such a sick (and twisted) debut novel. it reminds me a lot of the graphic nature of Copi from the 70s, actually - i don’t think a lot of novels in the genre that also have introspective prose are getting published with this level of on-page depravity very often. i will say that the endorsement on the cover of my edition that calls this an “apocalyptic american psycho” is VERY misleading!!! it is of course an homage to american psycho in many ways, but there’s nothing apocalyptic about it - i feel like a more accurate way to describe this book would be something like

“a more perverse and delicate American Psycho, transplanted from NYC to the Sunset Strip and submersed in layers of kitsch and mouse ears”

i could have done with maybe twenty more pages of exposition!! i wanted to know more about the final emotional dynamics for our main characters after the final action, even if it was via some sort of newspaper-style epilogue or something

once again - while i can read the reviews from people who hate this book and series, and see some real problems with the book, i simply don’t care because i love it so much. this book has everything: queen elizabeth and rudolph ii, shakespeare, covens, religious conflict, ancient vampire lineages, and more!

this book, and the full trilogy, deserved an editor and publisher who believed in the ability of readers to figure things out. couple reasons: one, some really unfortunate instances of telling, not showing, prevent the prose from being immersive or contributing to my suspension of disbelief. i think relying on readers to infer a bit more would have benefitted the story, which is related to my second qualm: two, assuming curiosity and intelligence among the readership would have made this so much easier to love! if everyone involved in developing the story had believed a bit more in the reader’s ability to learn on the fly, explore concepts and historical events they didn’t recognize, and infer meaning from context, the book would be 100 pages shorter and flow more smoothly. in my opinion!