Although it has been mistaken for YA (I blame rhyming ’empire’ with ‘vampire’ – I still can’t get past that title), EoTV is not for the faint of heart. When referring to patience, is he referring to his daughter or to the literal definition of the word itself? Yes, it has been a year since this book was first released, and after all the hype, praises, and many special editions (oh so many), it’s only now I can read it. Dior is a girl who has survived the streets, leaving her with a gutter-sharp pragmatism, a bawdy wit, and courage that finds her charging headfirst into trouble as Gabriel rebukes her whilst chasing hellbent after her. Though I doubt that Jay Kristoff and his million copies sold will truly care at the end of the day what I have to say about it.

Gabriel de Leon, the last living vampire hunter, is held prisoner awaiting execution for killing the Forever King, Fabien Voss. But music, de León…” The vampire leaned forward, animated for perhaps the first time since their conversation began. It becomes noticeable after a while, but I found it quite effective in worldbuilding and setting the tone. I would not recommend nor gush about it, it would just be a thing for me, like all the books I read are.If you’re taking part it would be great if you leave a link so I can take a look at what you’ve chosen.

In hindsight I can see where you’re coming from – the homophobia to me read like a scathing commentary on the religious opinion of it – if you finished the book you’ll see that baptiste and Aaron did get a happily ever after (for now at least) and Gabe was happy for them. Empire of the Vampire, divided into six parts, suddenly transformed into something irresistibly awesome starting from part four. Let’s be honest – there are only so many times you can use the line “life has been hectic”, or some variation thereupon before it becomes boring.All hope lies with the last remaining silversaint, Gabriel de León, awaiting execution for the murder of the vampire emperor. The UK cover art is illustrated by Kerby Rosanes, who is, once again, one of my favorite artists who also did the UK cover art of The Nevernight Chronicles. It’s an injustice to many fantasy authors who sometimes struggle to even get a hardcover of their books published by traditional publishers. Most of my time reading this book was spent perched at the edge of my seat, unknowingly holding my breath.