The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
firstorderpixie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
nightjar656's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good! I enjoyed reading this.
Negatives: It felt a bit cliche at times and the summary was a little misleading.
Positives: It was fun and unique and I really liked the characters. The way the theme of grief and trauma and moving on was dealt with was really cool, especially with the vampires existing in that universe.
Overall, I liked this! If you’re looking for a paranormal book with vampires, this is def one of the books I’d recommend.
Negatives: It felt a bit cliche at times and the summary was a little misleading.
Positives: It was fun and unique and I really liked the characters. The way the theme of grief and trauma and moving on was dealt with was really cool, especially with the vampires existing in that universe.
Overall, I liked this! If you’re looking for a paranormal book with vampires, this is def one of the books I’d recommend.
artareadsatnight's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this book. I truly did. It represents several important topics. And does it pretty well. But. This story seemed like a retelling of a story. Not a full story in itself. Relationships progressed very quickly, like skipping several steps between them and lacked depth. The same goes for the plot. It seemed there was blank places. Just like a retelling of a good story.
_p0ssum_'s review
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: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Eating disorder
scrow1022's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a little while to warm up into this book - after finishing I realized that was because it took me a little while to warm up to the characters - not surprising as they've all experienced recent trauma and their struggles with it form the backbone of this book. But I was racing along by the end, desperate to know how things were going to turn out, how they were going to turn out.
I think one of the things I liked best about this book came at the very end when two women are talking. Most of the book centered around Jude and his male friends which was fine, but there's a brief moment when the women are talking about what's coming next and mention that "now the boys are going all soul-searching", and that little slip of a line grounded the whole book (and the one to follow, I assume) in the whole set of relationships, and that pleased and excited me.
And the images fronting each chapter are glorious!
I think one of the things I liked best about this book came at the very end when two women are talking. Most of the book centered around Jude and his male friends which was fine, but there's a brief moment when the women are talking about what's coming next and mention that "now the boys are going all soul-searching", and that little slip of a line grounded the whole book (and the one to follow, I assume) in the whole set of relationships, and that pleased and excited me.
And the images fronting each chapter are glorious!
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
(provided a copy of this book in return for honest review)
So this is a dear, little oddball of a book. It's about a group of ex-Firemen who have retired after one of their group is killed in a fire. Eva is a mall security head. Jude is one of her security officers, and Jasper runs a magic store.
They are all trying to live with the pain of having lost Felix, who was Jasper's finance, but also had a very close relationship with the other two. This story is mostly told from Jude's perspective. As the story unfolds, (I think) we learn that Jude has had major changes in his life, has a prosthetic leg, and also never really had a romantic relationship before. We also learn that he's been seeing these punk kids at the mall that are vampires. He keeps trying to tell Eva that, but understandably she thinks he's a bit crazed by grief.
The story suffers at time from a bit of vagueness. Most of the story is the main characters (including Pixie, a cutie who comes tumbling into Jude's life and forces the action to start) talking to each other about grief and love. This is wonderful. And because of the diversity represented in the genders and romantic orientations of the main characters, quite interesting. I really liked Jude.
However, at times I wanted to slap him for agreeing to do things like, oh, confront major villains in subterranean dens with no other weapon except a bottle of steak sauce. (not even a baseball bat? Or a stake? Or nunchucks or something?). That was a bit frustrating at times.
However, with the mindset that this is story about a group of people who love each other and are broken by the death of a member, instead of focusing on the practicalities of fighting vampires, I enjoyed it much more. Cool illustrations of tarot cards throughout as an extra bonus.
So this is a dear, little oddball of a book. It's about a group of ex-Firemen who have retired after one of their group is killed in a fire. Eva is a mall security head. Jude is one of her security officers, and Jasper runs a magic store.
They are all trying to live with the pain of having lost Felix, who was Jasper's finance, but also had a very close relationship with the other two. This story is mostly told from Jude's perspective. As the story unfolds, (I think) we learn that Jude has had major changes in his life, has a prosthetic leg, and also never really had a romantic relationship before. We also learn that he's been seeing these punk kids at the mall that are vampires. He keeps trying to tell Eva that, but understandably she thinks he's a bit crazed by grief.
The story suffers at time from a bit of vagueness. Most of the story is the main characters (including Pixie, a cutie who comes tumbling into Jude's life and forces the action to start) talking to each other about grief and love. This is wonderful. And because of the diversity represented in the genders and romantic orientations of the main characters, quite interesting. I really liked Jude.
However, at times I wanted to slap him for agreeing to do things like, oh, confront major villains in subterranean dens with no other weapon except a bottle of steak sauce. (not even a baseball bat? Or a stake? Or nunchucks or something?). That was a bit frustrating at times.
However, with the mindset that this is story about a group of people who love each other and are broken by the death of a member, instead of focusing on the practicalities of fighting vampires, I enjoyed it much more. Cool illustrations of tarot cards throughout as an extra bonus.
oshild's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
amy_reading_23's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
2.75
There were some very cute moments in this book and I liked the good range of representation and how queer it was, plus the theme of bringing up consent when drinking blood is great. But it just wasn't really very well written or produced, there were quite a few mistakes in it and overall it didn't quite hit like I wanted it too. But there's still some sweet characters in it and if you're looking for an easy queer fantasy read then it's here.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, and Torture
marzi's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
3.5