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novel_obscurity's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Main character is challenging, and the book ends on a cliff hanger that was a bit predictable. Overall, not bad - writer does a good job with creating tension and fear!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
novelty_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
In 2021 there was no book quite as hyped up as Empire of the Vampire.
I remember seeing it everywhere. You couldn't escape it on Bookstagram/Booktok and die-hard book collectors were scrambling to get ARCs of it. With such hype, I was a little bit worried about this book. I was worried if it would meet such high expectations or fall epically flat.
Well, let's just say this:
Empire of the Vampire takes a while to get into. Or at least for me it did.
The book starts off with our main character, Gabriel, the last Silversaint, imprisoned in a cell by vampires, telling a historian, Jean-François about his life and how he came to be a living legend. This book, just looking at form alone, astounded me at how it goes between the interview-like present, Gabriel's early days as a Silversaint, and a few years before his current situation looking for the Holy Grail.
The book's first "part" (350 pages in) was all about the world building, setting up the scene and the ambience of the novel. While it was interesting, nothing really grabbed me after the first 50 pages (in part one). I think that's mainly due to the fact that I wasn't really connecting to the characters much.
But then we got to part 2 and all of a sudden, I understood why this book got so much praise.
The book's slower beginning makes up for everything it lacked in part 2 where all the plot twists happen and all the loose ends are tied up. All of a sudden, we got that closeness/connection we wanted from the characters and I started to really enjoy my journey with this book.
Where Gabriel started off as a stoic-sort of character, by the end of the book you see just how much he has been through. Honestly, I didn't expect that ending though which I won't get into for spoilers reasons but it made me understand his character and everything he's been through. I love it when books come full circle and all the pieces of the puzzle come together, not just plot wise but character wise too.
I also liked Dior though admittedly not as much as Gabriel. I've been told book 2 follows this character as well as another so I'll be excited to discover more about Dior as the series progresses. Also, I absolutely loved the bromance between Aaron, Baptiste and Gabriel and it honestly elevated the book so much! I'm excited to see them all again in Empire of the Damned.
This book was unlike any other books I've read before: it was dark, moody, bloody and hugely atmospheric and while I've read darker fantasy before, none were as gothic as this one. It also was the thickest book I've read in a long time, which for a person like me who read 300-400 paged books, this was basically double my regular length. That being said though, I would be very excited to read book two and I hope Gabriel gets his revenge on Voss. He really has been through hell and back.
ACTUAL RATING: 4.4 STARS
In 2021 there was no book quite as hyped up as Empire of the Vampire.
I remember seeing it everywhere. You couldn't escape it on Bookstagram/Booktok and die-hard book collectors were scrambling to get ARCs of it. With such hype, I was a little bit worried about this book. I was worried if it would meet such high expectations or fall epically flat.
Well, let's just say this:
Empire of the Vampire takes a while to get into. Or at least for me it did.
The book starts off with our main character, Gabriel, the last Silversaint, imprisoned in a cell by vampires, telling a historian, Jean-François about his life and how he came to be a living legend. This book, just looking at form alone, astounded me at how it goes between the interview-like present, Gabriel's early days as a Silversaint, and a few years before his current situation looking for the Holy Grail.
The book's first "part" (350 pages in) was all about the world building, setting up the scene and the ambience of the novel. While it was interesting, nothing really grabbed me after the first 50 pages (in part one). I think that's mainly due to the fact that I wasn't really connecting to the characters much.
But then we got to part 2 and all of a sudden, I understood why this book got so much praise.
The book's slower beginning makes up for everything it lacked in part 2 where all the plot twists happen and all the loose ends are tied up. All of a sudden, we got that closeness/connection we wanted from the characters and I started to really enjoy my journey with this book.
Where Gabriel started off as a stoic-sort of character, by the end of the book you see just how much he has been through. Honestly, I didn't expect that ending though which I won't get into for spoilers reasons but it made me understand his character and everything he's been through. I love it when books come full circle and all the pieces of the puzzle come together, not just plot wise but character wise too.
I also liked Dior though admittedly not as much as Gabriel. I've been told book 2 follows this character as well as another so I'll be excited to discover more about Dior as the series progresses. Also, I absolutely loved the bromance between Aaron, Baptiste and Gabriel and it honestly elevated the book so much! I'm excited to see them all again in Empire of the Damned.
