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crayolabooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It became more of a romance than I expected and some things happened very fast. I am interested in reading the second book and seeing how things play out!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Medical content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
alexirose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
amberlfaris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and War
boooooooks321's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and War
sonlight21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! I found the show first and binged the whole first season within two days. When I found out they were books I got my hands on a copy as soon as I could.
For me this book felt like when you find Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or The Spider wick Chronicles for the first time. It is a deep immersive world that doesn't destroy you with world building but slowly introduces more and more aspects of the magic place you have entered as you journey through the story, it reveals small pieces of itself as you go along, like some ancient fossil you are digging up from the ground.
The characters in the book are wonderful! Each character is a fully flushed out individual of their own. Even the "un-important" background characters (exmp. caffeine frenzy daemon) have their own personality and story. The characters change and grown in response to their surroundings and experiences. They are not stones, unmoving, they are alive and energetic.
One thing I did not love was the amount of characters that very randomly showed up for a few moments and then disappeared but were INCREDABLY integral to the plot. It was not that they felt flat or random but rather that I desired to know and understand more of the character and what role they played before they left. I wanted more time with them on page and in interactions. However the book is BURTSTING to the brim with characters each one deep and rich in their own right so I understand why some got such little time in the light (the book was 579 pages haha I am not sure it could have handled more).
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book though there are parts I didn't love and some aspects I am sure I missed. I will say I think the show does the book justice and in some ways adds to the experience and grows the world more.
For me this book felt like when you find Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or The Spider wick Chronicles for the first time. It is a deep immersive world that doesn't destroy you with world building but slowly introduces more and more aspects of the magic place you have entered as you journey through the story, it reveals small pieces of itself as you go along, like some ancient fossil you are digging up from the ground.
The characters in the book are wonderful! Each character is a fully flushed out individual of their own. Even the "un-important" background characters (exmp. caffeine frenzy daemon) have their own personality and story. The characters change and grown in response to their surroundings and experiences. They are not stones, unmoving, they are alive and energetic.
One thing I did not love was the amount of characters that very randomly showed up for a few moments and then disappeared but were INCREDABLY integral to the plot. It was not that they felt flat or random but rather that I desired to know and understand more of the character and what role they played before they left. I wanted more time with them on page and in interactions. However the book is BURTSTING to the brim with characters each one deep and rich in their own right so I understand why some got such little time in the light (the book was 579 pages haha I am not sure it could have handled more).
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book though there are parts I didn't love and some aspects I am sure I missed. I will say I think the show does the book justice and in some ways adds to the experience and grows the world more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and War
fkshg8465's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
If I wasn’t a vegetarian, I think I might like trying to be a vampire. 😂😂😂😂
I couldn’t put this down. In fact, I was so mad that I had to go to sleep at all, and it was already almost 4 am when I finally gave into my slumber. Had no idea it had been made into a TV show until I was well into the book and read it in someone else’s review while making dinner last night. Now I’ve got to figure out how to stream it while waiting for the second book to come off my holds shelf on Libby.
I couldn’t put this down. In fact, I was so mad that I had to go to sleep at all, and it was already almost 4 am when I finally gave into my slumber. Had no idea it had been made into a TV show until I was well into the book and read it in someone else’s review while making dinner last night. Now I’ve got to figure out how to stream it while waiting for the second book to come off my holds shelf on Libby.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lakeofstars's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
if you take away the extremely toxic romance, then there's a good story set in a Really interesting universe here. i adored the weaving of history, science, and magic, the fact that it focuses on two scholars, and that there's a big underlying mystery that actually requires the expertise of said scholars (a geneticist and a historian) to unwind. but then, all of it is shaped around a stupid, disgusting, unhealthy romance, and that ruins it all for me. matthew, the male lead, is extremely possessive, controlling, and manipulative towards diana, the female lead. he controls her every move, location, and even the people she can interact with. all of this is excused because he is a vampire who “can’t control his instincts” and has lived longer and therefore “knows what is best.” beyond the distastefulness of such a love interest being romanticized, i personally think that the concept of characters “just being born violently possessive and controlling, they can’t help it!” is… weird at best and bioessentialist at worst. i get it, he’s a vampire, they’re not meant to be sweet and cuddly, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when such toxic behaviors are not only excused, but defended within the text. it works in horror stories like carmilla (which was MILD compared to the way matthew treats diana sometimes), not in regular romances where we are expected to take such “boys will be boys”-esque excuses at face value. at least it seems like all vampires in this universe have these instincts, not just the males, which would make things significantly more problematic. but that doesn’t mean i’m ever going to accept that matthew’s abusive treatment of diana is “romantic.” additionally, i didn’t like matthew as a character. even beyond the toxicity, he was not nearly as charming as the author clearly wanted us to believe that he was. the amount of times i audibly scoffed because he was throwing another tantrum (a 1500-year-old man, btw), saying something that was supposed to be suave but felt cringey, or insisting his privacy was more important than diana’s was abysmal.
