“You still kicking around? If you don’t make tracks and fast, I’m gonna have to run you down and kill you.” (Leila to D, 494)

“This isn’t a job for women. When it gets to the point you enjoy stalking your prey, that’s proof that you’re not a woman anymore.” (D to Leila, 533)

Positives

I found Leila’s devil-may-care attitude refreshing after reading about Doris and Lina, but this enjoyment is short-lived because (like all characters) she falls in love with D. From a craft standpoint, I found the inclusion of Meyerling’s perspective in the narrative interesting because it humanizes the Nobility.

Negatives

This could be a very long list but I’ll try to condense it.

I found the majority of the characters two-dimensional, especially the women. For example, the girl all the Hunters are trying to recover is never even given a name, which narratively suggests she doesn’t matter or only exists as a symbol. The women are either predators (Caroline) or perpetual victims in a flood of sexual violence to which every man they encounter contributes (Leila and the girl). D even decides to blatantly partake in misogyny this time.

The writing itself suffered in this volume. First, the author/translator is usually taken with some degree of purple prose, but the comparisons and descriptions in this volume took that to another level. Second, fight scenes didn’t make sense because it seemed like the author wanted it to read like a surprising blow-by-blow cinematic experience and it instead just described physical impossibilities which took me out of the story. Third, impossibility was acknowledged and then written off so many times that it felt like the author was fighting with the world-building constraints he himself established. It is one thing to have a line like “It was a mystery just how on earth the carriage and the six-horse team drawing it had got into the village [located in a cavern on top of a mountain]” and another to have constant “mysteries”. Good fantasy writing establishes world-building rules and then does cool things within those, or breaks the rules in specific circumstances. I had no baseline for what could or couldn’t happen in this novel, which only served to make the “surprising mysteries” and impossibilities unimpressive.

paper_dragon's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

alandra's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I prefer the adaptation, with all the things the make up and everything because of reasons I have already discussed in the last two volumes read.

astefreads's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

decaysings's review

Go to review page

3.0

I watched the VHD: Bloodlust movie before this, which I think lessened my enjoyment, so I ranked it a little lower than the others. Some characters and relationships from the movie are improved (ex. Mayerling, his beloved, and Leila) and some are… very much worse (ex. the Marcus clan). There’s the usual rape and incest triggers also, which I’m forever glad they cut for the movie.

aquamarinex's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

sageunique26's review

Go to review page

4.0

I do like this one better than the second one. I love all the action in it. It had some dark elements to it and I love the character developments.

joreadsbooks's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious 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

5.0

Content warnings: Blood, kidnapping, dubious consent, body horror of John Carpenter’s The Thing variety

This entry is absolutely the gnarliest one I’ve read so far, and, yes, I am aware that I am only on volume 3. While Demon Deathchase is the lightest on lore so far, the mesh of science fiction and dark fantasy is at its tightest. There are death cars and possessed carbuncles that grow into fully sentient tumors. It’s disgusting. It’s incredible.

There is no stone Kikuchi will leave unturned when it comes to the horrific scientific possibilities plaguing the world eleven thousand years into the future. We have flesh-possessing carbuncles that are eerie like ghosts and unsettling in the way flesh distorts with science that feels like magic.

The women within this work show a range of strength, from the lovelorn dhampir mechanic Caroline to the gearhead hunter Leila. I love them all, especially how they relate to D. The purple prose really works throughout the series to draw attention to D’s terrific power and ethereal beauty. The interactions and obsessions only highlight it further, and seeing the variety of personalities attracted to him definitely keeps me engaged in the new characters regardless of gender and whether or not they label their attraction love.

The ending to this one is brutal, gross, and eerily beautiful.

More...