While it was an interesting start, I can’t get over the insertion of Freud 😭 it’s a pet peeve of mine and just feels like weak writing when a historical fiction novel has a famous person become randomly inserted in the MC’s journey. Like you can’t give us the feel for the setting without name dropping?! Adof all people Freud giving relationship advice…FREUD 😑 Also trying to push past that, I finally gave up after having to hear about a painful erection and the depictions of the love interest…it’s not all male authors but it’s always a male author

After loving Bat Eater I was so excited for Baker’s latest novel. Sadly this was an utter disappointment. I didn’t care about the characters and the writing is painfully repetitive. I just kept feeling bored and despite the chapters being relatively short it felt like they dragged on. I’m officially calling it quits because after taking breaks and reading other things, instead of picking Japanese Gothic back up I’ve been searching my shelves for something else to read 🙃

Just bored and not vibing with the writing. I enjoy unlikeable characters but these were just unlikeable for the sake of being unlikeable; zero complexity or dimension to them. To make unlikeable characters interesting to read about you have to actually give them a ✨personality✨

Rating is 4.75 stars rounded up

Thank you NetGalley and Titan books for the eARC!

This is one of those rare books where I feel like my words just can’t do it justice for how much I loved it 😭

The writing was atmospheric and lush in its descriptions! Some lines literally made me pause and think: "oh this is so good I could cry.” I was rapt by the imagery and characters that no other book could hold my attention while devouring The Red Sacrament!

While the pacing had its slow moving ebbs and flows, I still enjoyed every minute of it. Getting to know these characters was such a treat, I mean vampires in Paris who put on a show every week and are like a family to one another; What could be more intriguing!

I will say the ONLY thing that kept this from being 5 stars is a very personal reading preference of mine, and that was the long chapters. Even when I was thoroughly enjoying the novel, seeing another long chapter coming up did make it difficult to read for longer/more than one or two chapters a day.

Overall a smashing debut that is perfect for lovers of vampire stories, historical & gothic horror, queer characters, and vivid world building! For now I will be ravenous as I await Hinkley’s secondary novel.