mx_virg's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
The world building is really lacking here. How can vampires just carelessly go through the world, killing people left and right, in this day and age? The number of people they kill to feed on isn't small, and yet it's never really a concern. Nothing really is, aside from the main villain. We're given just enough to understand why things have to happen the way they do, nothing more. The vampire thing feels more like a b-plot, we're not given enough info and I wasn't that invested or interested when vampiry stuff happened as a result.
The romance started out cute, but became bland from the half-way point. And even though I liked the ending, the twists felt unnecessary and created if not plot holes, at least more questions that we won't get answers to (because we're given so little info to begin with). The writing didn't help. It wasn't bad, but didn't pull me in either.
So yeah, it's a "meh" read for me, but one I still enjoyed. I'd love to read a book on how our heroines carve a life for themselves, together, from here on out.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Death, Violence, Blood, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Abandonment, Body horror, and Physical abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Alcohol, Child death, Grief, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, and Misogyny
longlost's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
the good: hartl's brand of dark humour used to tell this story made it feel very engaging to me, but that's very much personal taste. i liked the characters - the core vampire trio (later quartet) were easy to love for their quirks and i found what we did learn about their backstories and histories to be genuinely interesting and at times heartbreaking. holly's issues w/ her mother also really spoke to me when they did become front and centre, and i liked
Spoiler
the resolution with her mother in their final scene together.the bad (and the Ugly): so. the entire premise of the book is the three girls who were coerced by the main villain - a vampire creep who preys on vulnerable, isolated teenagers - teaming up to kill him so he can't ensnare anymore victims. and then we spend the entire book developing a romance between holly and parker of which the inherent weirdness of it is never really acknowledged ? like yea, we know that holly genuinely cares because we're reading things from her point of view and there's a lot of emphasis on how being Turned pauses you at that point in time meaning that holly is Technically still 16 but. it is just, not that simple ? she's been existing for like 30 years and parker is. a teenager. maybe there could have been ways to approach it well but here it just felt.... extremely brushed over despite a major plot point of the story being how the villain did similar things to the main character & her friends. the romance felt kinda bland too but tbf i was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until the out of nowhere underage sex scene which very nearly made the book a DNF for me but there wasnt much of the story left at that point and i wanted to keep to my rule about having read a book in full before writing an in-depth review like this and i felt like these issues were glaring enough that they needed to be discussed in context of the story which is. as explained, never really addressed by the author other than holly being like "oh no if we date parker will eventually grow old and die" which. doesn't even begin to address the juxtaposition between the entire revenge plot and holly and parker's relationship. the overall ending seems to be contentious from reading other reviews here but tbh at that point id disengaged emotionally so i dont have any real thoughts on that.
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Abandonment, Dementia, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Confinement, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
lupitabaeyongo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, and Toxic relationship
kay_w's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Toxic friendship, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Dementia, Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, and Stalking
stormywolf's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
2.0
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, I don't know how to recommend this one. On the one hand, I think it has fun characters, it does some interesting things with vampire mythology, and does a good job examining regret and how it influences us. But on the other hand, I had issues with its shallow characterizations, its unsatisfying ending, and its handling of toxic relationships. I think there are some good messages and important things addressed, but I also think it missed the mark with a lot of things. I suppose if you're interested in a bittersweet, queer, quirky, YA vampire romance story and not wanting anything too complex or detailed, this might be what you're looking for. As for myself, I'll be hoping for some lighter fare with a lower body count.
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Dementia, and Emotional abuse
btorsi's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
a fun read. super engaging. interesting world building. a check off my tbr. not the kind of book i'm going to be thinking about nonstop after i finished it, but not bad. just. good.
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Grief
Minor: Confinement
toralea32's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Dementia, and Mass/school shootings