I have to be honest, it took me quite some time to get into this book. I had a few starts and stops and just struggled to get on board. I finally decided to start fresh and listen to the whole story and I am really happy that I did. No idea why I struggled, but once it clicked I was in awe of the narration, story telling, and writing. This was a wonderful tale and is not like any other vampire tale I have read. I’m not a huge fan of vampire stories, however this one stands far away from your typical vampire story and is well worth listening to. This is a book that I will definitely revisit in the future.
The way the book is written made me think of some of the older classic horror novels. It definitely seems a bit out of place when compared to current vampire stories, but I would say that is the charm. Above all I really liked the plot. To me it was a love story between a father and his daughter. Sabine isn’t his daughter, but his drive to protect her and raise her to be a god-fearing vampire was beautiful. I thought the twist of religious vampires was quite neat. Their internal struggle to be who they are while also respecting God’s wishes was quite original. No spoilers, but the end was solid and quite emotional for me.
Father Molinari and Sabine were great characters. As a father, I had great respect for how Father Molinari worked with Sabine and did everything he could to protect her. I thought Sabine’s character was written exactly how an eight-year-old acts, and I can only assume that she looks just like Kirsten Dunst in that one vampire movie. I loved how over the years Father Molinari stayed static and almost shunned technology, while Sabine grew throughout the years and embraced the evolution of the aging world around her. I thought it was hilarious that Molinari thought TVs would be a fad while next thing you know Sabine is playing video games. The development of the characters throughout the timeline was amazing and gets you that much more intimate with them.
First time I had listened to Christopher James Mayer and I hope it won’t be my last. He has a great voice for narration and I really enjoyed his character voices. He definitely brought them all to life and made the story a lot of fun to listen to.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.