"They say the thirst of blood is like a madness - they must sate it. Even with their own kin.On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.
Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts.
They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate..."
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a creepy gothic thriller and a must-read - taking the premise of his brides (who get a one line mention in the original tale) and telling readers their story should have been amazing. There's so much freedom to explore their backgrounds, which is completely open to any interpretation, and what it was like for them becoming creatures of the night. Hargrave has a nice writing style and I suspect she prefers to focus on slow-burn narrative as opposed to action, which is fine for backstory but not so good for keeping readers engaged. The Deathless Girls gets so caught up in said backstory that by the time the story moves past it it's all over, and those of us who came to see 'Brides of Dracula' are left feeling severely underwhelmed.
Vampires aren't even mentioned until page 189 - that's over 50% of the book done before we even get a glimpse of fangs! I mean COME ON. Don't promise me Dracula's brides and then give me nothing to do with Dracula or anything mildly vampiric for 70% of the book.
The f/f romance was fine - it didn't feel shoe-horned in which was nice. I liked Mira; she was strong in that silent-but-smart kind of way. Lil our protagonist though, I found her to be completely (yep, you guessed it) boring. I also thought that the romance was quite sudden with little build up.
Kizzy I really had a problem with though. Kizzy is perfect. So perfect that even when she refuses to do something which could potentially endanger the life of someone she considers family, aaaaall the characters smile and nod their heads in agreement because perfect Kizzy is perfect, and beautiful, and strong, and she is always right (because she's perfect), so we mustn't go against perfect Kizzy's wishes and will just go and nearly get ourselves killed and belittled because poor Kizzy has morals that must be upheld no matter the cost.
I enjoyed the introduction of the traveller element. It was unique, historically accurate and added to otherworldly and oppression motif.
Overall it had sooo much potential but it feel short. It should have been an intense gothic retelling with complex female characters navigating their powers and powerfully menacing villans. Instead I get a frustratingly slow burn book with a handful of clichés and caricature worthy villans.
Age Rating 14+. Deals with some adult themes such as rape, slavery and the oppression of minorities and women.
No comments:
Post a Comment