Vampire fans hungering for something original will love this blend of historical fantasy and paranormal thriller.
The first installment of Villyard’s Immortal Vampires saga features a centuries-old vampiric virtuoso violinist and animal lover married to a bisexual Wiccan veterinarian from New Jersey.
Abraham Levy is a young violinist in 1841 Prussia. Finding opportunities to further his training is extremely difficult for the Jewish Abraham, as the famed Berlin Academy of Music won’t accept Jewish students. When a rich (and eccentric) patron named Ludwig becomes enamored with Abraham and his playing, the sickly violinist thinks his luck may be changing—but when Ludwig turns him into a vampire without his consent (thus saving him from consumption), Abraham realizes his problems are just beginning. The vampire who turned Ludwig—a sadist named Thomas who may have been a torturer during the Spanish Inquisition—believes Jews aren’t worthy of becoming vampires and vows to kill Abraham (“I noted he wore what resembled red Inquisitor robes”). Ludwig and Abraham barely escape Thomas and his cronies, thus begins a deadly game of hide-and-seek in which Abraham attempts to live a “normal” life while staying hidden from his psychotic pursuer. Living in 2018 New Jersey with his wife, Destiny, and their many animals, he contemplates Destiny’s desire to have children, but their lives become further complicated when Thomas finally finds Abraham after decades of searching. The novel presents a nonlinear narrative told from multiple points of view. The initial hook is the quirky storyline; Abraham and Destiny are the antithesis of stereotypes, as are the supporting characters, particularly Ludwig and Destiny’s lesbian Wiccan mothers. Deep readers will also appreciate the subtle political commentary regarding the ignorance and intolerance spreading throughout the world. The novel’s only real flaw is a minor one: Some scenes are revisited from different perspectives, resulting in a repetitiveness that negatively impacts momentum.
Vampire fans hungering for something original will love this blend of historical fantasy and paranormal thriller.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9798986833071
Page Count: 414
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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