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wordsofclover 's review for:
The Deathless Girls
by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
CW: Threats of sexual assault, some animal cruelty/death.
I received this book form the author/publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What.a.letdown.
It's October, it' spookytime, what's better than picking up a beautiful book about the brides of Dracula - especially when Dracula is one of your favourite classics?! Yet, this book was honestly a little bit boring considering it had elements which should have been fun and exciting, and I'm going to say it - it wasn't scary at all. Not in the sense I wanted it to be anyways.
I was very excited to go into this and see Kiran Millwood Hargrave's take on the brides of Dracula because I think done right, that's a topic that could be truly epic. I did appreciate the ethnic Romani lore in this novel and the fact that Kizzy and Lilai were of a Romani family and culture. Knowing about their background, their beliefs and culture, was really interesting - from their divining day to the talents they wanted to turn into careers. I definitely cringed a bit due to the parts about bear dancing, and stealing bear cubs away from their mothers but the bears were loved and seemed to have a good life so there's that at least.
The book did pack some heartwrenching moments too (or tbh, just one when the caravans were burning and family slaughtered), and some of the descriptions were very nice though maybe not 100% my preferred style.
One of my main problems with this book is it's suppose to be tied in with the story of Dracula, yet he doesn't get really mentioned until halfway through and he doesn't even appear until almost 80% into the story and that's only for ONE, measly, underwhelming scene. If you're giving me a story about the BRIDES OF DRACULA, I ALSO WANT DRACULA. The strigoi as well only appear again 70% or so into the book.
The majority of the book took place in the castle the girls were captured in before they made their way to Dracula, which was fine but it was all just so drawn out and became a bit boring. This book was too short (less than 300 pages) for such a slowly drawn-out story. The scariest parts in this book weren't the strigoi or vampires but the mild threats of sexual assault aimed at the serving girls from the soldiers and the one attempted rape. While I appreciate the true fear in those scenes that are not just fantastical in nature but an everyday horror, I wanted actual supernatural horror and gore and I didn't get any of that.
I appreciated the attempt at an f/f romance as well. I liked Mira but I felt the relationship kind of appeared out of nowhere in a way and all of a sudden they were in love. I would have wanted more scenes between the girls before they undertook their journey and things became super intense for them.
The end of this book was a massive let down. The epilogue style of 'then we did this and this and this' is just SO lazy. We didn't learn anything about the brides of Dracula - we learned about three girls who through terrible means ended up at his castle. That's it. The story ended when they became the 'brides'. Pfft.
I received this book form the author/publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What.a.letdown.
It's October, it' spookytime, what's better than picking up a beautiful book about the brides of Dracula - especially when Dracula is one of your favourite classics?! Yet, this book was honestly a little bit boring considering it had elements which should have been fun and exciting, and I'm going to say it - it wasn't scary at all. Not in the sense I wanted it to be anyways.
I was very excited to go into this and see Kiran Millwood Hargrave's take on the brides of Dracula because I think done right, that's a topic that could be truly epic. I did appreciate the ethnic Romani lore in this novel and the fact that Kizzy and Lilai were of a Romani family and culture. Knowing about their background, their beliefs and culture, was really interesting - from their divining day to the talents they wanted to turn into careers. I definitely cringed a bit due to the parts about bear dancing, and stealing bear cubs away from their mothers but the bears were loved and seemed to have a good life so there's that at least.
The book did pack some heartwrenching moments too (or tbh, just one when the caravans were burning and family slaughtered), and some of the descriptions were very nice though maybe not 100% my preferred style.
One of my main problems with this book is it's suppose to be tied in with the story of Dracula, yet he doesn't get really mentioned until halfway through and he doesn't even appear until almost 80% into the story and that's only for ONE, measly, underwhelming scene. If you're giving me a story about the BRIDES OF DRACULA, I ALSO WANT DRACULA. The strigoi as well only appear again 70% or so into the book.
The majority of the book took place in the castle the girls were captured in before they made their way to Dracula, which was fine but it was all just so drawn out and became a bit boring. This book was too short (less than 300 pages) for such a slowly drawn-out story. The scariest parts in this book weren't the strigoi or vampires but the mild threats of sexual assault aimed at the serving girls from the soldiers and the one attempted rape. While I appreciate the true fear in those scenes that are not just fantastical in nature but an everyday horror, I wanted actual supernatural horror and gore and I didn't get any of that.
I appreciated the attempt at an f/f romance as well. I liked Mira but I felt the relationship kind of appeared out of nowhere in a way and all of a sudden they were in love. I would have wanted more scenes between the girls before they undertook their journey and things became super intense for them.
The end of this book was a massive let down. The epilogue style of 'then we did this and this and this' is just SO lazy. We didn't learn anything about the brides of Dracula - we learned about three girls who through terrible means ended up at his castle. That's it. The story ended when they became the 'brides'. Pfft.