A review by imaginary_space
The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

🦇🦇🦇🦇 4/5 underground-dwelling vampires

"He gets away with it because he's strong."
"This is the story of mankind."
"I thought you were going to be a priest at one point."
"Yes. But then I read the newspaper."

I love me some good vampire horror and Christopher Buehlman delivered. I wasn't sure if I would give it 3 or 4 stars, until the end, which pushed it firmly to 4 stars. 

A lot to like about this book:
  • the whole world building around the vampires, how they work as a species and (how they live in) the tunnels makes for great atmosphere from the get-go
  • the characters are very flawed and lovely
  • Cvetko
  • unreliable narrator
  • creepy kids are creepy and cute
  • the stakes exist and are very real
  • those nice scenes of real horror and tragedy in between, absolutely loved them
  • the ending really elevates the story

Why I didn't give it 5 stars:
  • Even though I liked the ending, it did feel a little like the author
    wasn't sure which ending would be best received by his audience and decided to offer all of them instead, placing the responsibility of whether you liked it or not on the reader.
  • I couldn't establish a strong emotional connection with the narrator, this might be different when I read it again in the future.
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