clairew97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Death, and Grief
nat_montego'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Bullying, and Domestic abuse
eliisreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Like oh my god just read this writing.
“I never dreamed it would end like this, my lord: your blood splashing hot flecks onto my nightgown and pouring in rivulets onto our bedchamber floor. But creatures like us live a long time. There is no horror left in this world that can surprise me. Eventually, even your death becomes its own sort of inevitability.”
“I will render you as you really were, neither cast in pristine stained glass or unholy fire. I will make you into nothing more than a man, tender and brutal in equal measure, and perhaps in doing so I will justify myself to you.”
“You did not let me keep my name, so I will strip you of yours. In this world, you are what I say you are, and I say you are a ghost, a long night’s fever dream that I have finally woken up from. I say you are the smoke-wisp memory of a flame, thawing ice suffering under an early spring sun, a chalk ledger of debts being wiped clean.”
“Laying with her made me feel so vibrantly alive. It was almost enough to make me forget that I was already dead.”
“ I had become intimately acquainted with violence and the sins of the world, but I had not come away unblemished. Only violence felt like holiness to me anymore.”
And these are only a selected few from the first half of the book.
Also a little mad that they changed the original beautiful cover and you can’t get it anywhere :(
Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
celestriakle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The main weakness of the book however is the characters relationships outside of Dracula. The book ends with
Spoiler
all 3 in a romantic relationship, and supposedly they fell in love this whole time, but they never have very much chemistry. They read far more like sister-wives trying to protect each other from Dracula than lovers with their own relationship outside him, with nothing to keep each other together once he's gone.Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Physical abuse, Injury/injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Murder, Abandonment, and Incest
Minor: War, Homophobia, Death of parent, Torture, and Misogyny
I tagged for incest, but it's not true incest: all four main characters are not related, but are frequently described with family terminology, despite being in a romantic relationship. Alexi and Constanta in particular are constantly described as mother/son, with Alexi's youth compared to everyone else frequently mentioned, but they still end up romantically entangled and share a sex scene.anapthine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Injury/injury detail, Gore, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, and Toxic relationship
Minor: War, Incest, and Fire/Fire injury
notpresent22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Murder, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Bullying