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betweentheshelves's review against another edition
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
3.5
I actually had no idea what I was getting into when I picked this one up, just needed a queer vampire book for one of my reading challenges for the year. And I've enjoyed some of Chupeco's YA fantasy, so I was interested in seeing her foray into the adult fantasy world. For the most part, I wasn't disappointed!
There is some excellent romantic chemistry between the three main characters, and I liked the detective/mystery energy that the rot investigation brought. I do think overall, the book is a little longer than it needs to be because it feels like it drags a bit at the end. There's a pretty good hook for the sequel, so I might actually pick that one up to see where the story goes next!
There is some excellent romantic chemistry between the three main characters, and I liked the detective/mystery energy that the rot investigation brought. I do think overall, the book is a little longer than it needs to be because it feels like it drags a bit at the end. There's a pretty good hook for the sequel, so I might actually pick that one up to see where the story goes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, and Pregnancy
ibadella's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-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
3.75
I wanted to like this more than i did? the writing and worldbuilding are a bit weak and i found the love story a bit frustrating. as a polyamorous love story i think it doesn’t avoid the most common pitfalls of poly representation, which occasionally creates an interesting tension but mostly feels repetitive and annoying; however, as a coming out story i think there’s some nice (uhh relatable) arcs. and at the end of the day… gay polyamorous vampires. i can’t be too upset.
i felt like i waited most of the book forremy to fuck the vampires and then when he finally did it was like… okay?? and what else?? idk. lots of miscommunication and misunderstanding as plot that wasn’t super convincing and i spent a lot of the book feeling bad for remy for essentially being unicorn hunted in a very confusing and overwhelming way. also felt like the characters spent a lot of time talking about consent and then did not do consent anyway i WILL be reading the sequel and i AM emotionally attached to the characters now and i HOPE the poly romance problems are explored more in a productive narrative way and also that every one is gay and happy :)
i felt like i waited most of the book for
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Murder, and War
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
trying_ceratops's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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
Loved this book! Definitely a romantasy book but the plot was what really drove the book, while the romance was also an integral part to how the story moved forward. I’m giving it 4 🌶️ for spice still as the scenes are very detailed but not the majority of the book.
The lgbtq+ representation was well done, especially as one character discovers part of themself in that community.
The story has political intrigue but there’s a ton of action to balance that out. There are lots of twists and foreshadowing that you don’t see coming until revealed.
The best part was how the author handled situations that are often tropes. I would expect a scene to go one direction because of that but the writing would handle it in a way that shows the characters maturing and opening up to each other.
The lgbtq+ representation was well done, especially as one character discovers part of themself in that community.
The story has political intrigue but there’s a ton of action to balance that out. There are lots of twists and foreshadowing that you don’t see coming until revealed.
The best part was how the author handled situations that are often tropes. I would expect a scene to go one direction because of that but the writing would handle it in a way that shows the characters maturing and opening up to each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, War, and Classism
erintempleton's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
three words i would use to describe this book, in no particular order: trauma, tension, and soup. there is an abundance of all three, which i will discuss below.
Trauma - these characters, especially our dear sweet Remington, have massive amounts of unresolved trauma, and it was a rollercoaster ride the whole time, albeit a pretty carefully realistic one. it never felt like Remy's experiences were shallow or trivial, and i really appreciated the way that Zidan and Xiaodan help him unlearn some of the harmful messages he was taught from childhood. A++ for that.
Tension - i mean this not only as sexual tension but also just plain suspense and court intrigue. there is so much to be drawn in by, and the narration really hooked me from the beginning. i'm a huge sucker for an outsider MC who uses humor as a coping mechanism, as it always lends itself to learning about the 'inside' world in non-obvious/cheesy ways. With the introduction of Zidan and Xiaodan, Remy's whole outsider bit gets flipped on its head, and it was really enjoyable to watch him struggle with that intimacy by fighting it the whole time.
the sexual tension was GREAT too, i just wish that their first time together would have been different:/ the way it was all wrapped up inRemy's immediate need for healing and the weird connection between ingesting vampire blood, healing, and horniness kinda spoiled the momentum for me. Just left a weird taste in my mouth, that's all, especially considering Remy's understandable wariness with manipulation and sex.
Soup - this might seem odd, but i noticed that 'soup-like' was an unusually common description here. in chapter six, specifically, it's used like three times in the span of ten or so pages?? so i just kept tracking it, and it came up a couple other times too. idk, it just struck me as a weird thing to say about fog or a dead monster. maybe Remy just really likes soup.
Ultimately, i'm giving this a 3.5 rating. It was really well done and exciting, but i don't think i'll read it again, as it was (imo) a bit too painful at times to read Remy's inner monologue about not being worthy of love. fans of Gideon the Ninth would probably really love this book, if that helps, and i would recommend it to anyone who can get on board with the content warnings! there are a lot of them, or there should be, so just be aware.
Trauma - these characters, especially our dear sweet Remington, have massive amounts of unresolved trauma, and it was a rollercoaster ride the whole time, albeit a pretty carefully realistic one. it never felt like Remy's experiences were shallow or trivial, and i really appreciated the way that Zidan and Xiaodan help him unlearn some of the harmful messages he was taught from childhood. A++ for that.
Tension - i mean this not only as sexual tension but also just plain suspense and court intrigue. there is so much to be drawn in by, and the narration really hooked me from the beginning. i'm a huge sucker for an outsider MC who uses humor as a coping mechanism, as it always lends itself to learning about the 'inside' world in non-obvious/cheesy ways. With the introduction of Zidan and Xiaodan, Remy's whole outsider bit gets flipped on its head, and it was really enjoyable to watch him struggle with that intimacy by fighting it the whole time.
the sexual tension was GREAT too, i just wish that their first time together would have been different:/ the way it was all wrapped up in
Soup - this might seem odd, but i noticed that 'soup-like' was an unusually common description here. in chapter six, specifically, it's used like three times in the span of ten or so pages?? so i just kept tracking it, and it came up a couple other times too. idk, it just struck me as a weird thing to say about fog or a dead monster. maybe Remy just really likes soup.
Ultimately, i'm giving this a 3.5 rating. It was really well done and exciting, but i don't think i'll read it again, as it was (imo) a bit too painful at times to read Remy's inner monologue about not being worthy of love. fans of Gideon the Ninth would probably really love this book, if that helps, and i would recommend it to anyone who can get on board with the content warnings! there are a lot of them, or there should be, so just be aware.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
its_vendetta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
AFBSBFSHBF God when is it my turn to fall in love with a vampire couple???? But seriously Remy could never catch a break in this book. The plot was very compelling.
Contrary to other reviewsm I understood the worldbuilding pretty easily. Not sure why that's a problem for others, but its a cool world I enjoyed the book a lot!!
Contrary to other reviewsm I understood the worldbuilding pretty easily. Not sure why that's a problem for others, but its a cool world I enjoyed the book a lot!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Stalking
adult/minor and sexual harassment is not between main pairings and is mostly past and just referencedcasey05's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol
fayeelizabeth's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Trafficking
books_005's review
adventurous
challenging
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
honeycupreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
My first read for the 2024 Trans Rights Readathon!
I really enjoyed this book! I love these characters so much especially Remy. Remy is a such a wonderful character I was instantly attached to him. His struggles with his past, feeling as though he owes his father everything, the way he feels that no one loves him without needing something from him in return. My heart hurt for him immensely.
The only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is because of Zidan and Remys back and forth. How many times were really necessary to try and put something between them? I get it, in a way, it benefited Zidan and Remys characters to show some of their biggest flaws but at the same time it was kinda frustrating to watch it happen multiple times.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read the sequel!
I really enjoyed this book! I love these characters so much especially Remy. Remy is a such a wonderful character I was instantly attached to him. His struggles with his past, feeling as though he owes his father everything, the way he feels that no one loves him without needing something from him in return. My heart hurt for him immensely.
The only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is because of Zidan and Remys back and forth. How many times were really necessary to try and put something between them? I get it, in a way, it benefited Zidan and Remys characters to show some of their biggest flaws but at the same time it was kinda frustrating to watch it happen multiple times.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, and Pregnancy
takarakei's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.5
(re-read on audio) [ The audio narration was ok, not a ton of differentiation between the main characters when speaking which sometimes made it hard to follow]
WE NEED MORE BOOKS WITH THROUPLES!!!
WE NEED MORE BOOKS WITH THROUPLES!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent