I found this book as amazing as it sounded - absolutely fucking brilliant. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! I mean, who doesn't love a Dracula investigation that leads one into a world that looks like the movie "As Above, So Below" ?
Of course, I found this whilst browsing for greatly disturbing books - not really scary, just brilliantly written and thrilling to read.
Characters:
I loved the daughter - most of the book comes from her perspective. She seems like the very quiet character who never really speaks out but we hear he thoughts. She is never named but is on a trail and interwoven into a strange investigation into Vlad the Impaler. Oh my God, best 16 year old ever!
Themes:
Well, the best theme was history - guess why?
The main theme being Russian history means that we not only get a great horror insight - but we also get a massive historical investigation: archives, dead bodies, evidence of strange happenings etc. A very well maintained theme that balances the fiction with the fact. :)
Storyline:
I loved the section of the story that makes us believe that there is some fact in the fiction. I'm not gonna say what that particular event is because there are no spoilers here. But when you realise it, you will totally see it - also the part set in Amsterdam was absolutely brilliant. The entire build up to all of these grand investigations was the best thing about this fact/fiction blur.
Verdict:
I give this book 8/9
2/3 for characters: I feel like there should've been more perspectives rather than just mainly one character. I felt like we were limited in judgement and somewhat disconnected from some characters because of the narration.
100% for themes: I loved the historical factual and fictitious themes - they were amazing and I'm sure you'll find them amazing too.
100% for storyline: A great narrative with settings in archives, investigations etc. There's a certain quality of doing things a la Stevenson.
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