“Live as a monster, or die as a man.”

There was so much hype on this book and I did enjoy it for the most part. It seemed like this book was trying to be a lot of things for a lot of people and just feel a little short. World building was amazing though.

I really wanted to love this book, however, it was so depressing and I had to DNF. It may have been because of where I was at emotionally, however, a book without the hope of something positive was too difficult to finish.

I was shocked when I saw that this was a sampler, oh my goodness. A 400 pages sampler?! But when I say I flew through it, I really did. I am so excited for Empire of the Vampire and I cannot wait to read the rest of this book when it comes out!

I completely see the merit in this book, but it's definitely not for me and might be difficult to recommend! I would have to know the patron prior to suggesting this, for sure.

I am very glad that I had this excerpt on hand before I went ahead and purchased this book. After reading this excerpt I realized I just do not think this authors writing is for me. I felt as if there was not much plot for as long of an excerpt as this was and I never felt pulled into the story or compelled to keep going. I’m so glad so many people love this story, but unfortunately I just don’t think Kristoff is the author for me.

The epic tone is certainly there, but it didn't compell me to keep going and finish it this time around. The worldbuilding is really interesting, as it usually is with Jay Kristoff, but the characters felt so boring for some reason. I am willing to try this again at some point, maybe by the time the sequel comes out.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC of the first part that convinced me to get my own copy once it came out. I love the worldbuilding, enjoyed so many of the characters (but I'm here for Astrid and Gabriel!) and the ending is cliffhanger that Kristoff is excellently skilled at doing, enough to leave us fans agonizing for his next book.

It is hard to give a star rating to an except but this was interesting. It feels like a mix of Nevernight meets An Interview with a Vampire! I will go with 3 stars as I do want to continue but don’t feel so intrigued that I need to right away.

I am so glad I was able to get this preview. It definitely drew me in. This book is amazing for sci-fi fans and fans of the Witcher. It is a long book so it felt like I got 2 books in 1. I think this is definitely one of my top reads and I have recommended it to everyone. Thank you NetGalley for this advance copy in exchange for my review.

After reading the small sample I had found online I became extremely interested. This book did not disappoint!

It’s a twisted tale filled with blood, enchanted sword, a world filled with grotesque yet beautiful monsters and magic… and did I mention the swears?! Totally creative and I loved every single word. The characters were so well written I expected them to jump off the page at any second, especially when I held the book so close to my face that the pages fluttered with my breath during more than a few parts!

I want to say thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for approving me for this sampler of Empire of the Vampire. This has to be the longest sampler I read and I loved it and can’t wait to read the rest of the book. The characters are well written I love the storyline of it all with how complicated the characters are. It’s very descriptive and I love the smart remarks Gabriel has with other characters. This was such a good read im definitely recommending this book to others.

I really liked this one. After reading about vampires in fantasy romance for so long, it was nice to have a more gritty vampire book. This book is long but the world building and descriptions are necessary to bring the reader into the story. I liked this one.

I received the sampler of this. While it was a little slow to start and initially hard to get the world building all sorted out, I can tell this book is going to be amazing, gritty, and a wild ride. I can't wait to read the rest of it!

This epic fantasy was awesome. It was just the book I was looking for. Dark, gritty, and great characters and world.

Definitely recommend for dark fantasy readers.

Wow this was definitely generous for a sampler! It was interested to read something of Kristoff's that wasn't part of the Nevernight series (those having been the only books of his that I've read before this). The sampler definitely left me eager to sit down with the physical book, ready to immerse myself in this dark, bloody world of vampires. We all definitely needed a break from vampires for a bit, but now I'm happy to see they're making such a comeback!

This review took a long time to write because I kept putting off this book even though I was wildly excited for it. As a writer, I knew that Jay was going to bring me into another world and I couldn't afford for that to happen while I was writing/publishing my own novel. But the wait was worth it. It killed me that this was only the first 400+pages but thankfully I had the book on my shelf and could keep right on reading. It's hard, gritty, brutal, and absolutely beautiful. As always, he manages to mix magic and undertones of religion and politics seamlessly. There is nothing his dark humor, snark, sex, and violence can't manage to enhance. Another absolute masterpiece.

This was only a sample, but I did pick the book up on kindle on sale to read the whole thing. This scratched the vampire itch I’ve had for a while now. It’s brutal and gritty and that’s the way vampire books should be.

Five star rating for this book!!

Synopsis~~~ It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness. Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains. Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope: The Holy Grail.

I loved this book so much, it is dark and gritty and the writing flows so well! There are characters you love and characters you hate and the book transports you to a completely different world with its adventurous, entrancing plot.

4.5 star rating, definitely recommend!!

I could tell this was written by a man versus a woman. The profanity, the violence, everything. Not to say that that makes this a bad book, I will certainly continue reading but it felt extreme. I understand that fantasy is just that, fantasy. But I don’t think I’ve ever felt as a fronted with it as I have been with this sampler. I am invested enough to continue on, but will make a further evaluation once I finish the novel. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of the first 400 pages of this novel.

Jay Kristoff does it again!!! Think The Witcher and Interview with a Vampire had a baby and you get this magnificent piece of work. Blood, violence, sexiness, not for the faint of heart. If want old school vampire hunters, forbidden love, long ago supernatural bloodlines, then look no further!