Reviews with content warning for Grief - Das Reich der Vampire

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Das Reich der Vampire by Jay Kristoff

60 reviews

booksalacarte's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Empire of the vampire- 4.75⭐️ 3🌶️

Epic Fantasy

Vampires

Catholic inspired religion

Storytelling style narration

Confinement

Secret society

War

🏳️‍🌈 side characters

Tw: addiction, homofobia

To break it down to the bare minimal… this was an interview with the vampire styled story with dual timelines and a flawed MC. The story was slow, as journeying can be, but entertaining the whole time.

So often male authors, choose to sanitize the softer emotions in their books, to push the physical. Moving the plot forward for the glory and the heroism of their main character. As a woman, the more sterilized approach to emotion in men’s writing, tends to turn me away…

This book is anything but emotionally sterile. I found myself enjoying the emotional and spiritual journey of the main character and the friendships and bonds created and broken.

There were so many plot twists. Character flaws were aplenty.

I must have the humor of a 14 year old boy, because some of the insults and jokes had me chuckling.

The things that I didn’t enjoy include misogyny standard to European medieval feudalism centered around religious orthodoxy. If you thought a book that was inspired by medieval Catholic Europe was going to be without it being present, I don’t know what to tell you. But it’s there, it’s never fun to have to read in excess. But it’s an adult fantasy, with cursing and I get it.

Bad guys as pedophiles. Yup. Tracks. But the other underage sexualization was not great. A lot of times this is used as a chance to show how disgusting the enemy is. And it’s just gross all around… even when the MC is underage.

I am so looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Content Warnings

freckleface3's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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pacifickat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

"We'd fought side by side [...], and like I said, there's a bond between men who have placed their lives in a brother's hands and asked that brother to do the same. But there's fanaticism, too. There's faith unbridled and minds unquestioning, the soldier at the order of his commander, the faithful at the word of their priest. [...] My brother trusted me not so much as once he had."

Ok, so first off, my big beef with Kristoff as a writer:

He seems to have ripped off major elements of other writers and creators, such as

- The whole holy grail being a decendent of the Christ figure is directly from Dan Brown's DaVinci Code.

- There is a scene with a priest that directly copies Steven King's Salem's Lot, at times nearly verbatim.

- The D&D references, including meeting the party in a tavern and their stereotypical qualities by class made me chuckle and shake my head. It's just silliness.

- The back maybe quarter of this book is straight up The Last of Us, including the supposed safehaven the teenage girl is delivered to wanting to kill her to end the vampire scourge, and our MC busting in and killing everyone to save her.

-Ashdrinker reminds me a lot of Sanderson's crazy talking sword, Nightblood. Obviously talking named swords have been around in fantasy for a while, it's just that this particular sword who is a bit unhinged feels a bit too familiar at times.

-The whole aged and broken chosen one/king killer telling his story to a chronicler over 3 books is very simikar to the structure of Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles.

Do readers who adore this book simply not recognize all the glaringly obvious borrowed plot elements, or do they enjoy the references and not mind that it makes the storyline easy to anticipate? I felt like this blunted what probably should have been the most surprising plot twists, and saw several big reveals coming a mile away, somewhat gobsmacked the author would so directly pull from other books and media. When I described some of these overlaps with other works to my husband, he asked if I thought the book was partially written by AI. (I don't believe it was, but that would exlpain the number of things pulled from existing sources.)

I also didn't really like how sanguimancy was never really explained other than it fixes a lot of problems in a pinch in the story. Feels very convenient, a very squishy element of the magic system.

Now, on to things I liked:

In the end, I still very much enjoyed the audiobook. The audio narrator did a brilliant job bringing the characters to life with various distinct accents and voice intonations. I honestly probably would have given up on the book otherwise due to all of the seeming copy/paste from works of other creators and the subsequent predictability of the storyline.

