Immortal Woman’s Existential Journey

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland is a literary dark fantasy novel that tells the story of Collette LeSange, an immortal woman who has lived through the centuries. Born as Anna in the early 1800s, she contracts tuberculosis and is granted eternal life through vampirism. The novel spans from her girlhood during the 1830s to the 1980s, alternating between her past and present life. In the modern day, Collette is an artist and the head of a fine arts school for children in upstate New York.

The God of Endings is a thought-provoking and beautifully written debut novel that offers a fresh perspective on vampire stories. Jacqueline Holland’s exploration of life’s meaning through the lens of an immortal character is both haunting and captivating. While the book's slow pace and philosophical depth may not appeal to everyone, those who appreciate literary dark fantasy and existential themes will find it a rewarding read.

Thank you Jacqueline Holland and her team for allowing me to listen to this ARC. I loved every second of it. Best book I have listened to in a long time.

What an interesting read.

This is truly unlike any vampire story I've ever read before. Instead of being outright scary or horror or even thriller, it's just a beautifully told literary fiction novel about a woman really coming to terms with her immortality and what that looks like as a vampire. There isn't a whole lot going on, but it was never boring, and I think that's due to how many other timelines we get. We see what she's been up to over the past 200-ish years and that adds so much depth and history to her character and the book itself. Just beautiful!

I really enjoyed this. I can see why some people wouldn't enjoy it, but it captivated me and I had an amazing time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audio copy. Thank you also to Flatiron Books for an advanced physical copy. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, my very own.

A great new vampire tale! I found this book to be really engaging and I loved the premise. I'm a sucker for anything gothic and vampire so this story was right up my alley. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author.

Just didn’t enjoy this. I see other people loving it but I found it a downer, too dark, I wasn’t pulled into the world. I have friends I would recommend it to but I can’t get into it.

For not being a "strange" novel, and I'm using strange in the same vein as Lydia Deetz, this is one strange vampire novel. Classic horror it is not, and I'm glad I didn't save it for my October spooky reads.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy myself. An avid Francophile, I enjoyed Collette's dual timeline journey between past and present. As most dual timeline stories go, I did end up enjoying the present more than the past.

Is it smart for a hungry vampire to run a daycare? What happens when past meets present? In the midst of all this, we have bad parents. This feels like several genres rolled into one, and while it wasn't done badly, I wanted a little more from this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

The Book is well written and yet it's overly long and a bit boring. I thought that it started strong, but I had a hard time staying with it. I think there were some major structural issues here and it could have used a harsher edit and a cut of 50 or so pages.

There are so many elements in this book that I wanted to love and the writing is absolutely beautiful. But there's something I couldn't connect with. This didn't deterred me from recommending this book to my patrons. I wanted to hear their thoughts on it. Many loved it, and perhaps I'm missing something. But from many different adaptations of vampirism in literature, I did enjoy the classic qualities of vampire with a twist. I will still recommend this book to those gothic literature lovers, and perhaps give another go in a year or so to see if I come up with different perspective.

Thank you to the publisher for this ALC. This book was such a beautiful mediation on life and the audio was just stunning.

Collette LeSange isn’t exactly the person that she appears to be. To most she is a talented, but lonely, artist who owns and runs an elite French preschool in New York in 1984. In reality her name is Anya and, due to a decision made by her grandfather in the 1830s, she is a woman who has faced pain, loss, heartache and many tough decisions since being given eternal life. These life experiences have led to Collette staying away from close relationships; she knows these relationships will ultimately lead to sadness. When a talented, neglected little boy named Leo enters her life, Colette soon finds herself enmeshed in his life and the lives of his family, and things don’t seem to be healing in a good direction.

I absolutely loved The God of Endings. The form that the story takes–jumping between her past and the future, ultimately coming together at the end–is extremely effective at telling the story of Anya and her path to becoming Collette. The characters are not only well developed, they are honest and relatable, and it was easy to fall into their lives. The God of Endings is full of emotion, suspense, action, and twists and turns; I could not put this book down. While Collette is essentially a vampire, I would not call this a vampire novel. The vampire aspect is such a small part of the novel; it instead focuses on the relationships and obstacles in Collette’s life, and it is truly a wonderful story.

Maarleveld’s narration of this novel was phenomenal. The voices used for the characters, as well as the emotion contained within, added so much to the characters, bringing them to life. I also liked the accents used for some of the characters. The narration brought with it emotion, suspense, and entertainment. My only complaint (if you could call it a complaint), which is one I always seem to have, is that the narration was a little slow, leading me to speed it up. The audiobook brought an amazing novel to life, adding to my enjoyment of the story.

I highly recommend The God of Endings, both the written and audio versions, to everyone; this is a must-read.

This book was interesting and it's a little hard for me to put my thoughts into words. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator, but did find the jumps back and forth in time a little confusing. It's very character driven and I didn't find myself as connected with Colette/Anya as I would've liked, but the writing style kept me absorbed in the story. I have a feeling that I will pick up on so much more doing a reread and will love it.

Not the first immortal woman story to come to prevalence lately, but a unique take on common motifs of genre literature that provide a refreshing springboard for a study of a character in isolation. Holland examines the life of a vampire from an almost purely mental standpoint, without delving too deeply into the more grotesque elements of being a vampire. Over time, we see the story of how this immortal life came to be and the many decisions that can shape what happens over decades.

THE GOD OF ENDINGS was such a unique story that held my interest the entire time. I love a book that features a vampire, and Collette is the vamp in this story.

I enjoyed each timeline that follows Collette into her past and present, and loved the audio.

*many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the gifted audio for review

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This book is about a vampire living in the 80s. The story goes between her beginning and the present. The idea was interesting, but the main character was not that compelling.

Jacqueline Holland's The God of Endings is a historical dark fantasy that stands strong as a 1st outing by an author. It follows Collette LeSange, an Arts School teacher in 1984 who began her very longlived life as Anya, a young girl in 1830's New York who had the gift of immortality foisted upon her against her will.

The narrative switches between Anya. who is slowly learning the ways (and costs of immortality) and Collette, who has found a way to find a balance of this life in 1984, when a series of events lead her to think the past is NOT kept in the past.

There are a couple of notes that I want to make here about the mythology of the book and the nature of Collette and her kind:
a) I do not think it is simple enough to say they are vampires; this is not a vampire story. There are plenty of creatures of lore out there that sustain themselves upon the blood of the living, and features we attribute to vampires do not stick to what Collette has been transformed into. It does not matter whatever type of unlife Collette has been changed into, but I feel that it is a but reductive to simply state this is a vampire story. Sure, there are elements of this story that harken to that of Claudia's from Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampure, but I think the only similar lines are coincidence of the idea of a young soul being offered the blessing/curse of immortality (and how they deal with that).
b) A good amount of the mythology takes place where the ancient worlds meet the modern era. There is this great discussion in the book about how old slavic deities (Ognyena Maria & Yarilo) were converted into Saints Margaret and George. In the center of this plot, the machinations of Czernobog drive the story

"“Like you, I have sensed the pursuit of both Czernobog and Belobog for most of my life—not singly, but as one; I have heard and seen strange and terrifying and wondrous things, just as it seems you have, but I have noticed a pattern—and this is a conclusion, mind you, so place no blind trust in it—but the pattern I have seen is that the Emptier must empty before the Filler can fill, a space must be cleared for a gift.”

One thing that hit me as I neared completion of this book (which was on Mother's Day 2023, was the juxtaposition of the motherhood that was taken away from Collette/Anya upon receiving the dark gift of immorality, and yet Belobog seems to be filling her life with substitutes in the form of children that find themselves under Anya/Collette's care.

This is a 4 star rather than a 5 star because the book feels incomplete - I know there is space for a companion book (perhaps from Ehru's POV) that can fillout the history and lore that was slowly alluded to, but never fully explained here.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan and the author for an early copy of this title for an unbiased review!

This book is one of those that I had a hard time deciding what rating to give! The book's concept seemed very interesting to me and I enjoyed reading about Collette's journey. She was an interesting character and very refreshing to see a female vampire. simply because she wasn't out there to get revenge or stalk teenagers and fall in love with them *cough* looking at you Edward *cough*!!
She was trying to make peace with what had happened to her and make the best out of it.

The only thing that made me question if this is a four-star or a three-star book is the length of the book. At part I felt we were going super slow and at the end, things were happening left and right. Also, I would have loved to get more into her relationship with blood and her diet. while this topic was touched upon I couldn't really see why she was avoiding getting her supply in a safe way resulting in some dangerous situations.

But overall, it was an enjoyable read and I definitely recommend it to anyone that likes vampire stories!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced listening copy of the god of endings by jacqueline holland. this was a gorgeous book. the main character was a vampire but it didnt rule the story which i think worked well for it. the point was not that she was a vampire it was her journey through time. her journey on her own to find herself and find something or someones that matter to her. as well as the constant run from the god of ending him self. i do not know how to spell it since i listened to the audibook but this was a beautifully done story. after listening over audio i think because of the accents it is preferable to reading it on print.

The God of Endings
by Jacqueline Holland
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Rating: 4.2/5.0 Stars

Collette is a vampire. She didn't want to become immortal. She's lived many lives. Now she teaches fine art to children. Something has changed. Her desire for blood is growing. Something from her past has found her.

Ms. Maarleveld did a great job narrating this 14-hour tale. Collette's accent is fantastic! The story itself took a bit to get me into it, as there is a lot of moving back and forth in time, and it just took a bit of time to get moving. Once it did, though, I was hooked. This is unlike any vampire story that I've read or listened to. I was surprised that Collette, a vampire, was a teacher and surrounded herself with humans. Not only that, but she was so very caring of her students-they weren't just meals. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for her poor cats.

I would recommend this novel to those looking for a vampire novel a bit different from Anne Rice. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this book!

I had no idea what to expect going in to this audio. The narrator was enjoyable which was the only reason I actually finished this book. I was so excited to receive an advanced audio and moved it quickly up my tbr. I now wish I had just left it where it was. I actually disliked the main character Colette/Anna. A sympathetic vampire great concept but a doormat one completely unlikeable.

The tale of Colette/Ana goes back and forth between time periods. I think the idea was to show you why she acts the way she does and to have you feel for her. It did the complete opposite. If you live long enough you will go thru horrible tragedies and if you live hundreds of years you will go thru more than most. Instead of growing stronger from each event Colette/Anna seemed to turn inwards. She doesn't seem to be able to make a decision. Then suddenly in the last eighth of the book she becomes who she should have been all along. But for me I already didn't care and I already knew how the book would end.

I would only recommend this book because the narrator was amazing. I will be looking up her other audio books

📖 ARC REVIEW📖

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

CW/TW: animal cruelty + death, blood, child abuse + neglect, child death, drug abuse, physical abuse, suicide attempt, antisemitism, grief + loss, death of a parent, miscarriage

The God of Endings is dark, contemplative, nuanced vampire story that follows Anna/Anya/Collette - an immensely tender, caring, nurturing pre-school teacher who also happens to be a vampire.

Told through our immortal narrator, the story centers around fear, humanity, mortality, grief, family, loneliness, and love.

This is a hefty, but truly captivating read that is difficult to categorize, but so very easy to feel connected to. I absolutely love the alternating timelines throughout chapters and how this weaves the the story of Anna together, allowing us to know and love the characters she gets to know and love.

This book really felt like several gifts wrapped up in one, because it’s full of so many gems that speak to the many lessons life offers us. And Holland [a fellow Jayhawk, rock chalk!] does an incredible job of holding our attention so that we can encounter them alongside Anna.

TLDR; I really loved this book + regret not finishing it sooner. If you’re looking for a new take on a vampire story that has immense emotional depth and incredible characters, this is the read for you!

I am eagerly looking forward to any an all future work Jacqueline Holland gifts us - I am a fan!

Even though this was published in March- shout-out to NetGalley, Flat Iron Books, and Macmillan audio for the audiobook in exchange for an honest [late] review 😅