i received a copy of this book from harper collins nz, in exchange for an honest review.
star rating
empire of the vampire review
oh, boy. this was one long book. long and slow. and when i saw slow, i don’t mean uninteresting. it was just hard to read. in saying that, the first half of this book felt pointless and boring. the second half picked up, and this is where i started to like the characters a little more. if this book cut the first half down considerably, it would’ve been easier to read and more entertaining.
the events were interesting, and the characters were enjoyable, but the writing made it such a tedious book to read. i liked that there was a lot of world building, but sometimes it felt too much.
dior is easily my favourite character in empire of the vampire. she’s smart, witty, and fun. astrid was also high on my favourite characters list. i enjoyed the scenes these two made an appearance in more than the others.
gabriel was interesting enough, but i did wonder at times why he was the protagonist. he didn’t seem to add anything the the story. he seemed better suited as a side character.
i’ve seen this pointed out a few times, and i’m not sure where i stand in this argument. there’s a relationship between a 15/16 year old (if someone wants to confirm the exact age of this character, please do) and a 19 year old. in many places, this is illegal. however, the fantasy world this book is set in is based off of france, where the legal age of consent is 15. (Aside from the wikipedia page, I found this article interesting).
on a different note, i absolutely loved the artwork that’s sprinkled throughout this book. i’ll always love art in books, no matter what. in empire of the vampire, i liked that the art seemed to break up the dense writing.
overall, i think empire of the vampire would’ve been more enjoyable if it had been shorter. i also understand that my feelings are in the minority for this book.
buy your copy now!
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17 Comments
That’s tough when a book is slow and it feels like it takes forever to get through it. Nice review!
it is! and thank you!
first of all, thank you for sharing that article! that’s really intriguing, but also how is the age of consent ELEVEN in some countries?!?! that makes me angry. second of all, wonderful review! i’ve read so many glowing reviews of this book, it’s refreshing to read one that’s not overwhelmingly positive. i hope you enjoy your next book more though💜
you’re welcome! i was definitely a bit disgusted by the age thing, but when you actually look at the facts, it’s legal in that country. eleven is far too young!!
and thank you! i was a little worried about posting a not-so-positive review about this one.
oh, i agree!!
and i think that it’s important to be as transparent about your thoughts as possible when to comes to reviewing books, because you never know what can influence someone (in my opinion anyway haha) and it was a very well-written review💜
thank you so much!!
I have been seeing this book literally everywhere so I can’t wait to read it myself! Thanks for the review!
i really hope you enjoy it!
Great review! I feel like I have been seeing a lot of mixed reviews for this one. I know it wouldn’t be for me just based on the explicit language. As for the relationship between those two characters, it is very questionable. From my own personal experience as a teen, no matter how mature you think you are it is not enough to understand relationships especially with someone who would be considered an adult.
i agree. it’s a difficult topic to navigate, and it would’ve been better if the characters were aged up (it can’t be that hard to bump the age up a couple years??)
and yeah the explicit language didn’t help the story whatsoever, and some of it was the stuff children yell at each other, not adults.
I enjoyed it much better than you but no, it’s not a fast paced book! 😉
lol i’m glad you enjoyed it!
really appreciate this review, Chelsea! sorry you had such and up and down time with it. – H
thank you!! i understand that i’m in the minority for this book though, but oh well. better luck next book?
hope so!! – H
Im not a fan of the author but the books actually looks interesting and im so confused lmao! I probably should pick it up one dayy ^_^
haha, i’m not his biggest fan either. i hope you enjoy it if/when you read it!