Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Silver Under Nightfall

I knew I'd love this when I heard it described as "Castlevania, but they all kiss" and oh goodness they did a lot more than kiss.
There was a bit too much "there is no way they both like me" when the hot vampires were literally throwing themselves at him ... But there were enough reasons for Remy as a character to feel that way so it at least made sense.

Spoiler

I thought their sex-filled Fortnite at Xiaodan's place

came a bit late in the plot because instead of enjoying their happiness I just kept thinking, aren't there more important things to be doing right now? Like a prude! I just think the pacing would be better if it happened in the first 40% and not the last 40% of he book.
The characters didn't have the most annoying features of their Castlevania doppelgangers (alcoholism & not kissing each other), but the characters were so similar in every other way that it was hard to think of these stories separately. I kinda wish Zidan was more moody like Alucard, it felt like

Spoiler

they made him more aggressive because he's a top lol

Anyway, this book is full of action and it was hard to put down. I finished the whole thing in a weekend! Id recommend it to anyone a fan of queer fantasy!
I'll definitely read the next one.

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discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.25

I really really enjoyed this. The atmospheric quality and the plot premise are really engaging. The characters are lovable, and the romance had me squealing and kicking my feet in the air with delight.

But I think audiobook format was the right choice for me in this case, because this is a long book, and I tend to struggle with pushing through stories that heavily involve things like political intrigue and military movement. But listening to it made it easier to space out a little bit during the parts I’d typically find boring, yet not have it stall my overall progress.

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mar's review against another edition

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dark 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

5.0

sickos haha yes

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fifteenthjessica's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.0

Between his father's rivalry with the current leader of the vampire hunters and the rumors that his mother was turned by a vampire lover while pregnant with him, Remington Pendergast is not the most well-liked Reaper, even if he is now one of the most effective. Soon a job only he was willing to take brings him into the sights of Zidan Malekh and Xiaodon Song, the leader of the Third Court of vampires and the heiress of the Fourth Court, who are hoping to form an alliance between their courts and the human kingdom of Aluria that Remy hails from. And Aluria will need all the help it can get when a strange plague is turning its citizens into a horrifying variation of vampires. Will Remy's trip East with the alluring vampire couple stop this plague, reveal the truth about his mother, and help Remy get over his belief that he is unworthy of love?

Rin Chupeco definitely knows how to craft an intriguing fantasy novel with complex characters that mix in the most interesting ways, but I'm still not sold on her skill at describing what is going on. Like the huas in The Bone Witch, the Breaker, Remy's main weapon, is hard for me to picture. It's called a scythe often, so I assume it has a more polearm like handle, but the way he's described as moving with it makes it hard for me to picture him doing it with a long handle. A picture on a variant cover suggests it is in fact a short handle and heavily inspired by real world weapons like Kusarigama, but it's never outright stated, probably because pre-modern Japanese weaponry is an obscure area of knowledge for most Western readers. Also, like when I read the Bone Witch, I found myself sitting there wondering "Wait, how'd that happen?" as a main character is described as having a serious injury.

Fair warning to anyone looking into book who are younger fans of Chupeco's YA novels, things get steamy. Most is completely consensual, but an important subplot is about Remy's affair with an older woman (possibly multiple) that is less due to any attraction Remy's feels for her and more because it's the only way to get information about vampire movement in Aluria that everyone admits should be given to him because he's a vampire hunter, but the woman's husband is a giant asshole. Nothing graphic, but characters definitely bang, and I know I would not have enjoyed that type of content when I was in my young teens.

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lbelow's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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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.

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zarhara's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.5

Reads like fanfiction. And yes, that's a compliment

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grets_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

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