I LOVE this terrible, dreadful book

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  • Опубліковано 14 жов 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 120

  • @TheCourtsOfLove
    @TheCourtsOfLove Рік тому +15

    Okay so I ended up reading this and I loved it, like it has so much to offer that's unique but also stuff that if you've ever read a Vampire novel before you're used to the themes, but the brutality of this novel is something I haven't seen in Vampire fiction yet except for Castlevania the animated series. This book had a great story, I liked all of the characters except for Gabe but he did end up growing on me after a while, the villains too were unique for Vampires, I haven't seen archetypes for them in the past which is refreshing, I was expecting the "Lovely dovely one that's actually evil." or the "Just straight up monster with no instinct one." but the main vampires and their different houses/abilities is unique.
    Most of this book was great for me, def picking up the sequel.

    • @angrycup8708
      @angrycup8708 9 місяців тому

      Couldn't agree more

    • @alexfilma16
      @alexfilma16 9 місяців тому

      I’m almost halfway through the book and loving it too! My only complaint is the occasional bit of dialogue I find to be a bit edgy, but it’s not a big deal at all.

  • @alexh4522
    @alexh4522 2 роки тому +21

    Can't believe the framing device is... an Interview with a Vampire...

  • @06Yvonne06
    @06Yvonne06 2 роки тому +13

    I enjoyed this book a lot and actually never took Gabe too seriously in general 🤣. He's not cool and successful- I thought that was the point which makes it a special gothic vampire story 🤣. I am really looking forward to the 2nd book - oh and OUI, didn't you know that the only (late) real Mistress of Goth - Anne Rice (and forever in my heart) - established France as the home of all sophisticated brat princes like Lestat de Lioncourt was. Empire of the Vampire is heavily inspired by Interview with the Vampire & The Vampire Chronicles. It's the kind of vampire story Kristoff wanted to tell - in his own way, as you enjoyed so much 😉

  • @LiteratureScienceAlliance
    @LiteratureScienceAlliance 2 роки тому +24

    This is the closest I have ever gotten to maybe wanting to pick up this book 😂

  • @Amoscrts
    @Amoscrts 6 місяців тому +3

    Gabriel is a himbo! That’s a perfect description, lol. I’m on page 348 and I’m loving the crazy, ridiculously dialogue and the great story.

  • @RSorei
    @RSorei 2 роки тому +3

    If you find the time to finish this book, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the rest of it in a part 2! This video is amazing :'D

  • @Arsp846
    @Arsp846 3 місяці тому +1

    Had to come and make a comment 🤣I finished this book and HAD to see what other people were saying about it because I had the best time with this very very very stupid book (also glad I read this book since it's how I found your channel). Its so derivative, and I was able to suspend my disbelief and write a lot of it off until it devolved in the the plot of THE DIVINCI CODE??!

  • @poorni4742
    @poorni4742 2 роки тому +25

    Can you make a list of bad but good but baD books ? 😅

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +7

      That’s a cool idea!

    • @vitoriar8753
      @vitoriar8753 2 роки тому +2

      "Baby Teeth" makes the list for me 😂😂😂

    • @vitoriar8753
      @vitoriar8753 2 роки тому

      @@BooksRebound IKR!! I started reading because of her review, the more appaled she seemed the more it made me want to read it tbh 🥴🥴 haven't regretted it so far, it's really funny in a twisted way

    • @Nixx0912
      @Nixx0912 2 роки тому

      @@BooksRebound Atleast Cindy made it intertaining. I felt disapointed she wasn't cooking though 🙃

  • @Repulsiastorm
    @Repulsiastorm 2 роки тому +32

    As an Australian and on behalf of Australia, I would like to apologise for this absolute abomination.

    • @Berd-Wasted.
      @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому

      You could just discredit or disown him right?
      However the law works

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +7

      Hahaha I truly appreciate that. You gave us Heath Ledger

    • @Nixx0912
      @Nixx0912 2 роки тому +2

      Remember it cout be worse, I'm Polish we are responsible for 365 days...

  • @wulfbana
    @wulfbana 2 роки тому +18

    the "poor little himbo lmao" made my day!! i have an unironic fascination with badly written books, so thanks for the "recommendation" 😂 also looking forward to hear your thoughts on twilight, the ultimate badly written book imo!
    and why do i feel this is a ramped up version of a vampire chronicles/witcher crossover fic that somehow survived the big Anne Rice Fanfiction Purge?

    • @mikkareads
      @mikkareads Рік тому +1

      Oh God, I haven't thought about Anne Rice in ages... I used to love the vampire chronicles when I was an angsty teen in the late 80s/early 90s, but when I got to "Memnoch the Devil", I bowed out. And the whole fanfiction debacle was ridiculous. Then came her Christian phase, and at that point, which as an atheist I wasn't interested in.
      But before I looked her up just now, I wasn't aware that she had died in 2021.

    • @emrysthefirst7778
      @emrysthefirst7778 4 місяці тому

      This book is anything but badly written. It sure is edgy as hell but definitely not "badly written".

  • @ChloeFrizzle
    @ChloeFrizzle 2 роки тому +3

    I agree with all of your criticism here, great review! Alas, I was unable to find the fun in this book that you did

  • @ivy8091
    @ivy8091 9 місяців тому +2

    I’m not even 100 pages into this and I’m glad I found this video. I couldn’t figure out why it was rubbing me the wrong way. The pictures of the characters in the book make them appear so stately and sophisticated and then you have them talking crudely about balls while simultaneously calling each other terms like “little kitten”, VERY CONFUSING and definitely more queer than the writer himself realizes LOL. I mean nothing against it but the characters seem to be at odds with themselves and the hyper masculine thing is just off putting. I also found that the setting descriptions are, at least in my brain, awkward. When he was talking about the vampire hunters village or whatever it’s supposed to be I was so confused. Like, are the buildings on top of these pillars? Are they spaced apart? Is there platforms or are they just resting atop pillars precariously? Idk trying to imagine some of his setting descriptions was clunky and not very seamless.

  • @MarinaUz
    @MarinaUz 2 роки тому +5

    Oh lol, that was such a fun review! I also really enjoyed this book but there are a lot of things in it I didn't think about until now 😄

  • @_echointhevoid_
    @_echointhevoid_ 2 роки тому +2

    "and the third book that will never come out" okay I wheezed at that part

  • @carlacannizzaro1643
    @carlacannizzaro1643 2 роки тому +4

    I admit I'm already predisposed to reading all things vampire, but wasn't sure I needed to pick up another book that isn't top notch. However......the second you mentioned that there are OTT illustrations in the book I dropped it in my shopping cart. Thank you for a hilarious review!!!!

  • @ALias-jg3mb
    @ALias-jg3mb Рік тому +4

    I don't typically watch an entire vid comprising a single-book review, and I'm not sure what made me click on this, but I'm so soo sooo glad I did! Willow, this review had me chuckling & belly-laughing from start to finish. Love your enthusiasm in describing your experience of it! How 'cringe' it was, the 'male power fantasy', the absurd framing device which you likened to the MC being the narrator of his own audiobook... all of it and the examples you cited had me just 😂😂😂. ❤ your channel /content.

  • @pavelhanak8998
    @pavelhanak8998 2 місяці тому +1

    Finally! Exactly my thoughts about this book! Kristoff is shouting all the time that his books are definitely not YA, but it seems he thinks what makes book an adult book is over the top swearing and making everything super goth and evil. The prose is terrible, you can really feel like he thinks he’s writing some really poetic, dark melancholic piece of writing, but is all just feels awkward. To me, it feels like a 15 y.o. uber-goth boy thinks he’s creating the ultimetate gothic bloodbath masterpiece, but he’s just not skilled enough. I mean… it super cringe when there are stuffs like “dark as sin/ red as blood, cold as a tombstone etc.
    On the other hand, it’s catchy and a page turner. I can’t really tell if I love it or hate it.

  • @robertocatrone715
    @robertocatrone715 Рік тому +2

    I love your review.
    This book is definitely my guilty pleasure read. This is a perfect example of B-Movie in book form.

  • @panikiczcock2891
    @panikiczcock2891 2 роки тому +3

    I love your reviews of bad books lol. Have u read Anne Rice's books? They're better written but there's high drama for sure :P

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +4

      I’m actually planning a big vampire books list video for Halloween and I don’t think I have time to actually read one of her books beforehand lol whoops!

    • @panikiczcock2891
      @panikiczcock2891 2 роки тому +1

      P.S.: Oh how I feel the last part. I discovered I was nb this year really and a couple of months down the line I can't get enough of japanese delinquent stories abt edgy, amazing looking guys fighting each other bc they're gender af lmao

    • @panikiczcock2891
      @panikiczcock2891 2 роки тому +1

      @@WillowTalksBooks totally understandable haha I rec the first 3 in the VC series

    • @ANT96-x8d
      @ANT96-x8d Рік тому

      I have a facepalm moment when I read that someone on Amazon complained about the book for “lacking lgbt.” That’s like criticizing an epic fantasy series for not having a character with Tourette syndrome. It’s just so ridiculous.

  • @rachel1021
    @rachel1021 2 роки тому +2

    Seeing and listening to your beautiful self talking about this is way more entertaining. Also wow your hair looks so soft and I wanna touch it like the creep that I am. >.> But to get back to the book, I still might give this a try someday just so I can laugh at it.
    Btw I'm listening to What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. It is a queer retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher and I think the protagonist is nonbinary? Either way it's good so far and you should check it out if you haven't :)

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +1

      You find so many weird and wonderful horror stories!! I’m truly amazed, thank you!

  • @hebep
    @hebep Рік тому +2

    I am usually too shy to comment in videos but this made my day. I read the book at the beginning of this year and for me it was like a gamer from league of legends wrote it. Why do they need to insult their mothers so much? 😂 is there another personality in the book besides the insulting super macho one?
    Besides that, I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the setting, the fantasy world,..

  • @Berd-Wasted.
    @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому +2

    *"I want you to take this coin to market, and buy me a **_#$%@_** to give."*
    That... is cool.
    I mean like, not edgy cool, it is... but... I mean...
    IT IS.

    • @Berd-Wasted.
      @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому

      It's like *G1 Transformers...*
      Sometimes the cheesiness... is cool?
      I don't know.

  • @ocean_and_spring
    @ocean_and_spring 2 роки тому +3

    One of my biggest joys of literature is getting to read something truly bad and still having fun! You could read and discuss the most amazing literature but sometimes you have to sit down with the trash for fun.

  • @06Yvonne06
    @06Yvonne06 2 роки тому +2

    Oh, and you laughing dirty in this video made my day 😂

  • @IssyWatson
    @IssyWatson 2 роки тому +2

    I can't WAIT to steal this from you and attempt to read it now!

  • @zofiabochenska1240
    @zofiabochenska1240 2 роки тому +2

    There are so many beautiful quotes in this review, I can't choose which one made me laugh the most.
    Won't read the book for sure, but can't wait for the Twilight reveiw!

  • @mikkareads
    @mikkareads Рік тому +1

    Well, it took ten months after this video, but I'm reading it, and yeah... I'm halfway through and agree with you 100%. It's ridiculous, it's a wannabe alpha--male fantasy, a lot of it makes no effin' sense, but it's so much fun. It's like Anne Rice goes YA and back again, borrowing ideas left, right and center. Our half-vampire hero getting turned on by menstrual blood, for example? "Memnoch the Devil", anybody? But make him so edgy that it would make every teenaged edgelord proud.
    As you said, the hundreds of err... Ducks. The hundreds of ducks given (or not given) clash so badly with Kristoff trying for that air of French vampire aristocracy. At times, I refused to believe that this is not intentional. That Kristoff did not write this tongue-in-cheek, making fun of the genre tropes.

  • @melanieandbookstacks
    @melanieandbookstacks 2 роки тому +3

    Well that’s going in my basket

  • @reconditematter5942
    @reconditematter5942 2 роки тому +3

    awesome channel, great taste! i can tell i would enjoy if you hosted a book club 🥳

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +2

      Aw thank you! I do host a monthly book club for my $10+ patrons :)

  • @52andtuck
    @52andtuck 6 місяців тому

    So far this is the most informative review on the book. I appreciate the clarity. I was on the line about reading this book but I'm a fan of the overuse of fuk to make it funny. I want to approach this book the way u did. I liked the part about the cover being similar to how the book was. Over the top. I feel like the people who really hated the book, didn't get it.

  • @Natalie_is_typing
    @Natalie_is_typing Рік тому +2

    Okay, you've convinced me. It's gonna be the most fun one star book I've ever read

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  Рік тому

      Haha that’s exactly what it is. Maybe that should have been the video’s title

  • @mikkareads
    @mikkareads Рік тому +2

    Now I sort of want to do a hate-binge.

  • @robertocatrone715
    @robertocatrone715 11 місяців тому

    Did you ever finish the empire of the Vampire?
    If so, did you or would you do a review?

  • @Avzigoyhbasilsikos
    @Avzigoyhbasilsikos Рік тому +3

    Loved the book but this was hilarious too

  • @caleba9648
    @caleba9648 2 роки тому +1

    I bought a copy of this from a charity shop and now I’m glad that I did. I love unintentional horror comedy.

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +2

      Hope you love it! I also got my copy from a charity shop. Glad I didn’t buy it full price

  • @janina6206
    @janina6206 2 роки тому +4

    i loved this video. this just makes me want to read it, tho. i'm in the mood for good cringe.

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +1

      Sometimes the mood for good cringe hits just right

  • @circlesofflame
    @circlesofflame 2 роки тому +1

    This is utterly brilliant - thank you so much for taking the time to make it!

  • @alyciia97
    @alyciia97 2 роки тому +5

    Actually, de León is a Spanish name, not French. But great review! I had this book on my tbr for a while and you made me want to pick it up!!

  • @NTWoo95
    @NTWoo95 2 роки тому +1

    I saw this book the other day and have been meaning to look into it to see if it’s worth picking up…..I’m still not so sure haha
    Also the idea of an otherwise impactful line being ruined by unnecessary edgy swearing is why I couldn’t enjoy the Castlevania Netflix series as much as I wanted to

  • @pollyfoofoo8703
    @pollyfoofoo8703 2 роки тому +3

    You cracking up had me cracking up lol

  • @Salaciousreader
    @Salaciousreader 2 роки тому +8

    The ‘oui’ parts drove me crazy!! But I loved this absolute dog shit book too!!

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +2

      Haha well put!

    • @Zach64612
      @Zach64612 Рік тому +2

      you guys know you can just like something right? you don't have to like pretend you're above it all the time. It's ironic that everyone's shitting on the cringe main character and then pretending they're too sophisticated for a book like this. like you can just say you like it, no one's gonna jump out and snatch up your gay card from you. it's fine.

  • @rosesleeps
    @rosesleeps 5 місяців тому

    Ok, you sold me on this book. Gonna pick up a copy from my local library. It sounds so gloriously dumb 😂

  • @jasonblodgett8769
    @jasonblodgett8769 11 місяців тому +1

    One of the few reviewers who gets this book 😂
    As for cribbing from better artists, There’s bits of George Carlin “on religion” in there. At least put the ideas in your own words Jay.

  • @marleyfa845
    @marleyfa845 Місяць тому

    I loved this book so much! I know there`s some critic regarding the author choosing magical religious tattooing. Also the story is a little cringe at times. But this book is great. The premise is great. The characters are likable (even edgy kid Gabriel). The art in between is fitting.

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  Місяць тому +1

      It’s a masterpiece of how to do everything badly with zero craftsmanship whatsoever, but in the end you’ve still got something fun

  • @RedcoatMic24
    @RedcoatMic24 Рік тому

    "Doesn't give off heat or light or something and no one seems to know why"
    I think whilst the characters don't know why, I think the reader can guess. Gabriel references that days before "Daysdeath" he was woken by the Earth trembling then days later a shadow covered the sky. Then he says "Abbot Khalid said a great star had fallen in the east across the sea, and it's fires raised a smoke so thick, it blackened the sun".
    So I think we can safely assume it's the dust that's been shot into the atmosphere by an asteroid. Although I'm not far into the book either so maybe there's some mystical reason why after all.

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  Рік тому

      idk the book was rubbish so

    • @RedcoatMic24
      @RedcoatMic24 Рік тому +1

      ​@@WillowTalksBooks I'm enjoying it so far. It's not high literature but it's interesting reading, which for me is far more important.
      Not sure about the framing of it yet, I hated it at first but not so bad now.

  • @gingerdoll
    @gingerdoll Рік тому

    Amazing. Even the title is bad.
    Brb, I'm off to give this book a good run for its money

  • @bonnieheckman5049
    @bonnieheckman5049 2 роки тому +1

    Willow, I laughed along with your video today. I really am going to take a pass on this book. Nothing puts me in a reading slump quicker than a stinker for a book. I thought as I watched today, are you really going to continue to read this stinker? Answer received. Maybe it will be made into a movie....huh, who knows.

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +1

      lol yeah I actually filmed this video over a week ago and update: I did read a bit more but I didn’t finish the book

  • @tanninsandtales5682
    @tanninsandtales5682 2 роки тому +3

    Twilight is hilarious!

  • @Guguchina
    @Guguchina 2 роки тому

    I love a good 'bad' book, especially when it seems like a parody of the genre but at the same time takes itself so seriously. I haven't read his books that he wrote on his own, but read the Illumiae files series, which he co-authored. Have you read it? I don't remember them being as hyper masculine as this - I actually enjoyed it unironically, though I was an edgy teen when I read it, and the main characters are all edgy straight teens saving a spaceship or something. Or it might be because that series was co-authored with a woman and it had some female characters too... so it ended up less male fantasy and more edgy teen fantasy?
    It also has a unique framing device, being made up of documents like reports and email transcripts and some pages like word art. Very edgy, but also sometimes you can see the authors have struggled to tell certain scenes. They try to work round it by telling some scenes as surveillance reports which basically narrate the scene as an omniscient narrator but more boring

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +2

      Haha he seems like the kind of guy who could do with a woman co-authoring or editing his work to tone down all the cringe masculinity

    • @Guguchina
      @Guguchina 2 роки тому

      Also thanks for reading out the coin toss scene. That was amazing hahahahaha

    • @Guguchina
      @Guguchina 2 роки тому

      @@WillowTalksBooks hahaha yes. It seems co-authoring Illuminae was probably one of his best decisions....

  • @Berd-Wasted.
    @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому +1

    Oh my goodness...
    I just realized something...
    It's like the *Steven Segal* of... literature _(if you could call it that)_
    Just call any campy, Toxic Masculinty, Cringe book a:
    *"Steven Segal."*
    Or whatever terminolgy that involves *Steven Segal.*
    Would be funnier if you made a playlist after that.

  • @meris8486
    @meris8486 7 місяців тому

    Got any recommendations for queer vampire books?

  • @Berd-Wasted.
    @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому

    Huh.
    I just noticed the Author's name is a part of my name.
    Hn..
    Doesn't help I wrote cringe.
    _cough_ *My tenure in Wattpad* _cough_

  • @civil109407
    @civil109407 2 роки тому +1

    I was laughing so hard I choked 😂😂😂

  • @JonathanLivingston-u2c
    @JonathanLivingston-u2c 7 місяців тому

    I looove reading cringe for fun, but this one crossed the line. It's just not fun for me at this point. Just too much of a manly man story😅

  • @Berd-Wasted.
    @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому

    Huh...
    A 14 Year Old who has love for a franchise of his choice, has better storytelling than a... *"Author".*
    ...that means...
    I HAVE BRAGGING RIGHTS, LESS GO.

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому

      Nor this

    • @Berd-Wasted.
      @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому

      @@WillowTalksBooks I'm practicing being a writer.
      Looking at failures all around to avoid.
      That's why I have "Bragging Rights".

    • @Berd-Wasted.
      @Berd-Wasted. 2 роки тому

      @@WillowTalksBooks Uh... sorry if I weirded you out.
      Yeah.

  • @dillon1037
    @dillon1037 Рік тому

    I can't do bad in a good way with literature for some reason, I had to bail on this one halfway through and I think it has made me a little more wary of genre fiction that attempts prose.

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  Рік тому +1

      Righto

    • @dillon1037
      @dillon1037 Рік тому +1

      @Books and Bao oh God. I didn't mean this to come off as a criticism of you or anything. Love your reviews and I found you describing the book infinitely more entertaining than the book itself.
      I definitely can see how it'd have the same sort of appeal as a wild B movie.

  • @danielaayers3449
    @danielaayers3449 Рік тому

    Honestly, and sadly, the use of f*** in this book sounds a lot like lower income Australian male……

  • @filiblackthorn
    @filiblackthorn Рік тому +1

    are you a man or a woman?

  • @juand1rection
    @juand1rection 2 роки тому +2

    This book has Shadow The Hedgehog (game) energy

  • @juand1rection
    @juand1rection 2 роки тому +1

    Oh my God, you’re gonna read Twilight hahaha. Out of curiosity, have you seen Castlevania on Netflix? The show is done but I hesitate te recommend it bc the creator is apparently a terrible person but I had a lot of fun watching it

    • @WillowTalksBooks
      @WillowTalksBooks  2 роки тому +2

      I have and I really enjoyed it. I was a huge fan of his comics as well. Got rid of them when I heard the news

  • @NeptuneCheeseCake
    @NeptuneCheeseCake Рік тому

    Also stole the framing device from interview with a vampire.