This book was unlike any other books I've read before: it was dark, moody, bloody and hugely atmospheric and while I've read darker fantasy before, none were as gothic as this one. It also was the thickest book I've read in a long time, which for a person like me who read 300-400 paged books, this was basically double my regular length. That being said though, I would be very excited to read book two and I hope Gabriel gets his revenge on Voss. He really has been through hell and back.
ACTUAL RATING: 4.4 STARS
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and War
amy_reading_23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book broke me. It is the best vampire book I've read in ages. I really didn't expect it to be this good.
It's about Gabriel De Lion, a dhampir recounting his life to a vampire who has him imprisoned. He focuses on two tales, the one of his upbringing and the one of the adventure leading him here. Just when one tale comes to a cliffhanger he switches to the other.
I really enjoyed Gabriel's character. He is a destructive mixture of cynical, sad, fearless and hopeful, a man having lived an incredibly hard life. But although the book has dark and sad moments, he tells his story with humour and I couldn't get enough of it.
There were some bits I was unsure of, that made me a bit uncomfortable. E.g. I don't know why Kristoff felt the need to write such explicit sex scenes between teenagers in an adult fantasy book. That felt unessecary and having heard some criticisms of his other books I do have to wonder why he chose to do that. But other than that, the book was great and I'll be thinking about it for a while.
It's about Gabriel De Lion, a dhampir recounting his life to a vampire who has him imprisoned. He focuses on two tales, the one of his upbringing and the one of the adventure leading him here. Just when one tale comes to a cliffhanger he switches to the other.
I really enjoyed Gabriel's character. He is a destructive mixture of cynical, sad, fearless and hopeful, a man having lived an incredibly hard life. But although the book has dark and sad moments, he tells his story with humour and I couldn't get enough of it.
There were some bits I was unsure of, that made me a bit uncomfortable. E.g. I don't know why Kristoff felt the need to write such explicit sex scenes between teenagers in an adult fantasy book. That felt unessecary and having heard some criticisms of his other books I do have to wonder why he chose to do that. But other than that, the book was great and I'll be thinking about it for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
blackcoffeebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Violence
simmich429's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
starts off very slow but SOOOO worth it. can’t wait for the book 2 to come out
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
weasleys_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
I suck at reviews, sorry in advance.
Took me three months, but I loved this book! This was my first Jay Kristoff book, and to be honest, I wasn't really sure I was liking the writing style in the beginning. I started to change my mind once I got to know the characters more, and actually started to care about the story. The entire book was action packed, and the characters were beautifully written. I can't wait for the next one! I loved everything about this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Sexual content
faefolkreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Gore, and Grief
januaryt123'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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Abandonment
yyooh17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
“Hearts only bruise. They never break”
Well mine certainly feels pretty broken right now. It’s certainly gone through alot TT
I fell in love with ALL the characters, nearly cried a few times and actually cried more than that.
The book intertwines 2 plots, his past at San Michon and years later as a man. These are linked through the 3rd plot which is the present day. The majority of the book is a retelling of the past.
As you read more, previous brief comments begin to make more sense and have a deeper meaning and you gradually understand why Mr MC is the way he is. I’d say try not to gloss over any details because it WILL be relevant later on.
Jay Kristoff appears to have gone to a writers workshop and applied EVERY PIECE OF ADVICE EVER, but better. Anything I could ask for in a book is here.
The illustrations are also gorgeous and really add to the descriptions in the novel.
I will add that there is quite alot of gore, violence and religious horror, however, in my opinion that is a staple of vampire fiction so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
I fell in love with ALL the characters, nearly cried a few times and actually cried more than that.
The book intertwines 2 plots, his past at San Michon and years later as a man. These are linked through the 3rd plot which is the present day. The majority of the book is a retelling of the past.
As you read more, previous brief comments begin to make more sense and have a deeper meaning and you gradually understand why Mr MC is the way he is. I’d say try not to gloss over any details because it WILL be relevant later on.
Jay Kristoff appears to have gone to a writers workshop and applied EVERY PIECE OF ADVICE EVER, but better. Anything I could ask for in a book is here.
The illustrations are also gorgeous and really add to the descriptions in the novel.
I will add that there is quite alot of gore, violence and religious horror, however, in my opinion that is a staple of vampire fiction so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Religious bigotry
el_pender's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Outing
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism