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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
kaylamullarkey's review
3.5
Remy was hilarious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
beepsies's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
First off, I loved the premise of this book! I'm here for vampires, for intrigue, for monsters, and science, and for a juicy bisexual triad! To say nothing of my penchant for a brooding hero learning what it's like to be Liked and Valued as a person! I found the plot entertaining and the writing to be enjoyable.
However, this book took me ages to get through because I just didn't gel with the MC. I felt really good about him in the beginning -- he's been through a Lot, so it makes a lot of sense that he's deeply mistrustful. It makes a lot of sense that he doesn't know how to work in a team, that he doubts peoples intentions, that when a beautiful woman is sincere and kind to him that he latches onto her, and that he has a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of progression from time to time. He is, however, very stupid (bless him).
I got frustrated with him failing over and over to put two and two together, to the point where I wondered how he managed to survive for so long in such a precarious environment. He seemed so capable when he was introduced -- damaged, sure, but skilled at his craft. As the story went on, though, I felt like he got more and more out of his depth to the point where when he's able to hold his own in a fight it came as a surprise to me.
That's a matter of personal taste, though, and I'd still recommend it to anybody hankering for a vampire story.
However, this book took me ages to get through because I just didn't gel with the MC. I felt really good about him in the beginning -- he's been through a Lot, so it makes a lot of sense that he's deeply mistrustful. It makes a lot of sense that he doesn't know how to work in a team, that he doubts peoples intentions, that when a beautiful woman is sincere and kind to him that he latches onto her, and that he has a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of progression from time to time. He is, however, very stupid (bless him).
I got frustrated with him failing over and over to put two and two together, to the point where I wondered how he managed to survive for so long in such a precarious environment. He seemed so capable when he was introduced -- damaged, sure, but skilled at his craft. As the story went on, though, I felt like he got more and more out of his depth to the point where when he's able to hold his own in a fight it came as a surprise to me.
That's a matter of personal taste, though, and I'd still recommend it to anybody hankering for a vampire story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Xenophobia
just_one_more_paige's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The publisher reached out to me about this one, to see if I'd be interested in a NetGalley eARC of this one. While I actually normally do not say yes to too many of those offers, mainly because my NetGalley feedback percentage is already abysmal, and I have so many other things I want to read that I'm usually sure I won't get around to it in a timely fashion, this one did sound really good. We all know I'm a suck for a vampire situation. Haha. And standalone adult fantasy is tough to come by. So...I decided to give it a try. And I had already started this year with a couple pretty heavy contemporary lit reads, so this kind of escapism was exactly what I needed.
Remy Pendergast is a very well-known and extremely successful [rogue] vampire hunter, if not a particularly popular one (what with his father's terrible reputation and the rumors about his mother's relationships leading many to question if he is half-vampire himself). When Remy is sent out to hunt down a new, and especially terrifying, breed of vampire, he crosses paths with some others who have the same goal. Xiaodan Song is a vampire heiress with a uniquely terrifying (for vampires) gift and her partner, Zidan Malekh, is an ancient and powerful vampire lord. When the two request that he join them in their efforts to hunt down the source of the virus that is causing this horrible new vampire mutation (dubbed "the Rot"), he decides to go with them, despite myriad reservations about associating with vampires that closely. As the three spend time together, Remy learns not just more about his own family's reputation and history, but about himself as well. As the mystery around the Rot unfolds, he realizes that he hasn't been told the full story by his father. And his complicated growing feelings towards Xiaodan *and* Zidan might, in fact, be reciprocated by both.
Well, I am on an unexpected roll (decidedly not purposeful, but I'm very much not complaining) with polyamorous vampire reads. Though while A Dowry of Blood leaned more dark romance, this one was definitely more vampire/creature hunting horror. However, there were some really great threesome scenes once we finally got to that section in this book. And I mean finally, because let me tell you, the slow burn and sexual tension was real. It was drawn out and teasing in the best way. And, while it isn't usually my favorite romance/steam aspect, I did think the dirty talk/innuendo (well, let me be clear, I love innuendo, I am less into direct dirty talk, but anyways...) was great. Overall, definitely the highlight of this read, at least for me, was the relationship amongst Remy, Xiaodan and Zidan - their interactions physically and verbally were all great, unique to whether it's one-on-one in any combination or all three together. (Side note, there was lots of swearing in this very casually written
I also really enjoyed the general storyline. While some things were maybe not as clear as they could have been, especially regarding the drop straight into the details of the human and vampire courts from the beginning, with a bit less exposition than might have been necessary, I eventually got caught up in the story enough to push through and more or less get a handle on things. And I liked the overarching mystery-solving/investigation framework for the plot. It was a major part of what helped me push through some of the more convoluted world-building things, because at the very least I was following the mystery parts. And while there were some definite horror aspects, in the way the new vampire-types were able to regenerate (and the descriptions of some of their visual impacts were pretty visceral), it was a low key enough paranormal horror that it was fine for me (a big horror scaredy-cat). There were also some super creepy aspects, like the mind control pieces and very young vampires, that gave me icky feels or shivers, but with enough removal from reality to not be too much. As far as how the mystery wrapped up...I can't say it was a total surprise. At a certain point, it felt like the only possible "solution." But it was still satisfying to read.
Finally, I know this was an ARC variation, so hopefully some further editing was done before final publication, but it definitely did feel a bit unfinished. Like, some lack of smoothness in the language, weird transitions in some of the dialogue that occasionally made it feel like there were some lines missing, and a few details here and there that might have made the world/plot feel more tangible...just an overall sense of distance was created by this somewhat slippery reading experience. And don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it overall (and loved the relationship pieces), but in getting into some of the more specific (nit-picky ish) review points, there were some finer aspects that left something to be desired.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
vigil's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
note: all my ratings are subjective but this one especially so. my personal enjoyment pushed it to a four-ish, but in technical quality i think it settles around a 3.5.
i have my fair share of issues about this book, but everytime i wasn't reading it, i was thinking about reading it. i never had a bad moment with this book, despite many warning that it starts to hit it's stride 20% into it. i was invested from page one essentially.
for my critiques, i'll say there is the issue with repetitive word choice, (there's only so many times i can read the word attractive) prose that definitely has it roots in YA despite being an adult book, and too much telling rather than showing in the romance. i think was written for zidan and remy, along with what has been set up for them is great, both individually and character wise. the same unfortunately cannot quite be said for xiaodan, who i feel got the short end of the stick. i know that she likes remy, and her fiance, i know several objective facts about her, but very little beyond that. that lack of interiority unfortunately spread to the relationship somewhat, leaving me fine with her interactions with her love interests, but never truly satisfied in the same way remy and malekh's do. however, this is the first book in what i presume to be a series, and that i expect that there will be more on xiaodan, especially with the events of the ending, a part of the book that really stood out for me.
that's not to say i didn't enjoy the relationship, because i absolutely did. they were always engaging to have on page, and i don't have any specific complaints about them (aside from the issue with xiaodan above). more fantasy authors should include sex scenes in their books.
plotwise, i had a fun time. i think this book would work excellent in a graphic novel or animation format because of how high-action it was. the rot plotline was a good opener for the series,but i wasn't sad to read the offhanded mention of it being neutralized in the ending. it's a perfect book one plot, but i think i'd be annoyed seeing it be carried into book two, as all the threads and theories surrounding it were solved, or deliberately and explicitly shelved for the sequel. the book achieved what it set out to accomplish and didn't overwhelm me with side-plots. the high-action makes the pacing seem faster than it was, but the plot unfolded at a steady medium pace that worked just right for the book in my opinion.
i have my fair share of issues about this book, but everytime i wasn't reading it, i was thinking about reading it. i never had a bad moment with this book, despite many warning that it starts to hit it's stride 20% into it. i was invested from page one essentially.
for my critiques, i'll say there is the issue with repetitive word choice, (there's only so many times i can read the word attractive) prose that definitely has it roots in YA despite being an adult book, and too much telling rather than showing in the romance. i think was written for zidan and remy, along with what has been set up for them is great, both individually and character wise. the same unfortunately cannot quite be said for xiaodan, who i feel got the short end of the stick. i know that she likes remy, and her fiance, i know several objective facts about her, but very little beyond that. that lack of interiority unfortunately spread to the relationship somewhat, leaving me fine with her interactions with her love interests, but never truly satisfied in the same way remy and malekh's do. however, this is the first book in what i presume to be a series, and that i expect that there will be more on xiaodan, especially with the events of the ending, a part of the book that really stood out for me.
that's not to say i didn't enjoy the relationship, because i absolutely did. they were always engaging to have on page, and i don't have any specific complaints about them (aside from the issue with xiaodan above). more fantasy authors should include sex scenes in their books.
plotwise, i had a fun time. i think this book would work excellent in a graphic novel or animation format because of how high-action it was. the rot plotline was a good opener for the series,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ashlikes's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Vomit, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I enjoyed this one, however I do have some criticism:
- I wish the narrator were either of Filipino or Chinese descent, just like the author, as the pronunciation of some names sounded a bit weird;
- the romance blooming between the main trio was mainly told rather than shown, especially in its early stages. I think the author should have explored the feelings between the trio, or at least Remy's, instead of rushing the whole thing;
- the pacing was a bit uneven;
All in all I enjoyed myself a lot while reading this one, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape
catsandbookstacks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Reread on audio prior to book 2. Loved it even more. The way I CACKLED.
---
Bloody, sensual and thrilling! I totally vouch for this being a comp to Castlevania! The worldbuilding was easy to wrap my head around human and vampire courts. The humour is absolutely on point and counterbalances the court politics and detective mystery aspects
Remy is a headstrong run into death situations and think later person. I loved his acceptance of Xiaodan and Zidan, and the slow burn was totally worth it.
Can't wait for the next book!
Read if you like:
- Human and vampire court politics
- Family and revenge
- Beheadings and monsters
- A badass weapon
- Slow burn
- Poly throuple
- Sass and innuendo
- Asshole men in positions of authority
- Discovering a sense of belonging and self worth
---
Bloody, sensual and thrilling! I totally vouch for this being a comp to Castlevania! The worldbuilding was easy to wrap my head around human and vampire courts. The humour is absolutely on point and counterbalances the court politics and detective mystery aspects
Remy is a headstrong run into death situations and think later person. I loved his acceptance of Xiaodan and Zidan, and the slow burn was totally worth it.
Can't wait for the next book!
Read if you like:
- Human and vampire court politics
- Family and revenge
- Beheadings and monsters
- A badass weapon
- Slow burn
- Poly throuple
- Sass and innuendo
- Asshole men in positions of authority
- Discovering a sense of belonging and self worth
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
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