A review by cloudedreads
Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen

dark emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Intrigued at first by the beautiful cover and then by the synopsis, I was really excited to get to read this early. While I did have a few complaints here and there, this was a refreshing new take on vampires that I didn’t know I was looking for.

 

The story follows Lucy, a young woman working as a companion for a old lady, as she travels to nurse her twin Sarah on her deathbed. Lucy can’t imagine her life without her sister, and is willing to do anything to help her, even if the Sarah she finds waiting for her is so different, in both looks and behavior, as almost a different person completely...

I knew I was going to enjoy this book from page one -  a quote for Bram Stokers “Dracula”, followed up with a letter from one main character to another? Sign me up, I love epistolary novels (this book is not comprised solely out of letters, but even a few of them being included made the reading experience more varied and fun. To me). The build up of the story, the niche topic of bog bodies, the sister dynamics, the way vampirism worked in this book made for a fast and compelling read. There were points in the book when I disliked all of the characters, and then certain points when I rooted for them to get even worse (might be a first for me!), and by the end I felt like almost everyone got what they deserved.

 

My main issue with the book lies with the ending. Hard to explain without spoiling anything, but I just felt like with all the previous build up it was too abrupt, and something that seemed to be the main goal/problem posed to/by certain characters ended up being resolved swiftly and then afterwards completed off the page. And here I was, really looking forward to some meatier descriptions (pun intended). Despite that, the ending in general was a happy one, sort of, if you support womens’ wrongs, like I do.

 

To sum it up, “Blood on Her Tongue” is a short horror novel centering hungry women getting fed (up) and taking matters into their own hands - what more do I need to say? Certainly worth picking up and checking out!

 

I received an advance review copy from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.