I loved this book so much. Thank you netgalley and flatiron for letting me read it. ❤️

The god of endings follows the eternal life of anna, from 1830s rural new york into the german forests, mountains of france, beaches of egypt and back to new york in the 1980s. Eternity unasked for, the novel follows Annas struggles with both change and stasis, while being always shadowed by memories and dreams of czernobog, the slavic god of endings, who has taken from so much from her over her two centuries.

I loved holland's style- it never felt stilted and you could really feel anna's struggle, as well a her love for the children in her school, and her horror with her own predicament. I fell in love with her, and leo, and while im a little conflicted with the ending.....i cant help but love it anyway. Highly recommend, great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great fantasy novel and was very gripping. This was an enjoyable and great read.

Loved this novel! The prose is simply dazzling. I have not read anything even remotely like this since I first started reading Anne Rice so many years ago. The main character is so wonderfully complex and human and her struggles to cope with grief from the standpoint of an immortal being were so insightful. The settings are so evocative and the story so complex, I had a very hard time putting this down. A truly outstanding effort from this author and I look forward to recommending it to all my library patrons. Just an absolute treat that I was sorry to see end.

I do not like historical fiction, I don't know why I picked this up -- it was very much not for me. But I can see why folks would enjoy it! It is written very well.

This is a very interesting, maybe more traditional take in vampire lore. I was very interested for the first third of the book. I particularly liked the shift back and forth in time as a way of pacing the story and shedding light on the more current timeline. About 150 pages in it really began to drag for me. I found myself not caring at all about the timeline of the past. It felt like there was only the main character Anya/Anna/Collette and very little interaction with anyone else consistently which made it hard to connect to anyone. I don’t know if these characters were meant to be like able but I didn’t like any of them. Getting through a book when you don’t like any of the characters is hard. Even when a character is meant to be an antihero you still find yourself enjoying their story or their journey. This one was not so much.

Lovely, sad and strange this has to be one of the most unique vampire novels I've ever had the pleasure to read. Its so rare to encounter an author who takes the trouble to examine what immortality would really look like. How days might pass, how priorities might shift, desires, hopes for the future. Collette LeSange's strange, melancholy journey through time called to mind another meditation on immortal life, Jim Jarmusch's equally beautiful "The Last Lovers Left Alive" with its art loving, literary minded vampire couple forever fighting the malaise of unending days. One doesn't often think of the desperation that would inevitably come if you were given unending time. Time to do everything, see everything, experience every sensation. The longing for rest, an escape, even for a little while, from the constant struggle that is just daily life might be enough to drive you mad.

Beautifully written, steeped in the kind of loneliness that can only come from being a unique creature in a world of ignorant savages this was one that will stay with me for awhile.

This novel jumps around in time between the 1830's when Anna is turned into a vampire by her grandfather, and the 1980s when Anna now Collette runs a fine arts preschool in upstate New York. In the present, Collette is suffering from loneliness and ennui as she builds a connection with a particularly gifted young student, Leo. She is also battling her growing hunger and uncertainty about what is happening when she sleeps. It's been years since I read Anne Rice's vampire novels, but this feels similar in tone and content and was well-written and a slow-burn meander through one woman's struggles with immortality.

Wow! I could not put this book down. Definitely one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. The God of Endings is a captivating story about a woman who is immortal, and her struggles with the world and all it’s drudgery, tragedy and loneliness. I was drawn in immediately and loved that the ending of the book, was truly a beginning. Many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read and review this wonderful book!

The God of Endings was one of my favorite reads of 2022. This book is beautiful but in a dark and atmospheric way (also featuring vampires). I savored every minute of reading this; it’s beautifully written and a book I plan on reading again and again.

"The God of Endings" is one of those lovely surprises -- the book that you find yourself to recommending for all kinds of readers whose tastes don't normally overlap. My book club -- a bunch of female journalists at NBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Harvard Business Review -- was looking for something female-led with literary writing craft. A friend who loves vampire books wanted something that skips the familiar urban fantasy tropes. Another friend was on the hunt for ambiguous female protagonists -- not villainesses, not Mary Sues. A third has exhausted the recent burst of Russo-Slavic fantasy books (Leigh Bardugo, Naomi Novik, Evelyn Skye) but wanted something with a long-winter, imperial Russian flavor.

