost's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
gay vampires ? incredible. i'm all for it. caleb roehrig's writing style is so funny and engaging and i admittedly have not engaged with much vampire media in the past but i've decided this is the superior iteration anyway
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Stalking, and Torture
Minor: Car accident, Gun violence, Homophobia, Self harm, and War
aromarrie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
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
4.5
this book is so incredible because at first, i hardly felt anything. i felt meh just as it seemed the mc felt meh because when you live in a town where vampires are the norm, there hardly seems to be many surprises to look out for. but then!! both me and august realized how wrong we really were.
as someone who constantly seeks out for good vampire stories, this one completely wowed me because it was just so obvious how much the author is enraptured with the lore of vampires. for a book that's only over 300 pages, there were like 500 pages worth of content that didn't feel overwhelming at all. if anything, there was so much precision and depth put into delving into the histories of these different groups of vampires, and those who hunt them. the more information we got, the more it came to my attention how much no matter what, a town used to vampires hunting in the night will never truly understand how high the stakes really are. vampires are mythic creatures of their own right, and despite all the myths, there's so much to unravel in how far back their origins and motivations go. the cover felt really deceiving, and the mc august, too--because it was difficult to pinpoint how far deep into the dark we would fall into, but the creeping void and terror of being thrust into a prophecy that is interpretated so differently among many says just enough.
i adored august's character, because his morality was always put forth to the surface because it's what this prophecy grasps for, and seeing him interact with different characters who had their own morals was phenomenal. there was very much some lighthearted moments included in this book, but it was just enough that it made all the haunting reveals and betrayals so much richer. i rooted not just for august, but for a lot of these characters because despite most of them being vampires or witches or sorceresses, "souls of the Devil" or whatever you call them, there was so much humanity and they had so much power. vampires were humans once, you know--witches and sorceresses capable of power so strong and yet are still underestimated even to this day, and it was that power and these human pasts that were explored to the fullest extent. that just went to show how much i could tell all the work and effort the author put into bringing this plot to life. so many threads and histories being entwined between different characters, and yet not once did it get tangled at any moment of this book.
i enjoyed the humor, i enjoyed the lore, and i enjoyed every single relationship and how complex the author formed each connection. if the author's motivations were to compel me to dig deep into the magic and lore of the supernatural, because there's so much potential swirling in there and this book is a huge example of that, then he definitely succeeded. i just loved all of it.
content warnings//: body horror, decapitation, kidnapping, graphic depictions of violence, references to Satan/the Devil, fire, anxiety, gruesome deaths, bits and pieces of gore, (a lot of) blood, possession, torture, attempted murder, occult (?), and animal deaths
as someone who constantly seeks out for good vampire stories, this one completely wowed me because it was just so obvious how much the author is enraptured with the lore of vampires. for a book that's only over 300 pages, there were like 500 pages worth of content that didn't feel overwhelming at all. if anything, there was so much precision and depth put into delving into the histories of these different groups of vampires, and those who hunt them. the more information we got, the more it came to my attention how much no matter what, a town used to vampires hunting in the night will never truly understand how high the stakes really are. vampires are mythic creatures of their own right, and despite all the myths, there's so much to unravel in how far back their origins and motivations go. the cover felt really deceiving, and the mc august, too--because it was difficult to pinpoint how far deep into the dark we would fall into, but the creeping void and terror of being thrust into a prophecy that is interpretated so differently among many says just enough.
i adored august's character, because his morality was always put forth to the surface because it's what this prophecy grasps for, and seeing him interact with different characters who had their own morals was phenomenal. there was very much some lighthearted moments included in this book, but it was just enough that it made all the haunting reveals and betrayals so much richer. i rooted not just for august, but for a lot of these characters because despite most of them being vampires or witches or sorceresses, "souls of the Devil" or whatever you call them, there was so much humanity and they had so much power. vampires were humans once, you know--witches and sorceresses capable of power so strong and yet are still underestimated even to this day, and it was that power and these human pasts that were explored to the fullest extent. that just went to show how much i could tell all the work and effort the author put into bringing this plot to life. so many threads and histories being entwined between different characters, and yet not once did it get tangled at any moment of this book.
i enjoyed the humor, i enjoyed the lore, and i enjoyed every single relationship and how complex the author formed each connection. if the author's motivations were to compel me to dig deep into the magic and lore of the supernatural, because there's so much potential swirling in there and this book is a huge example of that, then he definitely succeeded. i just loved all of it.
content warnings//: body horror, decapitation, kidnapping, graphic depictions of violence, references to Satan/the Devil, fire, anxiety, gruesome deaths, bits and pieces of gore, (a lot of) blood, possession, torture, attempted murder, occult (?), and animal deaths
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Gore, Animal death, Torture, Murder, and Body horror
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