I know the author doesn't like the term, but the story is grimdark through and through, meaning no good and noble deed goes unpunished. I like what this kind of story says about those who do good in a bleak world in spite of great personal cost. Kindness and mercy are only extended at great risk. I think this is one of the most compelling things about EotV. Allowing oneself to love takes the greatest sort of courage.

I liked how Kristoff used this dark and bloody setting to explore ideas about faith, fate, fidelity, fanaticism, family, friendship, and the stubborn endurance of hope. (I know, that last one should have started with F as well.) There are elements of the One Faith, the book's thinly veiled version of Christianity, that are just as dark and frightening as the impending vampire invasion: a torturous inquisition, corporal punishments, acts of violence in the name of blind faith, fidelity to the cruel teachings and practices of church leaders, fanatical interpretations of scriptures and prophecies, and an underlying religious lore that makes sacrificing individuals for the sake of the whole an acceptable and honorable wager (in the pattern of the Christ figure they call the Redeemer). This is a world of characters caught between a rock and a hard place, each deciding what to do in the face of their humanity becoming a liability. What will they hope in? What hill will they die on? Who/what will they sacrifice for redemption? This is where the book is at its best.

The best action sequence imo was

when Gabriel falls through the ice. To me, it was much more tense and scary than any if the vampire fights, perhaps because it was the most realistic life-threatening event in the story. He can basically bounce back from anything else, but drowning in a fozen river is legitimately terrifying.

.

I wish that

Liathe had been an embodied form of Ashdrinker.

Yeah, I don't know exactly how that would have worked, but I think it would've been cool and I could see a few ways it could have been achieved.

Anyways, that's my meandering review on this 27+ hour listen. I will likely listen to book 2 next month.

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bookscatsandtats's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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rileyrhey's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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kbc_dino's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

An enjoyable ride from start to finish. I can't wait until the next one!!

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garrettcz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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jsherwood's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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

This is a fantastic story of love and loss, hope and damnation. It is incredibly told through the voice of Gabriel de León. Throughout his story you learn of his greatest triumphs as well as his greatest heartbreak. A stellar read.

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avialaeleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

Spoilers ahead read at your own risk.

I can see why a lot of people have issues with this book but I quite enjoyed the read. I do think that it dragged on for a long time and could have possibly been more than one book, but otherwise I like the story and the characters. I wished sometimes that Jean-François would shut up and let Gabriel tell his story in his own time, but I also understand why he does interrupt and ask questions and sort of guides Gabriels storytelling.

I like that instead of us readers finding out everything as it is happening we are being told a story of Gabriels life until that point from the man himself. More like someone reminiscing on the past and sharing "war stories" of their youth to their friends and families years after the fact.

I love how you love, hate, fight and grow as Gabriel does during his story telling. You see the man that he currently is but you also see how he came to be that man. You see the friendships made and the friends lost, whether that be to their own missguidance or to the perials of their world. You learn everything that he has gone through from his own perspective not as he might have see it at the time it happened but as someone who is looking back and maybe just a bit wiser because of it.

I cried and yelled and laughed throughout his story. And I can't wait until the next boon come out and we can learn more of his story and how he came to be locked in a tower forced to tell his story to Jean-François.

Also the banter between Dior and Gabriel is *chef kiss*. I can't wait for more of that and also to figure out why Gabriel yalks as if though she is dead or no longer around. I am not sure if my heart can handle learning that she is dead. Much like I died learning the Celene is not dead but Dead and somehow and Anchien Vampire. Not sure how that happened in only 15ish years, from my understanding Anchien vampires are much older but maybe I'm wrong *shrugs*.

I am giving this a 4.25 mostly because I was annoyed that when we would finally be picking up pace in the story Jean-François would interrupt and change the direction of the story telling. Resetting it back to a slow/medium pace. Otherwise it would be a 5 star read. Love the characters, setting, plot, development and between the beautifully crafted and made up phrases all of the characters used I was always entertained whilst reading.

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novelty_reads's review against another edition

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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

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