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angelicathebookworm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The novel essentially weaves together three distinct storylines that all relate to a journey that each group finds themselves on—one that’s a mix of the physical, emotional, and psychological—that leads to an explosive collision between all parties which I thought was very well written. I’ve read a fair few narratives that interlock multiple perspectives and in this instance, the flow and pacing were just right and done in a way that wasn’t jarring. One of the biggest highlights of this novel is that Brite’s vampires are so different from what we’ve seen before from this classic Gothic monster. They are a blend of the Gothic, classic vampire lore, and genuine human experiences and emotion. They’re an evolution of vampires as we know them, a new generation unafflicted with many of the clichés. This makes for Brite’s reinvention of this Gothic creation just as frightening and we’d expect but refreshingly so. I also appreciate how many of the characters are not as you’d expect: Zillah, the leader of the small group of vampires, is short yet incredibly charming rather than the commonly seen tall and brooding vampiric type; and his lackeys—Molochai and Twig—are not very cunning and are definitely not the sharpest tools in the shed. My favourite aspect of the entire novel has to be the relationship between Ghost, a boy with true psychic abilities, and Steve which I was really hoping would grow into something a little more obvious but I guess—since the whole novel is heavy with the graphic and the explicit—that would’ve been overkill.
While the characters are well written and many develop well through the narrative, they’re definitely not likeable characters. That itself relates more to personal reading preferences but if you add that to the gloomy descriptions of the atmosphere and the intense darkness of the plot then it becomes a very intense read intended for a very specific audience. The novel also features a multitude of content/trigger warnings and features multiple particularly graphic sexual scenes, some of which are also extremely violent, so I’d proceed with caution when it comes to picking this one up. Many of these triggering topics that are explored within the narrative, and the fact they’re explored so explicitly and with so much detail, had a huge impact on my rating of this novel despite the fact that it’s constructed well with some elements that I did rather enjoy.
For more reviews like this one, check out https://angelicacastilloking.wordpress.com/
While the characters are well written and many develop well through the narrative, they’re definitely not likeable characters. That itself relates more to personal reading preferences but if you add that to the gloomy descriptions of the atmosphere and the intense darkness of the plot then it becomes a very intense read intended for a very specific audience. The novel also features a multitude of content/trigger warnings and features multiple particularly graphic sexual scenes, some of which are also extremely violent, so I’d proceed with caution when it comes to picking this one up. Many of these triggering topics that are explored within the narrative, and the fact they’re explored so explicitly and with so much detail, had a huge impact on my rating of this novel despite the fact that it’s constructed well with some elements that I did rather enjoy.
For more reviews like this one, check out https://angelicacastilloking.wordpress.com/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Medical trauma
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