Reviews tagging 'Death'

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

119 reviews

sleepysadpoet's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I wanna start this off by saying I love the interview with a vampire vibes to this story (rip, Anne Rice). Storytelling within a story is such a cool thing and I have always enjoyed that.
Some of the language was confusing, especially when Danton would talk. (It's still fuck that guy though).

When it was revealed that the grail was a person was when I really got invested. I'm not religious by any means and don't believe in a higher power, but it got me thinking quite a bit honestly. I know that the initiates were fighters for God, and their holier than thou attitude made me mad sometimes. They would sin like no one's business, but get mad when... *Checks notes* Aaron is found in bed with a man? Sounds a lot like some of the christians we know nowadays huh?

This story had twists and turns at every corner, and I love that despite the whole premise being that it's an interview, I could picture everything just fine in my head. The artwork is gorgeous too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Homophobia

lunaruprising's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder

tallangryplanet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

In a world where the sun barely shines anymore, the last Silversaint shares the tale of his life with a vampire. 

The vampires in this story are not the sparkly kind, but rather brutal creatures with an incredible hunger for power. I would like to start by saying that this book was way more explicit than I expected, so if you're sensitive to gore and violence I'd advise to go in mentally prepared. However, even though those elements sometimes threw me off, the book was still pretty enjoyable. 

There are two timelines here, following two different moments in the protagonist's life. In the beginning it felt a bit info-dumpy because of how complex the world was and all the interruptions to explain some aspects of the lore, but it picked up later, and it wasn't too hard to follow the different stories. The plot itself was interesting, and the different characters made it more dynamic without getting too confusing. 

This was, in general, a pleasant reading experience. I don't have a particular reason for my rating, but rather the feeling that it could've been better, and that some parts were just too heavy and dense. However, it was not at all a bad book, and if you don't mind taking some time to read it (this is not the kind of story you're done with in an afternoon), I totally encourage darker fantasy fans to give it a go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

rabidpookie'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Death of parent

fromlindenmere's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

itsraveekah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, and Blood

no1willnot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Religious bigotry

It’s a book about vampire wars that centres around a religious order of vampire hunters based heavily in Christianity, so there is a LOT of blood, violence and institutional abuse

princessxnicole's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Alcohol

jnl00700's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Torture, Murder, and War

amy_harboredinpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Enthralled from the begining, might have had a theory early on that was debunked or confirmed by the end, I had another thought of what may come to pass... or ...has...
Damn it, Kristoff writes a flawed character well.
Can't wait to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood