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ghostsversion's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.0
This was a good read. Not fantastic, obviously, but still good. I did feel like the start of any actual plot was at like the halfway mark of the book. Before it, it was more like the aftermath of the previous book i.e. Bastien becoming a vampire(which was most of it) and Celine losing her memories and basically everyone lying to her. Though I will admit, the reveal of the Sylvan Vale and Wylde was a nice suprise. But more importantly PLEASE DON’T LET ODETTE DIE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SHE NEEDS TO HAVE HER YURI MOMENT I BEG YOU RENEE PLEASE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual assault
micaelamariem's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
This wasn’t as good as the first book unfortunately. A lot of the tension and mystery isn’t there anymore, though I think it will return for the next book so I’m excited for that. I also didn’t like how forced the love triangle was. What I did appreciate though was the journey into fae lands and learning more about their world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, and Alcohol
siglerbooknook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder
stormywolf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is the first sequel The Vampire Book Club has picked thus far, so I was pretty excited to enter this world. I caught up on The Beautiful earlier this week and really enjoyed it, finding it a fun and well-crafted mix of familiar modern and classic stories. With that experience fresh in my mind, and a bombastic ending to boot, I was eager to continue the story and see just where Bastien and Celine got to next.
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, I wish this story had focused more on the characters' growth and less on transitioning. It felt like it wanted to completely disconnect from the themes of the first book, reworking its characters into something entirely new so they could start again in the next book. And while I appreciated that as a theme of the story—the characters choosing to move away from the old ways of doing things, opting to take steps toward better understanding, mercy, and equality—the execution of it in the plot was too rushed, leaving the characters feeling hollow and stagnant. Though this book didn't live up to my expectations, I'm still willing to give it another shot with the series' next installment (releasing late 2021), so I'll be back to let you know if it was worth it. Because as it stands now, I don't think I can recommend this continuation unless you're already ride or die with these characters.
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, I wish this story had focused more on the characters' growth and less on transitioning. It felt like it wanted to completely disconnect from the themes of the first book, reworking its characters into something entirely new so they could start again in the next book. And while I appreciated that as a theme of the story—the characters choosing to move away from the old ways of doing things, opting to take steps toward better understanding, mercy, and equality—the execution of it in the plot was too rushed, leaving the characters feeling hollow and stagnant. Though this book didn't live up to my expectations, I'm still willing to give it another shot with the series' next installment (releasing late 2021), so I'll be back to let you know if it was worth it. Because as it stands now, I don't think I can recommend this continuation unless you're already ride or die with these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War
translove's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Torture and Kidnapping
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Death of parent
pastelwriter's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Listen. I don’t even know how to review this book. My emotions were so messy when I finished it that my first instinct was to film a book review. That video will probably end up more coherent (somehow) than whatever I type here.
Long story short? The parts I enjoyed about this were the ones that stuck to tested and true vampire tropes. The whole will they/won’t they going on with Celine and Bastien that lead to some tasty tension as Celine tried to get closer to Bastien after she had forgotten him? Just a gift. The fact that Celine was resisting vampire charms forcing her to forget? Beautiful. The fact that we have traditional vampire versus werewolf tropes? Delicious.The fact that we learned that Celine is half fae? Iconic. The time we spend in the fae realm? Fascinating. The tension between fae and vampires? Perfection.
At the same time, though, the characters seriously got on my nerves in this book. Bastien’s character in particular started out really strong, lost me a bit in the middle of the book, and then got me again at the end. At first, I was thriving because Bastien was being incredibly petty. He was angry at his family for having turned him into a vampire, and he was taking it out on them. Honestly, I thrive on righteous anger when I agree with why the character is angry. In this case, I did. Bastien lost me though when he put on his emo vampire coat on. He needed to stop with that bullshit. He was pushing Celine away because he’s a creature of darkness and would take her from the light or whatever such nonsense. And I just needed him to stop. Eventually, though, Celine got him in line. So, I was able to love him again.
The other thing that got on my nerves in this book is that it’s trying really hard to sell me a love triangle that is so flimsy it disintegrates like paper held to a flame. What’s worse is that the love triangle made me think Michael had no self-respect. The man kept seeing how drawn Celine was to Bastien, how she only spent more time with him because she couldn’t remember Bastien, and he really thought Celine would choose him. Why? What on earth gave him that idea? He was in a different plane of existence if he thought that was going to happen. So, it just made the whole thing even more annoying. It felt like a waste of my time, and it tested my patience.
In addition, I feel like the author played me. Unless I had a stroke while reading book one, I thought Pippa was a lesbian. But it seems she’s either straight or another sexuality. But the author was emphasizing attraction to men in this book, completely dismissing the female character she had chemistry with in book one, and I felt like my brain was melting.
Anyway. At the end of the day, all I can say sounds incredibly negative...but honestly it’s what kept me reading. The hot mess these characters were was super interesting to me. I was invested in seeing what they would do next. I wanted answers. I continue to want answers. So, really, I’m thankful to this book for taking me on a rollercoaster of emotions. The rollercoaster may have made me want to fight the characters, but I still had fun.
P.S. Something I still don’t get is why Emilie would turn against her brother. Like. He was literally a child when their uncle failed to save her from that fire. How was that shit Bastien’s fault? How could she blame him for being born into a world that priced him more than her? And because she kept her distance, why did she expect him to grow up not acting like a man inheriting a legacy? In addition, she thinks Bastien asked to be turned into a vampire and that it was granted to him because he’s a man...but that wasn’t even what happened! I just don’t buy it. Not a bit.
Long story short? The parts I enjoyed about this were the ones that stuck to tested and true vampire tropes. The whole will they/won’t they going on with Celine and Bastien that lead to some tasty tension as Celine tried to get closer to Bastien after she had forgotten him? Just a gift. The fact that Celine was resisting vampire charms forcing her to forget? Beautiful. The fact that we have traditional vampire versus werewolf tropes? Delicious.
At the same time, though, the characters seriously got on my nerves in this book. Bastien’s character in particular started out really strong, lost me a bit in the middle of the book, and then got me again at the end. At first, I was thriving because Bastien was being incredibly petty. He was angry at his family for having turned him into a vampire, and he was taking it out on them. Honestly, I thrive on righteous anger when I agree with why the character is angry. In this case, I did. Bastien lost me though when he put on his emo vampire coat on. He needed to stop with that bullshit. He was pushing Celine away because he’s a creature of darkness and would take her from the light or whatever such nonsense. And I just needed him to stop. Eventually, though, Celine got him in line. So, I was able to love him again.
The other thing that got on my nerves in this book is that it’s trying really hard to sell me a love triangle that is so flimsy it disintegrates like paper held to a flame. What’s worse is that the love triangle made me think Michael had no self-respect. The man kept seeing how drawn Celine was to Bastien, how she only spent more time with him because she couldn’t remember Bastien, and he really thought Celine would choose him. Why? What on earth gave him that idea? He was in a different plane of existence if he thought that was going to happen. So, it just made the whole thing even more annoying. It felt like a waste of my time, and it tested my patience.
In addition, I feel like the author played me. Unless I had a stroke while reading book one, I thought Pippa was a lesbian. But it seems she’s either straight or another sexuality. But the author was emphasizing attraction to men in this book, completely dismissing the female character she had chemistry with in book one, and I felt like my brain was melting.
Anyway. At the end of the day, all I can say sounds incredibly negative...but honestly it’s what kept me reading. The hot mess these characters were was super interesting to me. I was invested in seeing what they would do next. I wanted answers. I continue to want answers. So, really, I’m thankful to this book for taking me on a rollercoaster of emotions. The rollercoaster may have made me want to fight the characters, but I still had fun.
P.S. Something I still don’t get is why Emilie would turn against her brother. Like. He was literally a child when their uncle failed to save her from that fire. How was that shit Bastien’s fault? How could she blame him for being born into a world that priced him more than her? And because she kept her distance, why did she expect him to grow up not acting like a man inheriting a legacy? In addition, she thinks Bastien asked to be turned into a vampire and that it was granted to him because he’s a man...but that wasn’t even what happened! I just don’t buy it. Not a bit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault