As a fan of vampire stories I really enjoyed this mid-victorian world. I loved the story's use of vampire lore as well. The atmosphere is another fantastic part of this. I'm interested in where the author can take this in the future.

The Eater of Flies is a loosely based retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula. You'll find similarly named characters and vampires but the ressemblance ends here.

The prologue really gripped me and promised an interesting and gruesome novel but I just found the writing style extremely boring. The chapters alternate between omniscient third person and journal entries (a wink to the original I suppose). The diary entries worked better than the rest in my opinion because the point of view was stronger. But overall I was just bored and this is never a good thing to be when reading a horror novel.

You are introduced to a lot of characters very fast, some not important at all to the rest of the story, and this multitude of characters was confusing. Since I have read the original Dracula I could differenciate and understand the roles of the main characters more easily (Harker, Murray) but I often caught myself wondering who was that again?

I did think that the change made about the vampire lore was interesting. Making it about a sort of spirit possessing people's body definitely adds to the stake. I think it could have been more interesting not to tell the reader who was being possessed as to built up more tension.
The inclusion of different vampire mythology was appreciated.

The pace was very slow in the first half of the book but it picks up after the vampire is out of the box.

Overall this book was not for me, mainly due to the writing style, but also maybe because industrial London and dirty gritty streets are boring to me.

Thank you Netgally for providing me with an ARC of the book.
Find my reviews on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

An interesting take on Vampirism that is often overlooked.
This books is an interesting read and a comfy one.
A bit of horror mixed with fantasy does the soul a world of good.
Well written, a great story with solid bones.

Firstly, I thank NetGalley and Deixis Press for the early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give it a 3,5 out of 5!

The first chapter quickly introduces us to the story, without failing to completely drawn us to it!

I was missing this sort of old classic vibe that this book gives us, as well as the anxiety kicks when you don't know what will happen and who will get caught!

There is also the occasional wink to the reader with some references to known characters or others associated with vampire stories, particularly with our very well know Bram Stoker!

This is merely my preference, but I believe it could be a bit more eerie, it could have a bit more suspense. Nonetheless, it is quite a gory story and one that leaves you hoping for more!

The atmosphere in this book is everything. In word this book is amazing. It reminded me a lot of classic vampire books like Carmilla and Dracula. It was just the right amount of thrilling and scary. A boon that you'll think about long after you are done with it. This is an author to look out for!

A light spin off of Dracula that borrows a few props from the original and then goes its own way. Fun and entertaining.

A retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula which absolutely hit the mark for me.
I’ve never read Stoker’s original but the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola movie adaptation remains one of my favourite films. I loved that the author included reimaginings of the main characters (with a few changes) and even found some laugh out loud moments amongst the grit and gore of the vampyr’s quest in Victorian London.
For me this book was a really easy read. Other reviews cite the slow pace but I really can’t agree with that. I found it gripping and atmospheric and definitely recommend!
This was a 4.5 ⭐️ for me

A retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, all with journal entries, Transylvanian opening, mysterious box brought back to England and reimagined Harker, Renfield and many more.
It is an interesting take for the fans of the original book, as the story is set in the same time period, but with a much less romantic and generally gothic portrayal of the time. This is a more gritty, dirty, political and has a modern-day critical view of that colonial England. The characters are more flawed and corrupt, the vampires are more bloodthirsty.
But the construction of the book is surprisingly loyal to the original story, and retains its particular qualities of mixing narrative with character point of views through journals/letters.
This is a very interesting exercise and I was quite intrigued with where it was going to go with such a famous book as a source.
I'm not sure if it will talk very much to people who haven't read the original, but it was fun to see the transformation when you know the book. I did miss Quincey and Mina, though.

i am rounding this up to 3.5 !!!

a diary of a viampire breakout in victorian england.

although i did enjoy the incision of chinese mythology and culture. this very much, felt like most gothic-vampire themed books i’ve read.

the descriptive writing was absolutely incredible and i loved how there was “articles” / diary entries about the murders sprinkled through the book.

this book is perfect for people who haven’t read a lot of gothic fiction as it’s very predictable yet enjoyable ..

Well, I can honestly say this was intriguing to me. I am not a fan of horror-movies or books-but this caught my attention. At times I feel like it was extremely slow, sort of rambling. I can appreciate the writing style and the direction it was moving, it just wasnt for me.

This was a gripping read, I thought the characters were intriguing and I'm going to keep an eye out for more from this author.

A fun and spooky romp that does some interesting work with vampire lore! Highly enjoyable read! Thank you to NetGalley and Deixis Press for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4 STARS FOR ME. I LIKED TO READ THIS BOOK SO MUCH! I LIKED THE CHARACTERS. THE PLOT THE WAY THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN.

3.5/5

I review this book as someone who has never read horror. I am familiar with Vampire films.

The story follows a debt collector who goes to recover the money owed from a wealthy businessman in Transylvania. Returning to London from the successful trip, a dark turn of events means the streets of London are even less safer than normal.

London in the 1800's is depicted brilliantly. Dirty and foggy. Focussing heavily on theatre performers and the patrons who visit to view the stage productions. The social observations are sharp with the class divide playing quite a role. There's a level of subtle detail that pops up from time to time in the references of the people, conversations and the surroundings that will raise a smile.

The story is broken up at times with journal entries form various characters offering further insights. (I would have liked more of these please)

Initially I felt a strong resemblance to Bram Stokers as the story was really gothic. Similarities ended when the Story moved to London.

I really did enjoy this book. The characters were at times a little dumb in the decisions made but not having been in their situation I'll have to cut them some slack :P

I am unsure why the book is called 'The Eater of Flies' as only one fly was harmed during the story that I recall.

If I were to be critical. I think 'Clacking of teeth' didn't fit the tone the rest of the descriptions took. Cheapened the mood. Less tongue in cheek references to being hungry "I had a light Lunch" etc , There was a point with Host 2 that the reference to being hungry was borderline annoying.

Thank you Netgalley and Deixis Press for letting me read your book.

This was ok. The pacing was quite slow so I found it very tough to get through. The overall writing was decent but the description was lacking.

I didn’t particularly enjoy this as the writing style was not to my taste. One dimensional.

I did like the fantasy elements and think if the writing was more fleshed out it could have been good.

This was basically a retelling of Dracula. I liked it, but it was nothing new. I felt the author could have spiced it up in her own way a wee bit more