also- ironically, considering the entire basis of her character is that she was forging her own path- diana had NO agency at any point. whether it was finding out her op magic had been guiding her all along, matthew dictating her every action, or other characters swooping in and saving her any time she is about to have to fend for herself, she doesn't DO anything!! oh, except for have a five-paragraph internal soliloquy about mundane activities like exercising or preparing tea every other page. thankfully, she does investigate a lot of things herself, but believe me when i say you have to trudge through chapters of her doing busywork and either thinking about or being bossed around by matthew before you get to see it. i don’t mind an overpowered MC if they’re written well, which i hoped diana would be, but she ended up being a typical mary sue who, despite being described as incredibly headstrong and independent, constantly bends to the will of and needs to be saved by the big strong male lead. i wish that this book was just about her because before she started dating matthew and everything came crashing down, i found her characterization and gradual acclimation to her new abilities to be compelling.
but all of that aside, this book’s greatest sin is that it was boring. i was BORED reading a book about solving mysteries, about magic, about witches and daemons and vampires, about history, about science, about alchemy- about so many things i normally love. the novel barely focused on what made it interesting to me in the first place. it made what should have been high stakes seem inconsequential, considering the characters barely paid them any mind most of the time. if this author wanted to write a contemporary romance where a witch and a vampire drink wine and do yoga, then she could have written exactly that instead of sidelining the plot. the imbalance between the romance (notice how i didn’t say relationship development? that’s because there was barely any transition between “i trust him i guess” and “i’m in love with him and we are basically married”) and the main story was severe, and while this may not be a problem for someone who enjoys the romance genre more (and who can stomach such a problematic dynamic), it was a major turn off for me. a book can absolutely be primarily a romance without neglecting the rest of the plot, but unfortunately that was not the case here. and suddenly, at around the 80% mark, the author seemed to remember all of the other plot threads she had neglected and rushed to provide answers that should have been built up throughout the middle section of the novel. Love That!
tl;dr: pros- atmosphere, language/prose, worldbuilding (for the first half, at least). cons- pacing, character writing, relationships
- this was originally going to be 2 stars, but i looked at the other books i gave that rating to and this is definitely worse than them. so... here we are.
- this was originally going to be 2 stars, but i looked at the other books i gave that rating to and this is definitely worse than them. so... here we are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Grief
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy
infusionofviolets's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Pregnancy, and War
cgward00's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
DNF at 84%
I should've paid more attention to the dozens of content warnings this book has: around 78% the book revealed that the trilogy is actually all about pregnancy and how the three supernatural races are meant to begin interbreeding. Pregnancy is a deal-breaker in books for me. A shame since I otherwise enjoyed the characters and vaguely historio-supernatural vibes even if some of it was a bit one-note at times.
I should've paid more attention to the dozens of content warnings this book has: around 78% the book revealed that the trilogy is actually all about pregnancy and how the three supernatural races are meant to begin interbreeding. Pregnancy is a deal-breaker in books for me. A shame since I otherwise enjoyed the characters and vaguely historio-supernatural vibes even if some of it was a bit one-note at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pregnancy
emmasiporatyler's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
My rating is probably skewed because it took me a million years to read this book! But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it!! I think it was just a first-time kindle user thing. A friend pitched it to me as “Twilight but if Bella had agency” and they were so right! I loved the academic setting, the unique types of sorcery, and of course the romance. At times the plot/their relationship felt choppy for me but that might have been because of my reading habits. Starting from about halfway through onward I was HOOKED and I will definitely be finishing the series at some point in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Blood, and War
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders