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palm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
***REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***
A little disappointed with this read, I’m not going to lie. There were a lot of grammatical mistakes, especially in the first chapters of the book, and it honestly made the book a little cumbersome to read. I had to pause to read sentences multiple times to try understanding what the author was trying to say. There were also a couple times in the book where, for some reason, the author would mention something that “happened” some lines prior… except that they actually did not. This book really made me feel like I was almost being gaslit because Jak says “oh yes this happened” while im 100% sure I do not remember anything of the sort. It truly had me questioning if I was even reading properly or if I skipped lines. I literally would go back and read things again to make sure I did not miss anything, and of course, I did not miss anything and it was another writing mistake. This could, again, be attributed to possible grammatical mistakes, but I think that its more likely that the author wanted to include a scene where *blank* thing happened, and either forgot to add it or it was edited out. In case of the latter, the lines that hint at deleted scenes should have been edited out as well.
!Spoilers Ahead!
Putting language aside, the relationship between the two characters was a little mediocre; also, while reading, I had my own theories about Jak and his mother, especially since Jak’s existence was played up to be this massive mystery that Jak himself was awfully persistent to know about, but once everything was revealed, it was a little disappointing. I kept waiting until the end of the book to see if, perhaps, there was something more, especially when Jak’s mother appeared towards the end of the book. His mother, especially, was supposed to be this powerful mysterious figure, and I was really expecting something more out of her, but her death came quite quickly. Her character in the duration of the book changed somewhat drastically; we know that Jak dislikes her and how he hears her voice of disapproval often, but the difference between how she acted in the first scene where we were introduced to her, to the second (or even first) scrying was quite jarring. I expected it to be a bit more insidious, but she was just throwing insults at her son almost out of nowhere. I would’ve been okay with it had her character been explored a bit more and there was enough time given for her to reach that “tipping point,” where she finally has had enough and unleashes her anger, but there was none of that. It was just her changing at the flip of a switch from the ritual to the scrying.
What really bothered me was how everything fell through in the last quarter of the book. Everything. One of the turning points of the book was when Jak realized that Marius essentially still had human empathy and Jak believed himself to be the monster that walked into the castle. This was further developed when Marius showed Jak his library full of stories that he wrote for each one of his Claims, because he hated himself for killing them, although it was out of his control. The same could be said for Jak; there was a scene with Victorya where Jak said she couldn’t possibly know what it was like to have to kill somebody, having to do something so cruel, yet being entrusted with that mission. So clearly, the running theme here is that both characters, simply put, do not wish to kill nor harm others. Yet, in the final bits of the book when Jak is turned into a vampire, suddenly, both him and Marius lose all morality and it is okay for them both to feed on villagers? As long as it was not Katharine, that is, since she was off-limits. It was not clarified whether or not these people would die while Jak was feeding, and it leaves room for misinterpretation; to at least leave SOME form of consistency with both Marius and Jak, it could have been cleared up that, maybe, they would perhaps NOT kill anyone while feeding. The whole chapter was just focused on Jak and his thirst and his need for blood. This is actually what bothered me the most, the whole story hinges on the fact that although Marius is a vampire beast-like creature, he still retains humanity in himself, but as soon as Jak turns, it seems like they became two completely different characters than the ones we were introduced to, and it cheapens the entire narrative.
Also, I could not help but note Victorya’s (and the other spirits’) disappearance towards the end of the book. The last I remember of her was the conversation she had with Jak while Katharine was missing, but after that, nothing. Whether they are still tethered to the house or not, I have no clue, but little things like this could have been wrapped up more nicely.
While reading, I was going to give this book a 3 or 3.5 star rating, but the last quarter of the book truly disappointed and frustrated me so much that I felt like I had wasted time getting to know these characters. Of course, from the beginning to the end of every book, characters should develop and change, but in this book the last quarter literally changed the core of every character (except Katharine), and honestly, at this point, it makes me wonder whether the writer even knew their own characters or not.
A little disappointed with this read, I’m not going to lie. There were a lot of grammatical mistakes, especially in the first chapters of the book, and it honestly made the book a little cumbersome to read. I had to pause to read sentences multiple times to try understanding what the author was trying to say. There were also a couple times in the book where, for some reason, the author would mention something that “happened” some lines prior… except that they actually did not. This book really made me feel like I was almost being gaslit because Jak says “oh yes this happened” while im 100% sure I do not remember anything of the sort. It truly had me questioning if I was even reading properly or if I skipped lines. I literally would go back and read things again to make sure I did not miss anything, and of course, I did not miss anything and it was another writing mistake. This could, again, be attributed to possible grammatical mistakes, but I think that its more likely that the author wanted to include a scene where *blank* thing happened, and either forgot to add it or it was edited out. In case of the latter, the lines that hint at deleted scenes should have been edited out as well.
!Spoilers Ahead!
Putting language aside, the relationship between the two characters was a little mediocre; also, while reading, I had my own theories about Jak and his mother, especially since Jak’s existence was played up to be this massive mystery that Jak himself was awfully persistent to know about, but once everything was revealed, it was a little disappointing. I kept waiting until the end of the book to see if, perhaps, there was something more, especially when Jak’s mother appeared towards the end of the book. His mother, especially, was supposed to be this powerful mysterious figure, and I was really expecting something more out of her, but her death came quite quickly. Her character in the duration of the book changed somewhat drastically; we know that Jak dislikes her and how he hears her voice of disapproval often, but the difference between how she acted in the first scene where we were introduced to her, to the second (or even first) scrying was quite jarring. I expected it to be a bit more insidious, but she was just throwing insults at her son almost out of nowhere. I would’ve been okay with it had her character been explored a bit more and there was enough time given for her to reach that “tipping point,” where she finally has had enough and unleashes her anger, but there was none of that. It was just her changing at the flip of a switch from the ritual to the scrying.
What really bothered me was how everything fell through in the last quarter of the book. Everything. One of the turning points of the book was when Jak realized that Marius essentially still had human empathy and Jak believed himself to be the monster that walked into the castle. This was further developed when Marius showed Jak his library full of stories that he wrote for each one of his Claims, because he hated himself for killing them, although it was out of his control. The same could be said for Jak; there was a scene with Victorya where Jak said she couldn’t possibly know what it was like to have to kill somebody, having to do something so cruel, yet being entrusted with that mission. So clearly, the running theme here is that both characters, simply put, do not wish to kill nor harm others. Yet, in the final bits of the book when Jak is turned into a vampire, suddenly, both him and Marius lose all morality and it is okay for them both to feed on villagers? As long as it was not Katharine, that is, since she was off-limits. It was not clarified whether or not these people would die while Jak was feeding, and it leaves room for misinterpretation; to at least leave SOME form of consistency with both Marius and Jak, it could have been cleared up that, maybe, they would perhaps NOT kill anyone while feeding. The whole chapter was just focused on Jak and his thirst and his need for blood. This is actually what bothered me the most, the whole story hinges on the fact that although Marius is a vampire beast-like creature, he still retains humanity in himself, but as soon as Jak turns, it seems like they became two completely different characters than the ones we were introduced to, and it cheapens the entire narrative.
Also, I could not help but note Victorya’s (and the other spirits’) disappearance towards the end of the book. The last I remember of her was the conversation she had with Jak while Katharine was missing, but after that, nothing. Whether they are still tethered to the house or not, I have no clue, but little things like this could have been wrapped up more nicely.
While reading, I was going to give this book a 3 or 3.5 star rating, but the last quarter of the book truly disappointed and frustrated me so much that I felt like I had wasted time getting to know these characters. Of course, from the beginning to the end of every book, characters should develop and change, but in this book the last quarter literally changed the core of every character (except Katharine), and honestly, at this point, it makes me wonder whether the writer even knew their own characters or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
evie2947's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury