I was surprised to start this and realize it was a Vampire book. I was very excited when I realized this but was unfortunately let down. There were some great pieces of the story, but overall there were so many plot points thrown together, it felt like the author wasn't quite sure what they wanted to accomplish.
As the timeline switched between the past and present, I was much more intrigued by the past and how Collette became a vampire and her struggles to adapt to the world. This seemed like a full story of its own and would have been great as the main focus.
The present timeline felt more like a forced murder mystery that just so happen to have Collete included. It felt like there was no focus to the present timeline as she tried to run the school, sate her hunger, figure out her students' issues, and provide therapy to others. When her timelines collided by chance, there was a massive gap in the information Collete could have collected and the meeting of someone from her past seemed like a throwaway thought.
The ending was where it was really getting interesting and then it just ended. I would have wanted to know what happened after the last main event,

The narrator for the audio book did an amazing job. Their characters were distinct and enjoyable. It was really only the audio that kept me engaged in the story, and even then, there were a few times I had to go back and try again on a few pieced I zoned out on.

DNF @ 50%

I was so excited for this, but man was it slow.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is as bland as oatmeal cooked in water, full of misogynistic takes, AND to top it all off it's racist, numerous times. Horrible.

I wanted to love this book, I even went as far as to tell someone "hey there's an adult vampire book coming out, I think it's going to be great!" (when I was waiting to be approved), I have now become a liar.

Even after seeing reviews that warned this was more literary fiction that fantasy novel, I remained interested because I enjoy literary fiction, it still sucked.

The writing is boring, because our protagonist is boring. Her thoughts about morality are unoriginal (which in some cases would be fine), but as the writing itself was also boring, her thoughts aren't presented in a unique or poetic way, they just... are. This feels like the author read Anne Rice and thought, "hey, I too can write a book that is mostly ponderings and retellings about the past and immortality and the human condition and it will be great" and all she managed to write was a dirty dishwater version of it.

The premise was deceiving. It's also a shame that such a lovely title and cover have now been used on such a wasteland of a book.

Save yourself the time and energy. If I could give zero stars I would.

Wow, I really enjoyed this dark semi-gothic tale of eternal life and the metaphysical questions it raised about being human. To be or not to be, but here our narrator has seemingly no choice in that matter. I often think of how cruel or bad we are to each other as a species (and to this earth) and Holland uses her narrator to really explore both the harmful and the beautiful moments that make up a--and, in this case, many--human lifetime. I thoroughly enjoyed the heady hopefulness creepy throughout this tale and the audiobook production was fantastic. Thank you for the advanced listening copy and digital galley in exchange for an unbiased review.

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland was a beautiful debut novel that takes the vampire narrative to a different place. I've read a fair number of vampire books before, several of which have taken a historical angle. and this book felt entirely new, which I loved!

Collette LeSange runs a fine arts school for young, privileged children in New York state, but she struggles with something far greater than the challenges of teaching the youth: She is an immortal, changed by her grandfather long ago, and she feels herself transforming yet again, driven by a hunger she does not recognize.

This book expertly balances multiple timelines and a range of characters to convey Collette's complicated past and mystifying future. This was a wonderful first novel and a great read for those who love historical fiction and a bit of the supernatural-- thank you to Flatiron Books for the audiobook ARC!

This is beautiful as a standalone and perfectly wrapped up, and yet I am also sobbing and desperate for a sequel, too. I am so filled with feelings. This was.... Beautiful. I'm gonna make everyone read this.

Is your life a choice or decided for all eternity? An immortal love for those around her and a desire to make a difference are the driving forces of this mysterious main character. Written in dual timelines, art comes alive through life experience and children in a sweeping novel about choices and consequences.

Aside from some unsavory situations (Dead cats...ugh...), the imagery of this book was beautiful. Listening to the audiobook provided depth in language. I recommend this for those who love to read between the lines and contemplate.

The God of Endings was a different kind of vampire tale than the ones that I have read in the past. I did like the concept of the whole book and how Collette's life entertwined from the past to the present. I also liked the bond that Collette had with Leo and how she seemed to care for him more as her own son and not a student of hers. This book had many plot twists of deception begining with Collette's past with her grandfather, and Leo's mother's lies that come full circle. This is a great read for anyone who likes a good story about vampires, historical fiction, and realistic fiction.

One of my pet peeves about historical fantasy & paranormal fiction/urban fantasy in general is that there is often a lack of realistic integration of prominent historical events, like the World Wars and other large events. The God of Endings ensured that as a partial historical fantasy, our main character and those around here were personally impacted by the historical events they were living.

As Anna/Anya/Collette struggles with her fate forced upon her, I appreciate that Holland's take on immortality is lonely, painful, and heartbreaking and that to combat all of those, one must be willing to sacrifice so much. This debut promised and delivered on the introspection of living and all of us in this world, before and after.


***spoilers: I did spend most of the book, terrified that she was going to munch on some kids only for us to get a kid munching scene as the ending. Thanks for confirming my fears!***

This was fantastic! I listened to the audiobook, wonderfully performed by Saskia Maarleveld, while following along in a print copy and loved every moment I spent with this epic story. This is a vampire story but it is a different kind of vampire story than what you might be used to. The story is told from Anna/Anya/Collette’s point of view both in the past and in the less distant past of 1984. This immortal woman has seen many things and has done more than a few things she struggles with. I found it easier than expected to empathize with this reluctant immortal.

This story takes us back to Anna’s childhood when her community is plagued by sickness. Anna is saved by her step-grandfather and eventually remade into an immortal. She leads a very lonely life at times but is able to connect with a few key individuals throughout her life. The chapters from Anna’s past are alternated with those from Collette’s more recent years where she runs an exclusive preschool. There is one boy and his family in particular that has captured her attention. She cares deeply even though the things she must do to survive sometimes may harm others. I couldn’t wait to see what she was drawn to and the choices that she would make. The story was beautifully written and at times impossible to put down.

Saskia Maarleveld was the perfect narrator for this story. She captured every aspect of this immortal character throughout the many stages of her long life. I thought that she also did a great job in bringing the secondary characters to life, some of which were children. I liked that she was able to bring out the emotional aspects of the story. I am certain that her performance added to my enjoyment of this wonderful story.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. This is an epic story that took me on a journey that I will not soon forget. The writing pulled me into the story almost immediately. It is hard to believe that this is the author’s debut novel. I cannot wait to read more of her work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Flatiron Books and Macmillan Audio.

Pub Day Book Review 🩸

The God of Endings
By Jacqueline Holland
New release today!

Synopsis:

From the publisher: Collette LeSange has been hiding a dark truth: She is immortal. In 1834, Collette’s grandfather granted her the gift of eternal life and since then, she has endured centuries of turmoil and heartache.

Now, almost 150 years later, Collette is a lonely artist running an elite fine art school for children in upstate New York. But her life is suddenly upended by the arrival of a gifted child from a troubled home, the return of a stalking presence from her past, and her own mysteriously growing hunger for blood.

My Thoughts:
I honestly wasn’t expecting quite so much philosophy in a vampire tale! This story is much more than meets the eye. It’s beautiful and tragic, and honestly left me thinking about life and it’s meaning. Although it’s a vampire tale, it has Frankenstein vibes in its themes.

I thought the dual timelines were necessary in the telling of this story, but the modern day story dragged a bit for me. Colette’s past was so propulsive. I especially loved the historical fiction elements in France during WWII. It was a bummer to leave that story and go to a benign story in the modern timeline. However, the timelines wrapped up perfectly and made for a fantastic ending!

I’d recommend this book if you’re looking for something outside the box with a philosophical bent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this ALC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.8 stars

Collette LeSange is a vampire like creature that runs a high end preschool in New York. She is immortal and drinks blood but can be out in the day. The book goes over her current life and back through her past. Collette gets involved in the family life of one of her students and his erratic parents.

I enjoyed the book but it was a bit too long.

I enjoyed the narration by Saskia Maarleveld.

I was so excited when I started this. It seemed so promising with a dual timeline for the main character. And for perhaps about the first quarter of the book I was somewhat excited and interested, then the excitement just began to shrink, and I was left feeling underwhelmed. It felt like there were a lot of loose ends that weren't tied up, characters that were addressed and made important that didn't quite fit in and it felt like the events were just happening without any real purpose.

Anya is a centuries old vampire, struggling with her hunger and her loneliness. Every other chapter we learn Anya’s origin story that begins in rural New York in the 1830s, her transformation by her grandfather and her subsequent abandonment in the Carpathian Mountains.

We also follow Anya in 1980s New York, after decades of wandering the world. Anya is now Collette, and she has suffered loss after loss of everything she ever had loved. Her bloodlust is spiraling out of control even as she is finding love and joy in a sickly young boy.

A thoroughly enjoyable book about the healing power of art, of love lost and found and about acceptance and forgiveness. It is about the decisions we make to conceal our inner demons and obsess over the crosses we bear, as opposed to deciding to love ourselves, accept change, defeat fear and face challenges that may lead to joy and home.

Thanks to Net Galley and Flatiron for the ARC. This started so strong and I felt compelled to see what happened next. I would say though, that while I love the use of Vampirism to tell historical events, I thought there were one too many flashbacks. I like that our main character isn't making history but living with it. That is a nice touch. It has been a long while since I've read The Historian, and this feels like a love letter to that great book. The narrator was exceptional. She had so much work to do and she did it effortlessly.

I was expecting this to be a slightly different take on Addie LaRue. However I found this to be a quite tender story that just happened to have a vampire trope. I enjoyed the Slavic folklore in this as well. I thought the audio was absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one.

We rarely think of vampires as reluctant killers, cursed to wander this earth for all eternity and feed off our blood. They’re largely presented as monsters in novels and films.

If you want a different perspective, I encourage you to come meet Collette.

The God of Endings gave me Addie LaRue vibes. They are vastly different stories, but their similarities are apparent. Aside from the obvious immortality angle, there is a focus on art in both books. Interestingly, the last vampire book I read also involved art and, in both, the vampire was an artist. I really like this concept, as it gives the vampire more depth and reminds us that they were once human; that something human lurks in them still.

I found this novel to be a wholly engaging historical fantasy. It never felt as long as it actually is! I felt great empathy for Collette and all she endured or chose to avoid for the sake of her fragile heart. The author did incredibly well painting a sympathetic character who struggled against the hunger that ruled her.

I do have some mixed feelings about how events played out as things concluded. The author happened to address a very delicate topic, but used a manipulative character in this situation. I think it’s realistic, as I’ve known manipulators who have used the issue in a similar way, plus I’d been all for Collette sinking her teeth into this particular character, had she chosen to. So it’s hard for me to explain why the course taken in the story was distressing to me. Despite my uncertainty on the author’s final choices, I do think the last of the line was profoundly haunting and the perfect way to end this immersive tale.

I am immensely grateful to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my advance listening copy. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

The God of Endings follows an immortal woman of many names; Anna, Anja, Collette. We follow Collette through her past while also switching off and on to the present day (for Collette at least). Collette goes through many hardships, but in the present she is facing an unexpected hardship: her new and insatiable hunger. While she struggles with her hunger, she also gets caught up in a family that has almost as many lies and secrets as Collette herself.

The God of Endings was a bit slow at first, but soon I was hooked. The story was interesting. Even briefly mentioned characters got me attached. The writing was beautiful.

This book was also a rollercoaster. The constant switching between Collette's past and present was interesting but did occasionally get hard to follow.

My major bone to pick with The God of Endings was how dreadfully long this book was. It had so much filler and unimportant details, while some plot points were rushed or incomplete. There should have been plenty of time to tie things up considering how long this book was.

Despite my complaining, I enjoyed this book and it was a solid 4/5 stars.

If you like:
-The saga-like vibe of Circe that spans over many, many years
-vampires!
-mythology

Then give The God of Endings a try.

Vampires stories will be as immortal as they are. And it's because you have so many liberties to take when telling a vampire story.
This one had similarities to Interview With the Vampire. It was beautiful and thought provoking. The dual timelines alternating between past and present helped set the tone for our character and her struggles/changes.
I liked how she accepted Czernobog by the end. I think it was the only way to end her story, although those last paragraphs do make me want a sequel. So maybe that wasn't the end?
I had no trouble getting into the story, the writing captivated me early on. I loved this book exactly for what it was. Vampires. Historical fiction. I don't think you can go wrong. But this exceeded expectations.

And I think the narration added to the beauty of this story. Her voice was everything!

I absolutely loved this. It was haunting and evocative and elegant. The pace was propulsive and the characters well-formed.

It reminded me of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE, but I enjoyed this story much more. I would say it's an upmarket or bookclub fantasy, fitting on the shelves next to THE PASSAGE or DEVOLUTION.

And that cover -- gorgeous!

Highly recommended. Loved.