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A review by auteaandtales
The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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
'm not sure what to give this, but I think it's a 3.5 - I'm very confused, because some parts I absolutely loved and so much of this was beautifully written, and other parts I just didn't stick to well. It was a very "slow burn", character driven story for most of the book, and things only really picked up right at the end, maybe the last third of the book. There was so much unsaid that I feel like a whole new book could have been written to expand on what they got up to.
It was obvious and how this book is marketed, but I've had this book for a long time and completely forgot what it was about, so I went into it not knowing it was about the wives of Dracula, and that was a nice surprise. I love the authors' interpretation of who those women were, I loved that she had given them a voice to otherwise faceless people (I'm assuming, I have not read Dracula). I loved that they were sisters, and I loved their relationship. I also loved the queer relationship that had developed, although it felt quite sudden. There was a very slow, subtle build up going on in the background and then it just suddenly hit. I'd have liked that to become more central.
The negatives were just that the first two thirds and the last third are like two different books, they don't ease into each other, it's like a Part One and Part Two. The first part was boring me a little, I'd put the book down and feel little urge to pick it back up again and my interest kept dropping. The second part was hard to put the book down, so I didn't. The pacing feels off. These were my main issues, really, just that it was so beautifully written but it just wasn't flowing into each other well enough for me.
This book covers some dark themes so content warnings for rape, sexual assault, misogyny, racism, antiziganism, torture/abuse, and animal abuse/death.
I will absolutely read something from this author again. I overall enjoyed it.
It was obvious and how this book is marketed, but I've had this book for a long time and completely forgot what it was about, so I went into it not knowing it was about the wives of Dracula, and that was a nice surprise. I love the authors' interpretation of who those women were, I loved that she had given them a voice to otherwise faceless people (I'm assuming, I have not read Dracula). I loved that they were sisters, and I loved their relationship. I also loved the queer relationship that had developed, although it felt quite sudden. There was a very slow, subtle build up going on in the background and then it just suddenly hit. I'd have liked that to become more central.
The negatives were just that the first two thirds and the last third are like two different books, they don't ease into each other, it's like a Part One and Part Two. The first part was boring me a little, I'd put the book down and feel little urge to pick it back up again and my interest kept dropping. The second part was hard to put the book down, so I didn't. The pacing feels off. These were my main issues, really, just that it was so beautifully written but it just wasn't flowing into each other well enough for me.
This book covers some dark themes so content warnings for rape, sexual assault, misogyny, racism, antiziganism, torture/abuse, and animal abuse/death.
I will absolutely read something from this author again. I overall enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Death, and Animal death
Minor: Grief and Homophobia