I'm going to skip straight to the point; this book was fantastic!

This is the author's debut novel and I honestly can't believe it, because the writing was exceptional! It wasn't an easy read, but that isn't a bad thing because it was jam-packed with information and the writing was super detailed. The imagery was powerful and really drew me into the story. If you love books filled with beautiful descriptions and a detailed history, you'll love this read!

It was a little slow to begin with, but please don't give up, because once it picks up you won't be able to put the book down. I thought the plot twists were really strong. Sadly, I saw them coming, but I honestly didn't mind too much because they were still super exciting. It was all very clever and well thought out.
I also loved the two perspectives, and I cannot flaw how either of the main characters were written. Oh, and a special shout out to Kája who lit up any scene they were in... literally and metaphorically.

Overall, I can't say enough good things about this read. I loved this book so much and I'll definitively be rereading it in the future!

I was sent an ARC of The Lights of Prague by the publishers, but this hasn't impacted my review in any way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for a free e-arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.<br /><br />I'm sorry to say this book did nothing for me. <br /><br />Jarvis's plot and ideas sounded thrilling and exciting and intriguing, but the things Jarvis finds interesting about these ideas, the things she focuses on in her writing, are not what I find interesting, or are not delivered in a savvy and interesting way. Her attention to those things is overbearing, with full repetition of ideas and thoughts, as though I would have forgotten what the characters motivations and desires or the themes and point of the story are as I read along. Ideas like "slavery is bad and this creature doesn’t deserve to be enslaved" were fully stated the moment they were dropped into the story, and they didn’t evolve from there, just repeated until the plot resolved them. Her prose style also did not appeal to my sensibilities, frequently falling into metered sentences of similar length that did not draw me in or create a compelling reading experience. <br /><br />Domek's desire to use his intelligence instead of his muscle, and his interest in mechanics, feel like window dressing rather than deep character building or driving motivations, because they're not deeply explored or manifested. He largely solves the problems of the plot through muscle not wit, and his attempts to be smart create blockers instead of solutions in the plot. He also seems to have never pursued his mechanical or intellectual passions outside of his work as a lamplighter. It's stated he also works part time for his relative's watchmaking business, but it's hardly there in the landscape of his life or the story. When he is called naïve, I think we are meant to take that as someone misunderstanding or underestimating him, but his choices and actions as he attempts to do the smart and right thing are truly naïve, his intellect underdeveloped. <br /><br />I didn’t care about the lore built around the pijavica, or the physical descriptions. The White Lady was far more interesting to me, but had much less presence in the story. I do prefer ghosts and spirits to vampires, so choosing the read a vampire-centric story is my own fault, on this count. <br /><br />As for intrigue and thrill, it just wasn't there. The intrigue between the pijavica families fell flat because we had no embedded point of view characters to experience real back and forth. Ora's agenda was her own, and she only engaged with the intrigue shallowly, and to her own ends and the ends of her human friends. The families' agendas were kept hidden from the reader so they could be revealed to Ora and Domek as part of the mystery plot, or as surprises, but like so much else in this book, by the time we got the reveal, I didn’t care, or it drowned in discussions. Jarvis has a habit of halting dramatic tension in scene after scene with lengthy conversations. This was not the terse walk-and-talk of The West Wing or the banter-while-fighting of the Princess Bride. Movement in the scenes frequently ground to a halt while the characters had moral and philosophical debates to decide their course of action. It sucked the drama, urgency, and thrill from the story. With a string edit, this book could have been 100 pages shorter and 100% snappier.<br /><br />I'm sure there's an audience for this book, more ideal readers who will find a great deal of pleasure in these pages. Alas, I am not one of them.
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This is a wonderful blend of fantasy, Czech folklore, and history. Domek is a vampire-hunting lamplighter and Ora is an aristocratic widow with a dark secret. There are whispers of a cure for the pijavice, and Domek and Ora are determined to stop the plot before the pijavice take over Prague. This book is very atmospheric and magical, blending lots of local folklore and with history as well as aristocratic squabbles and power plays from both humans and pijavice. It has lingered with me ever since I finished. Where's the sequel?!

Unfortunately I couldn't connect to the story and I had to DNF it. Usually I wouldn't write a review for a book I didn't finish but in this case I need to for my ratio.

I just want to clarify that it's not a bad book, I just personally didn't connect to it

A historical fantasy with beautiful descriptions of Prague after dark, but unfortunately it did have a little bit of trouble keeping my attention and I ultimately didn’t finish it.

