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dragonfriend's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs
mangela_28's review against another edition
dark
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.25
I say this as someone who was ready to get into Krampus... Krampus by Brom falls flat for me. I don't get the motivation. Krampus, the Yule Lord hates Santa aka Baldr, but I never saw why. Santa doesn't appreciate when Krampus helped him? Because Santa imprisioned Krampus?
At one point I thought this was commentary on the opiod crisis. At another it's commentary on how screens/video games/tv/the internet are the real demons on earth. Most of the time Krampus was perpetrating the very evils he accused Santa of. There was no real depth or motivation, but there was a lot of male anger. It does not pass the Bechdel test. Brom makes half the demon-like Belschnickels Shawnee. I have high hopes for Slewfoot... but I do not understand how it can come from the same author. I hope Slewfoot is for the girls. Krampus is for the boys. š
At one point I thought this was commentary on the opiod crisis. At another it's commentary on how screens/video games/tv/the internet are the real demons on earth. Most of the time Krampus was perpetrating the very evils he accused Santa of. There was no real depth or motivation, but there was a lot of male anger. It does not pass the Bechdel test. Brom makes half the demon-like Belschnickels Shawnee. I have high hopes for Slewfoot... but I do not understand how it can come from the same author. I hope Slewfoot is for the girls. Krampus is for the boys. š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Murder
kitters_p's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
ellebrooke's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
all4thewookie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Alcohol
rachelunabridged's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Suicide attempt
bookish_cat_mom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
After falling in love with Slewfoot, I knew I had to explore more of Brom's work. When I discovered he had written a book about Krampus, the Yule Lord, it was a no-brainer to pick it up for the holiday seasonāand it did not disappoint. This novel is a perfect, delightfully gritty counterbalance to the typical cheerful Christmas fare. Brom is an incredibly talented storyteller, masterfully blending myths and legends into horror tales that are surprisingly heartfelt. While his stories include elements of violence and horror, they also delve into profound character depth and narrative richness, delivering an emotional resonance thatās both unexpected and deeply satisfying.
ā¼ļø Please be mindful of trigger warnings. ā¼ļø
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse
sarahjx's review against another edition
I'll come back to this next year!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death and Sexual content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
clovetra's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
oh how i wanted to love this. BROM HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME.
tldr; this reads like a worse version of slewfoot (even though this came out before slewfoot SHUT UP I READ THAT FIRST)
now hereās the long story: i really didnāt like much about this book. let me go over what i did like. which is mainly isabelle. simply because she is pookie pie. she is the love of my life and she could get it. also i am a sucker for āeternal being being mesmerised by things we find boring in the modern dayā trope. krampus is a himbo at times i said what i said.
there were also a few scenes i really adored. namely the moment in the generalās hideout. you know the one. also the little moment with krampus at the bar???? did not expect that in this book but wow was i happy to read about it. i loved those two scenes A LOT.
ummmm and thatās about all i can say i really loved about this book. so letās go over what i didnāt love š
jesse. what an asshat. yes i recognise the story is very likely supposed to give him a strong redemption arc where he goes from an unlikeable protagonist to someone the reader roots for. but i did not give a flying fart about what happened to him. honestly there were many times i kinda wished he died. and so many situations jesse got out of seemed incredibly unrealistic. like it just threw me out of it all. idk it feels like his redemption arcā¦ didnāt exist? where was his being a good guy? oh wow he helped krampus? therefore he is redeemed? nah im gonna need more than that actually.
krampus felt very much like samson from slewfoot. almost too similar for me to not keep referring back to samson and thinking āoh he was written so much betterā. like at least samsonās motives made sense there. why the fuck is krampus doing anything beyond his own goals. actually scratch that, he isnāt doing shit, which brings me to another issue ā it felt like most of this book was filler. nothing ever fucking happened. and if something massive was built up, it either was incredibly disappointing in reality, or instantly reversed by the necessity of the plot, making what i had just read pointless. like yes weāre doing this massive showdown where weāre supposed to be worried for krampusā¦.. but also heās fucking immortal. so why do i care if he gets hurt when youāve sent up he kind of canāt die. 70% of this book is krampus bitching, 20% is jesse bitching, and the remaining 10% is where anything actually interesting happens. the plot is literally this: krampus and gang go to a location. they encounter shenanigans. they rest up. jesse winges about dillard. krampus and gang go to another location. wash rinse repeat. and krampusā motivations beyond āspreading cheerā and ākilling santaā donāt exist, meaning you have no idea why the fuck heās just pissfarting around for most of the story.
can you tell i didnāt like the plot?
so much of this book is just slewfoot but written by someone who has never written a book ever in their life and has also never been taught fundamentals in literature. because why do both books feature a human who is first an unbeliever and is hard on their luck when x supernatural creature appears and decides to help the main character get revenge on all those who have wronged MC, then supernatural creature turns MC into one of them, murder murder, lots of lore dumps about their origins in folklore hell, even the way krampus & samsonās dialogue appear are so earily similar i wouldnāt have been surprised if a twist was that they were straight up the same guy.
i am so thoroughly disappointed and annoyed. disappointed because i know brom can do better, as evidenced by my love for slewfoot, and annoyed because i wasted so much time on a book that couldāve been likeā¦. 100 pages shorter.
iām actually pissed what the fuck was that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death
brittanyejuneau's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.25
So good! Definitely for those who want and inspirational āChristmasā kinda story but need some action sequences to get you there. Not for the light hearted some scenes and topics are graphic and may be triggering.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt