Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - Empire of the Damned - Holtbirodalom

Citando a mi amadísima Dior Lachance, "FUCK MY FACE".
No le pongo más de 5 estrellas porque Storygraph no me deja, pero sin duda va a ser mi mejor lectura del año, tengo muchas pruebas y cero dudas.
Reseña pendiente para cuando sea capaz de digerir la maravilla que he leído (y llorado) 🖤🖤🖤

Content Warnings

booksalacarte's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Empire of the damned- 4.75⭐️ 3🌶️

Dark Epic Fantasy

Second book

Vampires

Dual POV

Storytelling narration

Catholic inspired religion

War

🏳️‍🌈 representation

Character recap!!!

My confusion is why the first 2 sections of this book weren’t included in the first book. It would have been a full arc of a story. The break in storytelling would have been very natural due to where “book 3” starts/picks up. But I understand the shift in narration necessary to go onto section 3… interesting.

But putting that aside, I loved this book!! It was a great second book that didn’t suffer the sophomore slump. I was engaged and invested and excited for what was revealed through this part of the story. I really enjoy Jay Kristoff’s writing style. I was worried about the addition of a second storyteller, but it worked out!

Messy characters make me love it even more. Give me all the drama and messy relationships/friendships. Make me gasp. And this author delivers. I enjoyed side characters becoming main players.

The things that I didn’t enjoy include misogyny standard to European medieval feudalism centered around religious orthodoxy. If you thought a book that was inspired by medieval Catholic Europe was going to be without it being present, I don’t know what to tell you. But it’s there, it’s never fun to have to read in excess. But it’s an adult fantasy, with cursing and I get.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the eARC of sections 1 & 2 of this book. All opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

karapillar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

amy_reading_23's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

4.25

The ending made me cry. I'm still reeling.

I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as the first, but I still really enjoyed it. The first half was a little slow but it picked up around the middle and then raced towards the end. At some points I thought maybe it was becoming predictable, bit then the unexpected would happen.

I enjoyed the whole lore around Pheobe's clans. Since book one was so heavily monotheistic and christian-like, it was interesting for this book to have some focus on a matriarchal society who is pagan and believes in multiple gods, yet still has a prophecy about Dior, hinting that maybe all could be true.

I think something the writer does well is complicated characters. Even though some of the characters themselves believe in a black and white world of good and evil, its shown throughout the books that this isn't the reality, and every character comes with as many flaws as redeemable qualities. Even some of the more "villanious" characters can be enjoyable (like the Marquis and Kiara) and understandable in their own way. Book one very much was anti vampire - all vampires are evil - whereas this one was a bit more complex in that regard.

These books are so rich with world building, lore, love, loss and emotion. I'll truly miss this world when the third one is finished.

I genuinely cried at the end when Dior called Gabriel Papa. So hard. And cried again when she passed. I don't know what to make of the last few pages, although it made me reflect on one thing. Both Gabriel and his sister have said how the other is an unreliable narrator. And there's definitley things they're hiding from the historian. I'm intrigued for book 3 as I imagine it will combine both the events that happened after Dior's "death", how Gabriel killed Fabien, but also I think there will be some plot set in the present as we finally find our what Gabriel's plan is here.

I also think his sister is in on it. I think their fight is a rouse and I think maybe the grail isn't truly lost. But what keeps me afraid is that the author has said he doesn't believe in happy endings. So whether the dark days end or Gabriel lives or dies in book three I really don't know.

There is more explicit horror in this book. I didn't find the first book too disturbing horror-wise but this one does contain more torture and brutal deaths so definitley check the trigger warnings.

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