The tone of the book is excellent, dark and gothic. But I’ve recently found that when the book depends so much on the characters’ relationship I need more of a slow burn romance or more depth from the characters early on to really enjoy it and it didn’t really feel like the chemistry had developed enough between our two main characters before they got fully involved. I wasn’t as invested in them and with no particularly eye catching supporting characters (despite the glorious environments the characters found themselves in) my lack of investment in the romance made my attention wander. Maybe if I hadn’t been struggling with a bit of a reading slump the last few months I would have been able to more quickly click into the book and could have allowed for a lighter book keep my attention. The book has been sitting in my “try again later” pile for a few months and I truly believe I will give it another go, but not for a while.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book!

I wanted to enjoy this, but just found it wasn’t a right fit for me, I loved the reference and detail of Prague, made me feel like I was there, the writing was wonderful, just wasn’t my read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

2.5/5

In the beginning I thought I was going to love this then, as the story continued, I found myself enjoying it less and less and by the end I was just wishing it was over.

I like the premise: Vampires in Prague basically. The story focuses on Domek, a lamplighter who hunts pijavice and Ora, a pijvica who doesn’t feed on humans. It’s like a gender flipped Buffy the Vampire Slayer only twenty years ago I had more time for the ‘vampire who doesn’t feed on humans’ trope because it didn’t feel so overused. Also, the only reason Angel didn’t feed on humans was because he was cursed and given the chance, he would have been sucking human blood rather than poncing around the sewers for rats.

As characters, Domek and Ora aren’t bad. Domek comes across as being a bit dense at times, which is why he’s betrayed so many times and despite being told it was going to happen, he doesn’t see it coming. He’s all brawn and very little brain. I don’t buy their relationship, though. They have already met before the story starts but it all seems so rushed. It’s like Jarvis needed them to have sex so that he could find out what she was to hit the betrayal plot point that there wasn’t enough build up and I felt nothing for them as a couple.

The plot in itself is fine. Domek comes across a vampire plot using Will O’ The Wisps and Ora is investigating reports that vampires are being cured. The setting is gorgeous and the opening descriptions of Prague at night are beautifully atmospheric. It’s the reason this is getting 2.5 and not 2. The main issue is that the plot isn’t very well executed. The pacing is all over the place and the writing is often clumsy. There are a lot of info dump-y descriptions and they very often feel out of place.

The rest of the characters are… well, they’re there. They are plot conveniences who mainly only show up when the story needs them. This means that they don’t come across as real. Anton, for example, is supposedly Domek’s childhood friend but they have so little interaction throughout the course of the novel, I just don’t see it. The only other character that doesn’t feel like a plot point is the Will O’ The Wisp, who comes across like a less sympathetic Clef from Foundryside.

The Lights of Prague was a highly frustrating and deeply disappointing read. I had heard positive things about it before I requested it so I was rather looking forward to reading it but it fell completely flat for me. The pacing was bad and everything was just so surface level, there was no depth, especially with the characters.

Just another disappointing historical fantasy to add to an ever growing list.

What an exciting rollercoaster! Lamplighters work in Prague, keeping the city alight. But they are also on watch and guarding - against an array of monsters. Vampirric, ghostly, witchlike monsters the like of which you've never seen.

Domek Myska is a lamplighter, a good man, who finds himself the master of a will o'wisp, and is drawn into a plot to make the pijavica invincible. He will try to thwart them, with some help from his friends, but the task may be beyond him.

A great read, I really enjoyed it. The 'monsters' are portrayed in a very believable and spinetingling way. The final battle was gripping - I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a resident of Prague, I have quite high standards for fiction set in my adopted city, and this enthralling novel delivers. One of the best things about this city is its blending of modern reality and the whisper of ghosts of the past. This story will transport readers directly to the shadowy version of Prague, where magic — and intrigue — are real.

An excellent gothic novel to whet the appetite until EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE releases. Jarvis' historical urban fantasy set in the haunting streets of Prague is compelling, addicting, sexy and, most importantly, exciting. If it's not on your pre-order list, I urge you to rectify that immediately.

This was amazing. A Gothic novel of vampires and hunters set in beautifully evoked historic Prague. The style is denser than similar novels but it fits the time and place IMO. I loved the MCs. I had serious Castlevania meets Penny Dreadful vibes. This was exactly what I was looking for. Please gods let there be more.