Dnf @ ???
I genuinely forgot I was still reading this and the library hold expired. I must have been nearing the end but maybe it was just so predictable I didn't notice. I don't care either way, it's not a good book. It's sloppy, it's flat, it's uninteresting. I'm done with this author

The plot of the book felt like if The Invitation was mixed with a BBC historical fiction melodrama. It's worse than either of the component parts and it doesn't really with as a whole

The second I realized this was about Elizabeth Bathory I should've ditched it. I think there's something. Bathory was used as a political pawn to demonize eastern europe and make them appear barbaric and this author just used her the exact same way except in a fantasy world that doesn't even make cohesive sense. Just because this passes the Bechdel test doesn't mean it's progressive, a necessary depiction of queerness, or certainly feminist in any way. I don't know if that's how the author sells these books but it's certainly what the industry tried to pin on them despite the underlining message being garbage
I didn't even hate this book before I started typing, it's just boring, it's been done, it's a rehash of more interesting and better told stories. There's a blood maid named Mina for heaven's sake, not one single original idea in between these covers