eggcatsreads's Reviews (480)

The second installment in Vlad’s life, this book starts with the repercussions of how Vlad ended the first book. Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, life out in the public eye comes with more issues than he had originally intended - and now he has to deal with the notoriety of being an overnight celebrity.

After his climatic video exposing the existence of vampires to the world, Vlad is now the subject of scrutiny, hatred, and obsession - people all over the world are now discussing not only whether or not vampires actually exist, but whether they are a danger (or an ideal romantic partner). In no way equipped to handle the sudden media frenzy, soon Vlad’s life is doxxed in such a way where he no longer has any place to stay until the media mess blows over.

On top of that, he suddenly has a murder-happy roommate who claims to be his familiar - and who Vlad has to constantly remind that murdering people is generally considered to be wrong.

With all the stress suddenly hitting his daily (or nightly) life, Vlad’s relationship with Alison breaks down and the two are on the outs for a good majority of this novel. Blindly trying to figure out how to resolve the magnitude of issues he’s now faced with, Vlad can never be certain who is truly there to help him - and who wants to use him. Despite the best attempts to isolate Vlad to get him to do exactly what they want, however, his closest friends and allies still band together to help him remain both alive, and free.

There are many points throughout this novel where you cannot be too certain who is truly there to help Vlad, and who doesn’t have his best interests at heart. With Vlad and Alison separated, we’re running as blind as they are as they try to connect all the dots together before it’s too late.

I thought one quote near the end by the villain quite well highlighted what seems to be the biggest theme throughout these novels.

”You get a lot of help, don’t you, Vladimir? Why, it seems you have a little band ready to shield you anytime you’re in trouble.”

This line felt poignant to me, as even though it’s stated as if it’s a negative trait against his character, it really highlighted the difference in their lives and opinions. Vlad is able to succeed against those who wish him (and others like him) harm because he has so many people around him who are willing to help him. The greatest strength Vlad has in this book is the sense of community around him, and how despite outside forces trying to separate them, he can still rely on them to help him when he needs it most.

This novel was a strong continuation of the first, as I felt it really explored all the repercussions of Vlad’s last decision in the first novel - and yet, validated his decision to do it. After the end of the first book, I was unsure of how this series would continue - after all, now that everyone knows that vampires are real, what’s even next? - but this book both answers that question, and more. The ending of this book is kind of in a direct contrast to how the first ended, and it really sets up a nice plotline to explore in the third book.

An extremely short psychological horror-thriller where our main character Iðunn begins feeling chronically fatigued when she wakes up from sleep. Nothing she does can find or solve the problem - blood tests come back clean, sleeping pills don’t seem to work, and more and more often she is noticing injuries or blood on her person when she wakes. She decides to take up walking, as suggested by a friend, and accidentally leaves her watch on overnight - and it tracks over 40,000 steps that she has no memory of making.

Suddenly coming to the conclusion that she is sleepwalking, Iðunn is left with more problems than she started with - she knows what she is doing, but not how to prevent it from happening. Sleeping pills only worked once. Locking herself in her room results in her own bloody and mangled hands as she escapes into the night. Even attempting to stop sleeping altogether doesn't solve anything. What else can she do?

This is a very quick read, and if I had not known it was a translation I would have never known. We quickly get into the struggle of our main character as she fights to figure out what is going on with her sleeping life - and what she may be doing without her knowledge. I thought the buildup was extremely well done, and as our main character slowly begins losing her grip on reality you can never be certain what exactly is really going on here. Is it supernatural? Or is it simply a medical illness?

In all honesty, the only thing that kept this from being a five star read was the multiple [redacted for spoilers] deaths and the ending, which I found confusing and a bit rushed. Otherwise, this was a solid little novella that I would recommend if you wanted to read something quick for about only an hour or so.

Trigger warning for animal death. It’s not overly explicit, but it cannot be avoided and is a very prominent part. Also mild trigger warnings for: blood, gore, injuries, mild bodily mutilation, date rape, and attempted sexual assault (only implied through the date rape).

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Tor Nightfire for providing me this e-ARC for an honest review.

(I read this in January and only just now realized I never wrote a review, fucking Oop. So, forgive me if this isn’t as in-depth as it normally would be, I only remember main plot points and not too many specifics).

As a huge fan of Saara El-Arifi’s other trilogy - The Ending Fire - I absolutely had to grab her newest trilogy featuring elves and fae. While this book is a huge shift from her other work, I did notice a lot of similarities between the two with regards to worldbuilding and character interactions, so if you enjoy her other series I really think you’d like this one as well. (And vice versa, I’m super excited for The Ending Fire!)

I know this is marketed as having more romance than The Ending Fire trilogy, but (maybe it’s just me) the amount of romance between both felt around the same to me. We have a bit of enemies to lovers (or, more accurately, irritated to lovers), but while their romance is a main plot of the novel (and another romance with the sister), I never felt it overshadowed the main overarching plot.

I will personally admit to not being the biggest fan of talking animal companions, and while they’re still not my favorite here, the obeah are enjoyable and I didn’t hate their inclusion. They very strongly reminded me of a similar type of creature in The Priory of the Orange Tree and I liked them about the same. A well-done talking animal companion is really hard to do, but an annoying one that I hate is easy. This, thankfully, doesn’t fall into the latter but it never quite reaches the former. (When we got to the obeah I audibly went “oh no” as I was afraid they would be like the talking animal companion in another trilogy that I absolutely hated, but luckily they are not). Sorry, I know this is a lot about this one specific topic, but in all honesty there are very few books where I like this trope and many MANY ones that are ruined because of it, so any time one is involved I’m wary about it.

I also absolutely loved the magic system, and how the magic and weapons that are used by the elves are unknowingly in DIRECT harm and contrast to the fae. I thought it was fascinating how the fae have been hidden and trapped for so long that everyone thinks that they are extinct, when something that is regularly used by the elves is actually something related to the fae. I really thought that was cleverly done in interlacing the two peoples, despite one believing the other to no longer exist.

I admit to having figured out the “twist” to this book as I was reading it, but I don’t necessarily believe that takes away from any enjoyment. If you like elves/fae, complicated romances with conflict, politics, and a worldbuilding that slowly opens up more and more as you read, I think you’d enjoy this novel.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I had to dnf this at 37%. I typically love this kind of gothic horror, but neither the writing nor the characters grabbed me at any point.

Much of the writing feels too descriptive, where we are essentially reading a shot-by-shot analysis of what is going on, instead of a book where it flows. One specific part near the beginning had the main character talking to two gas station attendants where she gave them her phone number and address, all the while the person she came with is beginning to drive away. It felt drawn out as it was happening, instead of the intended feeling of urgency - much like when you're watching a movie and a scene is long enough that you start thinking about how there's no WAY this character can hold their breath this long.

There were also a few too many characters to try to keep track of, and none were unique enough for me to ever know who was who. Many times, a scene with a character was happening, and I only knew who that character was when the character I THOUGHT it was appeared. In the same way, I felt the location and the plot felt disjointed, where I was never certain why or how the missing character had even met these people, or decided to live in the middle of the woods with them. When we begin the book, it feels like we're dropped into a story without the proper introduction, and by the time I quit reading, I don't fully believe I ever caught up.

I'm unsure how to describe reading this, but it felt like rather than reading the book itself or experiencing things with the characters, I was instead reading the auto-generated description of what was going on. The writing was very flowy and emotive, but ultimately, I think it held back the story rather than enhanced it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers for providing this e-ARC.