A dark & delicious atmospheric adventure - but though I had lots of fun with the prose and the vibes and the queer polyamorous take on vamps, I wanted more from the actual content.

While the atmosphere is deeply gothic, it's surprisingly not ... vampiric? You could pick up and put down these characters in any other circumstance and the essential story would have remained the same. I wanted more exploration of supernatural elements, and what it means to be immortal, and so on.

The creator vampire (maybe Dracula, maybe not) has been a domestic abuser for centuries, and witnessing Constanta's tortured devotion through her narration was a real strength of the novel and writing. It's an effective portrayal of uneven power dynamics and manipulation. You know what's coming from the opening lines, but I still felt anxious for Constanta and rooted for her as we sped through the recount of her life. 

The fluidity of the relationships was interesting, but again I needed more depth here. More of the day-to-day moments and slow bonding over immortal lives. There's a peculiar amount of distance between all the characters and the reader.

I really enjoyed S.T. Gibson's writing style and look forward to reading more from her.

CW: blood, murder, emotional abuse, physical abuse, toxic relationship, sexual content, confinement