vigil's reviews
189 reviews

Transmuted by Eve Harms

Go to review page

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

a quick eerie jaunt into my first plath, and i’d say i honestly enjoyed it. i didn’t really know what the book was about going into it, so when it slowly began to descend into something much more sinister i was surprised, but not upset.

i think this book can be allegory for so many things at once due to it’s ambiguity. coming of age and grappling with the life set out for you, agency, independence, criticisms of society, premature suicide, etc etc, but i think i received enough from this book to let it be whatever ambiguous allegory it is.

Content Warnings

Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.

just not in the right headspace i think… will definitely return to it though. probably later in winter.

An Encore of Roses by S.T. Gibson

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

this was cute but like i said in my dowry of blood review alexei is window dressing to me :/ this gave him some interiority i think. more elaborate window dressing.

the writing of this is noticeably stilted and clunky, but s.t gibson had a lot of information to deliver in one little substack article, so i’ll let it slide. at the end of the day it was nice seeing them all together.

Content Warnings

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this book had so many layers to it, especially in regards to the abusive relationship with constanta, magadalena, alexei, and dracula. constanta and dracula's relationship was easily the most interesting, followed by magadalena, and constanta. alexei was sweet (more innocent i suppose), but mostly window dressing to me.

i think a stand out moment of this book was the call back to the very beginning when

dracula answers constanta's question of where the servants were with "fled or dead," the same phrase he uses when describing his past lovers, and inadvertently drawing a line between them, and the role of a servant, something he forces the three of them into during the years of their relationship. that contextualized a lot for me, and really hammered home for me (and eventually constanta) how much he needed to go. it's very fitting that she was the one who killed him. it would have been very unsatisfying to me if it were anyone else.

the prose was more dead on than it wasn't for me, though it had its fair share of questionable lines, especially in terms of dialogue which had a tendency to sound more modern than it should. i think the author gave as much information as necessary to the book they wanted to write, and that was largely enough for me, though i think it dampened alexei's introduction which felt, and stayed abrupt throughout the rest of the book. some of it was due to his naturally extroverted nature in what is, in my opinion, a very introverted book, but a large portion of it was due to his lack of intrigue or development. contrastly, i think s.t. gibson did great with magdalena.

i like the inclusion of the sex scenes, and wouldn't have minded more.

Content Warnings

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

there wasn't any portion of this book that disliked reading, though i have mild hang up about the ending. the pacing of this book is consistent, though depending on the angle you view it from, could be seen as slow, medium, or fast, depending on what you count as plot progression. The language is very accessible considering it's a classic, but not simplistic or dull. i think the dialogue, especially between carmilla and laura, is the standout.

the plot began to trail off upon the introduction of the general, though the answers to the mysteries throughout the book were fully delivered (a bit too fully, you could say) in a very sussinct manner that, once finished, quickly pushed you towards the climax.

the ending was, in my opinion somewhat anti-climatic, but i understand that was the style of the time. i do think that in making carmilla more of a vague outline of a monster, rather than something present, both added and detracted from the climax, which really need more of her actually in it.

i really found carmen maria machado's introduction to be informative as well as her footnotes, though they often leaned towards comedy.

she's totally right on one front however. there's no way that wasn't an orgasm.

i had a fun time with this book though i think if it were longer, it would've made the book much better. especially the climax.

Content Warnings

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

this didn’t resonate with me like i believed it would. due to the stop and start of each portion due to laila’s deaths my investment in the narrative was slashed, and i had to start all over again. i think the emotions it was attempting to stir within the readers was largely inaccessible for me during the majority of this book, until perhaps the last quarter, where everything came together perfectly in my opinion. i only wish the earlier seventy five percent was as cohesive.

Content Warnings