A Long Time Dead, (which took me A Long Time for me to read) is a story spanning centuries, filled with sapphic yearning, and a beautiful romance.
It follows Poppy, who wakes up a vampire one fateful day and a strange, cold woman looking after her. She’s whisked into a world of blood, death, found family, and true love.
I really enjoyed this one, it was definitely a Slow Burn (yes the capitalization is necessary) but boy once it got going it was an out of control fire. The found family dynamic of the Brood was incredible. I loved the trans and queer representation, and the romance between Roisin and Poppy was just *chef’s kiss*.
I highly recommend this one if you’re a vampire lover! 4/5 stars

Beautfiul lush gothic romance. Impossible to not fall in love with the atmosphere and the two main character. Such a great gothic vampire romance!

You know the scene in the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Darcy helps Elizabeth into the carriage and then flexes his hand in the way that makes us all swoon? That's exactly how this book made me feel...and it's Sapphic! With a chubby protagonist! And some gender nonconformity! Truly, this book is what I wanted the Vampire Chronicles to be. Characters who aren't perfect but are still lovely, lots of heartache and pining, triumph and love. I can't wait to read more from Samara Breger, I followed her on instagram immediately so I never miss a release!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. this was fantastic, just what i have come to expect from this author and look forward to carrying in my book store.

I requested this ARC after the multitude of great reviews from those opinions I trust. This is definitely not a type of book I'd typically pick up but I ended up loving the world building and storyline. This is gothic literature in its prime, mixed in with a sapphic romance.

A Long Time Dead follows Poppy and her sire, Roisin over many, many years. The best part of this novel was the way this story is told. It's beautiful and descriptive, and spends a lot of time building this world we follow. Although this book is long (464 pages), I was engaged throughout and loved the time I spent within this world. The romance between Poppy and Roisin was beautiful and although I was reading about vampires, I was completely captivated by their love story.

A Long Time Dead is a dark novel with little bits of lightness throughout. There's quite a bit of gore and dark themes, but there is also humour and love strewn throughout. This is a great novel for those looking for something different in sapphic literature. I'm already looking forward to what's next from Samara Breger.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bywater Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Fanny Hill with vamps. It's fun. It's light. It's an interesting take on vampirism, with our Poppy loving the whole thing, except that she really wishes she could eat cream cakes. If you are in the right mood you will love it.

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC of A Long Time Dead.

Despite a compelling concept, this book did not grab me. I found myself dragging, unable to pick it up once I'd put it back down. Though there was an intriguing plot, I found myself not caring what happened to the two main girls. I did appreciate our main character for her loud, unapologetic, crass nature– but I also felt weird about her mourning her loss of fat not from the loss of fat, but from the loss of food. It didn't rub me the right way.

I think this has potential and once it finds its audience, it will succeed. The sapphic relationships and their varying degrees of healthy/not healthy were the best part of this book.

I may end up DNFing this one. I’m about 20% through and can’t decide if I’m going to continue. I’m going to put it on hold for a while and revisit it.

The cover of this book and the description on goodreads gave me the impression this would feel very gothic.

I was expecting the writing and ambiance to feel more dark and eerie. My main impression is that the writing style doesn’t seem to match the story and the time period.

I was expecting this to feel more like Dowry of Blood or the House of Hunger.

I also thought the part about her feeding off of animal blood and how it doesn’t make them as strong as when they drink human blood felt too similar to Twilight.

If and when I finish this, I’ll post a full review on goodreads. But so far I would maybe give it a 2 or 3 stars.

I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. I hope this was helpful in some way.

Thank you so much for allowing me to have an ARC of this!

I will say this is a GORGEOUS cover though!

DNF at 35%

Writing
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. The author has a way with words that is enticing and humorous. Beautiful prose. There is something to be said about punctuation, i.e. brackets and em-dashes being overused and interchangeably, but nothing a good editor won't be able to fix. I have little to critique in this aspect.

Worldbuilding
There is little worldbuilding since most of the plot happens in one place. We see a little description about surroundings, people and history (this is mostly from Roisin's and Poppy's memories of their pasts) but nothing to explain the existence of vampires or their background really.

Plot
The plot was my main issue. It was incredibly boring. It is just the same conversation happening over and over again between the two main characters. I understood the dilemma the first time and by the 50th (exaggeration) time I wanted to slap myself. I'm sure more will happen in the next five parts but I unfortunately don't care enough to keep reading. I already started skimming the pages instead of reading them so I had to give up.

Characters
The main characters are very well developed and fun. I liked each of them for several reasons and enjoyed seeing their flaws so openly discussed in the book. They're realistic and not too stereotypical. I enjoyed the characters a lot. I wished there were more established side characters, though.

Relationships
Now, the main love story made very little sense to me. I do not believe that these two individuals are in love. They barely know each other and all they do is fight and nitpick each others ideals and worldviews. They are so inherently different and stubborn, I cannot see them working out long-term even if they do try to be in a relationship.
I would've loved to see more about Poppy's platonic relationships. They sound very sweet and loving. I hope she gets to be in more contact with her friends later on in the story.

Overall, the story was not able to keep my interest despite me loving the characters and writing.

"A Long Time Dead" had some absolutely gorgeous prose and compelling character dynamics. I could tell it was heavily influenced by "Interview With A Vampire". Personally, the plot was slow moving enough that I did not finish this work, however I feel it easily deserves 3 stars due to successful gothic writing and a pleasingly aesthetic narrative. I sincerely appreciate the sapphic representation this affords the seductive vampire genre.

I can’t even put into words how much I love the Brood!!!! Poppy and Rosin have my whole heart! The way everything was so well researched had me SWOONING! The terms the characters used being accurate to the time period was such a lovely way to honor the queers that came before us.

Title: A Long Time Dead
Author: Samara Breger @yesjbreg
Summary: Somewhere foggy, 1837 . . .Poppy had always loved the night, which is why it wasn’t too much of a bother to wake one evening in an unfamiliar home far from London, weak and confused and plagued with a terrible thirst for blood, to learn that she could no longer step out into the day. And while vampirism presented several disadvantages, it more than made up for those in its benefits: immortality, a body that could run at speed for hours without tiring, the thrill of becoming a predator, the thing that pulls rabbits from bushes and tears through their fur and flesh with the sharp point of a white fang.
And, of course, Roisin. The mysterious woman who has lived for centuries, who held Poppy through her painful transformation, and who, for some reason, is now teaching her how to adjust to her new, endless life. A tight, lonely, buttoned-up woman, with kindness and care pressed up behind her teeth. The time they spend together is as transformative to Poppy as the changes in her body, and soon, she finds herself hopelessly, overwhelmingly attached. But Roisin has secrets of her own, and can’t make any promises; not when vengeance must be served.
Soon, their little world explodes. Together and apart, they encounter scores of vampires, shifty pirates, conniving opera singers, ancient nobles, glamorous French women, and a found family that throws a very particular sort of party. But overhead, threat looms—one woman who is capable of destroying everything Poppy and Roisin hold dear.
Copy provided by @netgalley in exchange for honest review.
Likes: Lesbian vampires, Lesbian Victorian period setting, slow burn vampire romance, love, lust, longing, gore. What’s not to love?!?!?!
Dislikes: The beginning was a bit slow but once it picked up I couldn’t put it down.

What a surprise! I thoroughly enjoyed this book kindly provided by NetGalley. There were a couple of moments in the beginning of the book and another towards the end where the story dragged a bit for me. But the epic story line more than made up for it. The love story between the two protagonists keeps this story flowing. Their love story is definitely a slow burn. The Brood was another surprise that I enjoyed immensely. Everyone had distinct personalities and their affection for each other was beautiful. Highly recommend!!

If you read and liked A Dowry of Blood, but wished it was a little more sweet and queer, I am BEGGING you to run, not walk, to get yourself a copy of this book

I'll admit it, I was definitely swayed by the blurb. Specifically, this one phrase "Together and apart, they encounter scores of vampires, shifty pirates, conniving opera singers, ancient nobles, glamorous French women, and a found family that throws a very particular sort of party," pulled me right in and made me so eager to read this.

