rsngphoenix's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Body horror
Minor: Animal cruelty
zoepagereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn’t expect this book to be as heavy as it was. I thought it was just going to be a funny vampire story, not one with three immortal girls dealing with centuries of trauma and a toxic ex. Granted, it was still great, it just wasn’t what I expected at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Grief, Blood, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Genocide, and Body horror
nella_allen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Dementia, Torture, Bullying, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse
sallytiffany's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Took me a long time since I don’t listen to audio books much but incredibly well done. I was enamored the entire time. Have never loved a vampire story more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Physical abuse
sharron_joy_reads's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Holly has been a vampire for 30yrs, turned by the boy who told her he loved her then discarded her when he got bored. Cursed to spend eternity tied to him as a 16yr old with hair that will forever be crimped she lives a lonely existence. Ida and Rose are also victims of Elton they have a plan to break their link with him and save his new target, Parker.
This was the YA Book Club 2023 book for April.
This is an excellent vampire book, it is YA but at the older end of that bracket so there are some elements of horror and gore in this. It has such an interesting take on vampire law and actually completely reverses a few of the myths. The characters are complex, mesmeric and deadly but angst ridden. There is a lot of humour amongst the carnage too and I was rooting for the girls to win. This is a story of lost girls breaking free of their bondage, finding a family and a reason to live forever, loved it !
This was the YA Book Club 2023 book for April.
This is an excellent vampire book, it is YA but at the older end of that bracket so there are some elements of horror and gore in this. It has such an interesting take on vampire law and actually completely reverses a few of the myths. The characters are complex, mesmeric and deadly but angst ridden. There is a lot of humour amongst the carnage too and I was rooting for the girls to win. This is a story of lost girls breaking free of their bondage, finding a family and a reason to live forever, loved it !
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Abandonment, Violence, and Death
sjones08's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Body horror
emmylux7's review
dark
funny
hopeful
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
4.75
a group of vamp girls teaming up to kill their abusive ex. say less.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Death, Sexual content, and Gore
mx_virg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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
3.0
I loved the premise and really wanted to like this book. And the base elements are there. I liked the characters, the way they come together, how the plot progresses. I like that a big part of the book focuses on female friendships. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't think much will stick with me for long.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
2.0
mmm. i really wanted to like this book. like many other reviewers i was sold on the Sapphic Vampire Revenge Story premise and while there were parts of the book that really spoke to me and made me feel like it was worth reading, the parts that bothered me were.... a bit too Much to gloss over in favour of what i did like about it.
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 ive never really been that invested in vampire stories so im going into this world with the basics of vampire knowledge, but i really enjoyed the work hartl put into worldbuilding regarding the vampire lore. when i picked up the book to continue reading i was as much interested in seeing where the characters would go next as in how the world and the rules behind vampirism would be unraveled. which sucks because the stuff im going to talk about next really ruined whatever good aspects those parts had.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
cottageivy's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
i liked this a lot! it was a fun autumnal read, and the overall premise was executed well and in an interesting way! even tho the book is on the shorter side, and therefore the pacing is pretty fast, it gets you to really feel the bond between holly, ida and rose! like their relationship did develop which is hard to do with fast pacing but they managed to pull it off! i will say, holly and parker was a little too fast, but also, love at first sight and being drawn to a person is something i can vibe with, and they were cute so i can excuse it. (this is also coming from someone who absolutely loved first kill with a burning passion, so as you can see i do enjoy fast love too lol. just something to note if it’s not your thing)
also !! loved the revenge story line. elton was so hateable. i also love how they never had the characters shame parker for falling for his lies and facade, and despite the clock ticking, were sympathetic to her taking a bit to truly get it. it was really well done i liked that :)
i will say the lore is well thought out and makes sense, however there isn’t much explanation given for how they know it other than that rose and ida having studied ways to do it for a long ass time since they’re older, and we go into it with rose and ida already having a very well backed theory about how to kill elton. you just kinda have to believe them, which is fine for me, and benefits the plot by not taking up pages of just them researching, especially since we’re in hollys pov and she is apart of none of the discover that they do, even when she knows them. i think it’s a bonus for the pacing, but if you like that part and want more detailed lore, that might be a turn off. this story is here to just show them gathering supplies and then figuring out plans, and it does that well!
i will say the mental aging thing was a lil confusing the way it was described, but i think it meant like. they were 16/the age they were mentally and didn’t grow mentally, but still grew as people and picked up slang and shit. like their life experiences impacted them while staying mentally 16 still. but i get that’s such a tricky thing to make sense and i think the way they showed it made more sense than the bit they tried to explain it in. i was good with it tho
i also love how they didn’t have the vampires too human-y? like there was a distance between humans and vampires and it was felt, and their morals were different. even tho holly was more connected to her humanity the way we see it bc she killed only sleazy guys but she wasn’t all high and mighty when her friends didnt abide by her moral code, and didnt judge them. they felt like actual vampires, who had different views on time and life like you’d expect vampires to have, while also feeling sympathetic. idas art projects were fun aksbsjs
overall such a fun book, i LOVED the ending
it was such a nice starter to my spooky season book list, i read it in one sitting, highly recommend for a fun read with a cool message about memories and time :)
also !! loved the revenge story line. elton was so hateable. i also love how they never had the characters shame parker for falling for his lies and facade, and despite the clock ticking, were sympathetic to her taking a bit to truly get it. it was really well done i liked that :)
i will say the lore is well thought out and makes sense, however there isn’t much explanation given for how they know it other than that rose and ida having studied ways to do it for a long ass time since they’re older, and we go into it with rose and ida already having a very well backed theory about how to kill elton. you just kinda have to believe them, which is fine for me, and benefits the plot by not taking up pages of just them researching, especially since we’re in hollys pov and she is apart of none of the discover that they do, even when she knows them. i think it’s a bonus for the pacing, but if you like that part and want more detailed lore, that might be a turn off. this story is here to just show them gathering supplies and then figuring out plans, and it does that well!
i will say the mental aging thing was a lil confusing the way it was described, but i think it meant like. they were 16/the age they were mentally and didn’t grow mentally, but still grew as people and picked up slang and shit. like their life experiences impacted them while staying mentally 16 still. but i get that’s such a tricky thing to make sense and i think the way they showed it made more sense than the bit they tried to explain it in. i was good with it tho
i also love how they didn’t have the vampires too human-y? like there was a distance between humans and vampires and it was felt, and their morals were different. even tho holly was more connected to her humanity the way we see it bc she killed only sleazy guys
Spoiler
until the bank teller but. she felt like not quite guilt over it? and i really like how they handled that kill too. it wasn’t like human guilt, but she didn’t suddenly relish it.overall such a fun book, i LOVED the ending
Spoiler
i kinda saw it coming with parker losing her memories and the fact that they made an emphasis on holly honoring her promise to burn the bangle, but i was honestly half expecting them to not go through with parker actually losing her memories and resetting the progress in their relationship, but it was actually super cool and i was happy they did it bc it felt natural and i feel like it set up something beautiful, yet open ended. i love itit was such a nice starter to my spooky season book list, i read it in one sitting, highly recommend for a fun read with a cool message about memories and time :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Death