But the primary merits of this book are Holland's tremendous control of writing craft and her just-in-time pacing. At the sentence level, it's a lovely book for fans of literary fiction -- Holland is unhurried as she unspools a story over centuries, anchored in the preoccupations of a vampire who runs a modern Montessori pre-school. And while "vampire tucking children in for nap time" sounds ominous, the entire book is lightened by the frank, appealing contemplations of Holland's heroine, who is constantly calculating her margin for physical survival while clinging to her own ethical boundaries, even as she begins to experience blackouts and fugue states.

Despite Holland's unhurried rhythm, the book's pacing is thoughtful, delivering puzzles and revelations in small, precise moments that build into a satisfying and fresh solution to an accumulation of troubles and mysteries. Strongly recommended.

Riveting plot combines with evocative atmosphere in THE GOD OF ENDINGS. Honors some vampiric trope while subverting others, Holland crafts an engaging story populated with complex and intriguing characters.

I read a physical galley of this and I have to say I was enthralled through the entire novel. The story was gripping, new and novel... it was everything I look for in a mystery novel but infused with a history litfic... I really enjoyed this.

Much more than a vampire story, but a thoughtful look into heartache and finding hope despite it. I took my time with this one... It’s so emotionally gripping and atmospherically dark. The book felt slow at times, but it’s one of those stories that you want to curl up and savor — and take it all in. The writing is well done and even lyrical at times. There were a lot of deep thoughts on the meaning of life and what we deserve; or what the world deserves from us.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was a sweeping story of life and growth, telling the main characters journey through dual timelines: one focusing on her becoming a vampire and moving through the world as time passes, and one "current time line" of her in the 1980s teaching children. The book is moving, lyrical, and so beautifully written that there are times you just want to pause and savor the language. Highly recommend.

I'm not a fan of vampire stories. This one was pretty good with very good writing and good pacing, and a style that worked for this story. Fantasy fans will likely enjoy this one.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

I received an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This novel is a strange mix of spooky and charming. I’m not usually one for stories about vampires, but this book did a beautiful job exploring themes of immortality and kinship through its vampire protagonist— a more thoughtful and inviting sort of vampire novel. It was well-written and well-paced— not too fast, and it never dragged. I recommend this for anyone looking for an atmospheric autumn read.

I am somewhat hesitant when it comes to vampire stories, as I've been severely burned in the past by some that I've read, but Jacqueline Holland does deliver with this story about an immortal vampire's current life as a teacher of young children and how she got to this point in her life. With very few missteps, with what I felt to be a significant and an admittedly odd inclusion of some WWII-era vampiric vigilantism that felt way out of character, and some handwaving of time passing during long periods, this is a good story told very well.

I especially enjoyed the modernish day story, and the inclusion of myth and semi-mysticism that occurs as Anna tries to figure out what is going on with her unusual cravings and prophetic dreams. The backdrop of this happening while trying to teach children adds tension and I always loved coming back to the present.

A solid recommendation to fans of vampire novels!

This book took me a bit to warm up to it, but as I settled into the comforting prose I found myself more interested in the main character's plight. I could see the ending coming about 2/3rds of the way in. Well written and well-drawn characters.

I adore vampire stories. This book was beautiful and well-written, and a great take on an age-old creature. Along with this, the writing is lyrical and absolutely gripping and beautiful. I adore it.

I rarely read vampire stories anymore, and truthfully I did not realize God of Endings was such a tale. However, I’m glad I didn’t know because I found this to be a memorable reading experience which I would have missed if I’d known the “immortal” being was a vampire.

Holland skillfully weaves together multiple threads of Colette’s life, from her beginning as Anna through the Anya days and finally to her current life. I enjoy stories that slip back and forth between very different times, but often find a lack of attention to detail and consistency which muddles to story. None of that to be found here! It seems the author is a meticulous plotter and that care and skill form a solid foundation for beautiful descriptive and narrative writing.

The is a book to be savored, perhaps read over a rainy autumn weekend, wrapped in a blanket in front of a fire.

Highly recommended.