Jay Kristoff, I owe you a drink for writing the best book I’ve ever read. And you owe me ten drinks for the emotional damage it gave me.

I’m going to go sit in silence for a few days to process everything Gabriel and Dior went through. The depth, character development, the illustrations, and world building was absolutely phenomenal in the second book of this series. We meet some old characters and some new characters as the story progresses. My heart is torn as to who to trust and who to believe.

I cannot stress enough how badly I need a colored illustration version of this book.

Thank you for the opportunity of an eARC, and I am leaving this review willingly.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book as an ARC (advanced reader copy).

Empire of the Damned, by Jay Kristoff, continues the story of Gabriel de Leon, the Silversaint, still held captive by Jean Claude, Voss historian. Receiving his fill of wine and bloodhymn, the last Silversaint picks up his recounted journey where he left off with Dior and his quest to deliver the Holy Grail to the Blood Esani in order to end Daysdeath and restore the sun.

Written in true Jay Kristoff fashion, Empire of the Damned is full of banter and wit - "where truth is the sharpest knife" and female characters are renowned and quest for blood as much as any warrior, even though they continue to understand that "there are always f***s to give for fashion".

The end of Empire has the reader anticipating the third and final installment with a cliffhanger that will leave your jaw dropping. Even the last Silversaint was caught by surprise with the news Jean Claude revealed.

First of all, I must say THANK YOU to Netgalley for this arc copy in exchange for an honest review. You guys are awesome! And when I say I may have already bought three editions of Empire of the Damned, I totally did!!!

In this sequel to Empire of the Vampire, we pick up where we left off in Gabriel’s story about the quest of the Holy Grail. He has saved the Grail and must decide what to do next with it, when he makes an unlikely alliance in a foe. Where will this story take its turn, and what happens to our heroes in the battle for the end of daysdeath?

Since this is second book of a series, I won’t go into many spoilers of the book itself. Here are some of my thoughts and feelings I had about Empire of the Damned while I was reading it:
-I love this man Gabe
-this is soooooo good
-oh how I’ve missed Gabriel de Leon
-woweeeee
-OOF
-I’m ready to be destroyed
-holy crap!!!!!
-there’s no way this can only be THREE BOOKS.
-I need more of this story AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

This was my most anticipated read of 2024, and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT. 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ my only qualm with this book was that it was not long enough (not really a qualm but a compliment, in its own way), I need more of this story and my man Gabe. I’m excited to see where Jay Kristoff takes this story next. Thanks again to Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC! I devoured the first book, Empire of the Vampire, near the end of last year and it’s now one of my favorite books! I squealed so loud when I saw I was approved for this advanced reader copy 😅🤫😂
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The Witcher meets Interview with the Vampire in this gothic dystopia where the sun never shines. We follow Gabriel De León, a Silversaint, whose mission is to kill creatures of the dark including vampires and more with his fellow Silversaint tbrethren. Gabriel recounts his life story in the first book and continues his story of adventure and death in Empire of the Damned.
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Gabriel is probably one of my favorite characters of all time. He is no nonsense with a HILARIOUS sense of humor. I was laughing all the time at his snarky replies 😂 I gave Empire of the Vampire 5 ⭐️ and Empire of the Damned 4.5 ⭐️. I loved being able to come back to the world with a cast of lovable (and hateable) characters! I won’t say too much more as I went into this series pretty blind and it was worth it! Definitely something for fans of gothic fantasy and vampires (cuz who doesn’t love vampires?)!
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Another one of my favorite things about this series are the illustrations! The art style is on point and just give such an amazing visual when reading along!! 🤩
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Getting to read this early honestly made my January! Now just to count down the days until the 3rd book comes out and I cannot wait!! Don’t forget to read the first book and pick up Empire of the Damned on March 12, 2024! Trust me, you WONT want to miss it 🖤🧛🏻‍♂️🦇🩸

Okay, I've had the moment I needed to process.

"This world won't give you what you want just because you asked nicely, girl. Not respect. Not love. Not peace. You get what you earn. You eat what you kill."

Thank you, Jay Kristoff, St. Martin's Press, and Net Galley for the ARC.

If you've been here a while, you may have seen my rating of this series' first installment, Empire of the Vampire (also five stars). IF NOT, feel free to go there first.

Well fuck me, Jay Kristoff has done it again.

In this book, we are obviously falling into the story even further and JK does a sick job resetting the stage. With that said, you can reread book one to prep or dive in because we get a sweet dramatis personae. Google the term.

Seriously, I'm stunned once again. I believe this is in the 700-page range, and I had to FORCE myself not to read it over two days. We jump back in where we left off - Gabriel still captive within the Chastain keep, telling his story to Jean-Francois over wine.

I won't recap EOTV, but from here the story encounters several new angles, including but not limited to - who Dior and Gabe can trust, their traveling companions, what it actually means that Dior is the grail (although this remains a developing plot point), and of course.. new and more powerful coldbloods they must face while (as Gabe would put it), Angel Fortuna keeps turning her back on them.

Catastrophe after catastrophe beats down on our group of unlikely companions from almost the moment they set back out to end the Endless Night. Without giving too much away, there's death and destruction, heart-wrenching moments both sweet and devastating, internal struggles... all delivered with the same sharpness from the first book. I said it before and I'll say it again, Gabriel de Leon, Black Lion, is my favorite character of all time.

JK keeps his vampire lore on its previous path, giving us vicious and confusing enemies. I am almost sad I read this so early. Book three is going to be a ringer. 🧛‍♂️

"To open a book is to open a door - to another place, another time, another mind."

Jay starts this story right where the first left off. This story is brutal, compelling, and jam packed with action. I can't wait to read the rest of the book!

This juicy little tidbit was somehow too much and not enough all at the same time, and has me so freaking pumped for the rest of Empire of the Damned!!!

I reached out to NetGalley and found out this is a partial copy of the book. There was no indication in the file itself nor on the request. That said, my review is based on the part of the book I did read...

I love that this book picks up right after EotV. We are right back with Gabe and Jean-François. We don't feel like we miss anything between books.

I am disappointed we did not get much from Baptiste and Aaron (but I have a feeling more is coming). We also did not get more insite about Astrid (yet).

We did get to see more about how challenging it is to raise a teenage girl. Gabriel's struggle with Dior is definitely coming to light.

The POV switch was really great. I am excited to see where that goes.

I cannot wait to read the rest of the book.

This small sample of Empire of the Damned got me even more excited to get back into the Empire of the Vampire series. The book immediately takes off from where we left off. Fast paced. Great build up and yet again the illustrations are exquisite.

Thank you Jay Kristoff, St Martins Press, and net galley for this sampler.

Like other reviewers, I didn't know this was a sampler and was shocked at the length. It accounts for the first two "books" in the book. While the first third is worth 4 stars, I know the full book will be an easy 5 stars.

It picks up where EotV left off. I was immediately engaged and read all of this in one sitting, which I honestly can't say for EotV. It moves faster since there is less back story. It's almost all plot, which is a great start for a second book. The sampler (so book two) ends where we will be getting a different pov, which I didn't think would happen in this series. While I love Gabe so much, I think a different perspective will be refreshing. We learn far more about the Esani and Liathe. There isn't much more revealed about Dior/the grail, but it's enough to keep you reading and wanting more.

I can't wait to finish the whole story. Liathe was somewhat on my nerves, but I'm looking forward to getting to know her more.

This book had everything I loved about the first one was and more. More vampires, more battles, more found family, and of course more misery. I got three quarters of the way done with this book and wanted to savor the rest because I just had a feeling it would end with a giant cliffhanger. But, I didn't. I devoured the rest and will now eagerly be waiting on the next book.

Thank you to Jay Kristoff and St. Martin's press for the ARC in exchange for my review.

I did not realize when requesting this that this was only a "sample"- i.e. NOT the full length second book. I was a little shocked upon receiving it when I saw how short it was. I didn't understand why until I read some other early reviews. This seems to be maybe half or a third of the planned full-length book.


So, of course I am already a fan of this series. However, this so far is not really resounding with me the same way the first book did. The second book of a trilogy is always cursed- always too fast, or too slow, or too something. I will try my best to give some kind of review based on this sample *and* without spoiling anything.

