I wanted to love this book so bad!  Queer vampires are my favourite, and Lucy is easily one of my top vampiric characters. I've read my fair share of vampire novels, but sadly, I had to DNF this one because I just couldn’t bring myself to want to pick it up. This was my first Kiersten White book, and I'm fairly certain it will be my last, as I simply didn’t connect with the writing style. 

 

I found the book unnecessarily slow-paced and somewhat predictable. The potential was there—the concept and material were promising—but the execution fell flat. The dialogue often left a bad taste in my mouth, and I just couldn't push through to finish all 400+ pages. 

 

If you're drawn to the premise of this book, I’d recommend exploring more authentic and beautifully written vampire fiction, such as S.T. Gibson's work (which has abundant queer representation) or ‘House of Hunger’, a unique vampiric tale by a WOC author. For a retelling that specifically features Lucy, I’d recommend giving ‘Reluctant Immortals’. And of course, if you haven't already, I’d also recommend checking out ‘Carmilla’ and ‘Dracula’ 

 

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.