A long time dead is a vampire book that has similar revenge vibes to A Dowry of Blood, but has the found family aspects and sweet romance of a contemporary novel. I really enjoyed this book and i'll admit that when I finally finished it, I did tear up a bit. I loved all these characters and their relationships, but I do wish we saw more interaction between poppy and some of the side characters of the Brood. Also, I didn't like how we skipped forward 15 years twice. I would have loved to see more of the characters in that time even if it meant we had to add a couple hundred pages. It isn't as effective to hear "I missed her so much over these last 15 years" when we didn't get to SEE that. Putting these things aside, this was a really good book and there wasn't really anything that I could critique.

I could see myself doing a reread of this book and buying myself a physical copy to annotate and everything because this was just so sweet and comforting even though it did have some darker themes.

At first I really enjoyed Poppy as a character, she was a very unique protagonist for a vampire story, but I quickyl grew tired of being in her head. Poppy rarely engages in what was going on around her. One plot point literally sees her tasked with being moral support while everyone else does the work! It begun to be frustrating to be stuck with a character that adds nothing to the plot and environment. On top of that, the pacing is incredibly slow. A big chunk of the first half of the book is Poppy and Roisin stuck indoors and having conversations which get's old VERY quickly. I love a gothic story, but this did not have the proper vibes to really hook me in and keep me engaged.

Gorgeous and incredible take on vampires .I loved the writing so much .

Thank you NetGalley for the arc

did not complete and left off at less than halfway as it felt lacking and i couldn’t fall into the story

This novel is what vampire romances are supposed to be like -- set in the Victorian era and plagued with an inevitable threat, full of well developed side characters as well as excruciating yearning.

Poppy (and Roisin) were beautifully constructed. They are characters that will stay with me for a long time. They are vibrant and distinctive, making you want more and more of them. They are also flawed in a frustratingly realistic way, hardheaded and afraid. I enjoyed them immensely. There is also a beautiful found family aspect of this book; The Brood is developed and makes it easy to care for the characters fates, while also impacting the story. I especially loved Carmen.

The romance is immaculate -- the type that surpasses time, the only type of love that has ever passed as "true love" to me. Meticulously constructed, spanning large amounts of time; it's indescribable and you will have to read the book to find out more. This book also has a fair amount of explicit scenes.

The world constructed within this book was of particular interest to me as it is always fascinating to see what authors do with vampiric lore -- this novel draws in parts from Dracula but has it's own twist on it which adds a visceral, additionally horrifying element to the fate the characters have to deal with. Cane was established to be ominous in a wonderful way.

The writing was great -- a lot of historically relevant language which adds to the immersion we experience. The only drawback is, well. I'm not quite sure how to put it but you know how when you're reading a book and you notice that the author describes a certain innocuous body part in more detail than necessary. Or more often than necessary. This issue arose here. But that's the only drawback.

Overall, a beautiful piece of historical vampiric fiction that is definitely worth a read.

When this is good, it’s oh so good but when it’s in a slow part - boy is it ever! There’s a lot to love here but I found myself enjoying the parts with the Brood (a very decadent found family of queer vampires) more than when Poppy was with her Roisin. I really enjoyed Poppy’s progression from whore to newly turned vampire to vampire living with the brood who no longer has to worry about food or shelter. I know that it is a class thing but Poppy's use of the word mate was irksome.

*Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review!*

Another day, another queer vampire/supernatural horror novel that wins my heart. Samara Breger knows exactly what's up, writing-wise.

Poppy's journey as a newborn vampire had my attention from start to finish, her personality charming and entertaining yet multidimensional. Roisin herself catches up in likability and relatability with ease, making for a nice read when it comes to their interactions with each other and with other characters.

Samara also knows how to get the horrors of vampirism through with her writing: it wasn't always romantic, it wasn't always sensual and the hardships that come with being a supernatural creature are seen with clear lenses. We also get a vivid image of how the characters look, dress and even where they are or how they feel in that moment. It was easy for me to connect with the story and to enjoy it. It was an absolutely amazing read to end the month on for sure!