The opening sequence is very attention-grabbing. It also includes some perspectives that I know fans have been waiting for. *minor error that I found- in the beginning, a character's eyes are described as dark green, but then only pages later, are described as being "chocolat."

The plotline picks up where the last book left off. The author does a good job on catching the reader up, and the no-spoilers cast list in the front is also quite helpful. As always, it's nice to see the relationship between Dior and Gabriel. Liathe was, quite frankly, irritating and a little boring. A lot could be done with her character, but she often said repetitive things and is barely characterized beyond her being bent on revenge and on fulfilling her quest. I honestly cannot believe that a group of people can travel together and just find NOTHING out about each other or have any moments of bonding.

I feel that the general plot of this and the sprinkling of action is very similar to some scenes in the first book, just with different characters. The illustrations are of course amazing, as are the antagonists. The book leaves off with the implication that the POV will switch again- a good change of pace, hopefully.

Any criticisms of the humor in this book continues to make me roll my eyes. I feel like people who grew up in an apocalyptic world will not tend to be the most enlightened individuals. I really don't feel like Dior is being unfairly targeted by sexist comments or anything like that- it's an equal exchange and they're joking.

So overall, I would say my rating leans more towards a 3.5 than a 4. I still enjoyed reading this, but generally this felt like deleted scenes from book 1 or something similar, so I think the slight disappointment brings my rating down.

This sample was EVERYTHING! I am far more excited for the full book. I reread EotV before diving in to this just to be sure everything felt fresh but I really didn’t need to. These characters are unforgettable and when I open this book I feel transported into another world, just how I like it.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a preview sampler.

Jay Kristoff is a bit of a dense writer and honestly this sampler could have been it's own novel. The characters are well written and I very much appreciate the primer at the beginning of the book. I don't have time to go back and reread the first book so this saved me a lot of time.

I can tell from the sample we're in for another bloody ride, I just wish it was faster pace. There is almost too much information and characters to keep track of.

One thing I feel I can count on with a Kristoff title, is the author does nothing at half-measure. Empire of the Vampire was a bloody, beast of a tale.. and from this massive sampler alone.. I can tell Empire of the Damned is going to be another of its kind.

This story pulls no punches, but that's really another Kristoff trait I've come to count on. The sampler doesn't just tease and leave you before you've grown invested. Honestly, it reads like a small novel in its own right.

The situations are dire, the action sequences are controlled chaos, and at the core of the story.. the beating heart remains ever true. I loved getting a glimpse at how Dior and Gabe's relationship has evolved.. and I really enjoyed the tension filled dynamic between Gabe and some of the other characters at play here.

I am definitely eager to continue reading.. and I know it's going to be a hell of a ride.

I will, unfortunately, be abstaining from sharing my thoughts about this title until St. Martin's Press adequately addresses the current boycott and its claims and questions.

For this only being a preview, I didn’t expect to have half the story already. What an incredible sequel; I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

Book starts right where the first one ends and oh man does it continue with the greatness that was the first book. They delve into the relationship between Gabriel and Dior even more. Kristoff's amazing writing and characterization continues. This is only a sample of the book but can not wait to continue where this story takes us. Definite recommend this book

Thank you for the amazing opportunity!

Bombastic sequel that took me dayss to read because i did not want it to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a sampler egalley of this title to give an honest review. The opinions here are my own.
I was excited to read Kristoff. I have heard many good things about his writing and stories and really wanted to be immersed in his fantasy world. Plus, it's compared to many things I have loved in the past: The Witcher, Interview with A Vampire,
I will say I love his writing. It's truly interesting. But the length of his stories leaves something to be desired. While this is only a sampler, I can see it will be just as long as the first. And while I understand this is often the case with fantasy books, I didn't feel like enough happened to move this forward, just as happened in the first book.
This sampler gives us more of that but we move on from only one POV to another POV which gives us more depth to the story. It continues with the dark post-apocolyptic fantasy world we learned about in the first book.
I'm doubtful I will pick this up when it is published as it just doesn't seem to be my thing despite my love of fantasy and all things paranormal. I think it's more the format of the book rather than anything else.