The Deathless Girls
Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Published by: Bellatrix books
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback (Waterstones exclusive)
My Rating ★★1/2
Published by: Bellatrix books
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback (Waterstones exclusive)
My Rating ★★1/2
They say the thirst for blood is like a madness.
On the eve of her divining, the day she’ll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar. Forced to work as slaves, they are stripped of hope, power, and everything they’ve ever known. Until Mira, a fellow captive, gives Lil someone to live for – and someone to love.
But when the sisters hear of the mythical Dragon, more monster than man, who accepts girls as gifts, their desperate existence is threatened once more. In this brutal world of dark desire and destiny, the girls must fight to save their own flesh and blood – even if that means accepting a fate beyond death…
On the eve of her divining, the day she’ll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar. Forced to work as slaves, they are stripped of hope, power, and everything they’ve ever known. Until Mira, a fellow captive, gives Lil someone to live for – and someone to love.
But when the sisters hear of the mythical Dragon, more monster than man, who accepts girls as gifts, their desperate existence is threatened once more. In this brutal world of dark desire and destiny, the girls must fight to save their own flesh and blood – even if that means accepting a fate beyond death…
My thoughts:
The Deathless Girls was recently released as part of a series from Bellatrix books, pulling new focus on the girls forgotten to literature. This is an origin story of the brides of Dracula, from the award-winning, bestselling author Kiran Millwood Hargrave. I read the author’s debut adult novel The Mercies early on in 2020 and enjoyed it, so went into this one with high hopes.
The writing style was good - and yet nothing excitingly special. The worldbuilding worked okay for me, just like the characters did (eventually) come to life in a nice way. And yet, it felt as if the landscape stayed pale for much of the book. It took a frustratingly long time for the plot to get going. Things became exciting and dark in the last third. The whole first half of the book seemed to lack menace and pace, but the whole thing was pretty well-written and intriguing enough to keep me reading.
My main issue is that vampires weren’t even mentioned until page 189 - that’s over 50% of the book done before we even get a glimpse of fangs! I mean… really? Don’t promise me Dracula’s brides and then give me nothing to do with Dracula for 70% of the book.
The Deathless Girls explores the origin of Dracula’s Dark Sisters with menace and malevolence. It was a quick read but ultimately a disappointment. What Hargrave ultimately delivered was a very lacklustre piece of gothic style fiction. This book just wasn’t for me. Gorgeous cover, but The Deathless Girls doesn’t deliver until it’s final pages.
It’s a dark YA tale very much in the vein of other modern fairy tale reimagining’s. This is a book that aims to give agency to the story of the brides of Dracula from the original Dracula novel.
The premise is great, and I was really looking forward to reading this. But all in all, I feel that this didn’t quite fulfil its brief. Despite a few really enjoyable moments in its final pages, The Deathless Girls is pretty much as lifeless as all those bodies Dracula keeps impaled on his castle gates.
Overall reaction:
The Deathless Girls was recently released as part of a series from Bellatrix books, pulling new focus on the girls forgotten to literature. This is an origin story of the brides of Dracula, from the award-winning, bestselling author Kiran Millwood Hargrave. I read the author’s debut adult novel The Mercies early on in 2020 and enjoyed it, so went into this one with high hopes.
The writing style was good - and yet nothing excitingly special. The worldbuilding worked okay for me, just like the characters did (eventually) come to life in a nice way. And yet, it felt as if the landscape stayed pale for much of the book. It took a frustratingly long time for the plot to get going. Things became exciting and dark in the last third. The whole first half of the book seemed to lack menace and pace, but the whole thing was pretty well-written and intriguing enough to keep me reading.
My main issue is that vampires weren’t even mentioned until page 189 - that’s over 50% of the book done before we even get a glimpse of fangs! I mean… really? Don’t promise me Dracula’s brides and then give me nothing to do with Dracula for 70% of the book.
The Deathless Girls explores the origin of Dracula’s Dark Sisters with menace and malevolence. It was a quick read but ultimately a disappointment. What Hargrave ultimately delivered was a very lacklustre piece of gothic style fiction. This book just wasn’t for me. Gorgeous cover, but The Deathless Girls doesn’t deliver until it’s final pages.
It’s a dark YA tale very much in the vein of other modern fairy tale reimagining’s. This is a book that aims to give agency to the story of the brides of Dracula from the original Dracula novel.
The premise is great, and I was really looking forward to reading this. But all in all, I feel that this didn’t quite fulfil its brief. Despite a few really enjoyable moments in its final pages, The Deathless Girls is pretty much as lifeless as all those bodies Dracula keeps impaled on his castle gates.
Overall reaction:
