A review by sleepyreaderthings
The God of Endings: A Novel by Jacqueline Holland

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

4.5

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨; 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲.”

Ever since reading A Dowry of Blood, I’ve been looking for something similar. Something that hits hard and makes me think about the choices we all make and are forced into. The God of Endings is incredibly atmospheric and melancholic, and it satisfied the itch I had for a vampire story. It touches on womanhood and girlhood, depression, addiction, substance abuse, motherhood, and more. Check the trigger warnings.

This is told from two different timelines and flips back and forth as you learn how our main character gets to where she currently is. However, we begin the story when Anna is a child and her village is hit with tuberculosis in the 1800s. This results in the death of her father and brother and leaves her in the care of her strange grandfather as she fights the same sickness. But her grandfather is no human, and he turns her into a vampire on her death bed. We follow her on a journey across the ocean, as she adjusts to this new life of vampirism. 

In present time, we’re in the 1980s, and Anna now goes by Collette and runs a preschool that focuses on art and the French language. I thought it was wonderful to see bits of French here and there, and it really tested my comprehension from the five years I took of it in school. While we follow Collette in the 1980s, we learn that she has been having intense hunger, and she has no idea what is happening to her. She begins to wake up in strange places with no memory of how she got there or what she did. She also becomes increasingly involved in the life of Leo, one of her preschool students, and we follow along as she goes day by day through a life she did not ask for. 

I cannot say enough good things about this book, and if this sounds interesting then I say go for it. It can be slow at times, but I think that’s just the nature of this book. It isn’t full of action or romance, but it sure as hell tells an amazing story that deserves to be read