I'm grateful this sampler exists since it made me realize this book isn't for me at all. The endless & very infuriating misogyny, the tiring & twisting dialogue, the odd structure & weird time jumps, the juvenile "your mama" jokes. Glad I didn't have to read the whole thing.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange of an honest review**

As soon as I heard this book would featured vampires, I immediately added it to my tbr. I loved vampires books (meaning *ahem* twilight) when I was younger and I wanted to read all the ones that I could find, I even got through a werewolves books phases after that because… why not haha 🙈

Empire of the Vampire called to me because it’s seem like the return of vampires books and because Jay Kristoff write beautifully. I loved his style in the Nevernight series (still have to read Darkdawn) so I thought it would be as beautiful. The first thing treat surprised me when I got EotV in my hands was the amount of illustrations it has. And they are absolutely amazing, I love the art style. 💖

Jay Kristoff again did a great worldbuilding with this one and it is also unique. I have no idea whatsoever to why there are so many French words in this book. I couldn’t get it but at least they are well written and there was no mistake or misspelling. His characters were incredibly fleshed out and compelling. But how was he cruel with them. This book is so violent, I was not expecting that at all. There were moments where he would shattered my heart and I would need to put the book down for a while. I found also that the swearing in dialogue and the constant -I don’t know, Jay Kristoff humour ?- would put me out of the story sometimes. At time, I found it added length and was not necessary. But maybe other peoples enjoyed this kind of humour, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a beautiful prose for his description and actions scenes.

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone. The vampires are actually terrifying and this looks like a really shitty world to live in. And be prepared to have your heart crushed, multiple times. Like, again, again and again. 😢💔

i have gotten to the point of which this sample ends and I am just obsessed! I know the reactions of others and am afraid to continue but also cannot wait to have read a masterpiece.
Gabe is everything grumpy and sweet. The world is complex and yet easy to learn. Characters can be a bit more difficult, but with time obviously it becomes apparent.

Jay better write for the rest of his life

**Full review to come on websites when I have finished**

Wow this was such an immersive story. From the very beginning the world just exploded in my mind and I was sucked (no pun intended) right into it.

It's a slow moving story in the first couple hundred pages as the world keeps building and building. There are a lot of characters so at times I got lost and I wasn't a huge fan of the "story being told" aspect in the beginning but I got used to it and ended up enjoying how it jumped around to different times.

It took me a little longer than I'd hoped to actually get invested in what the characters were doing and I'm still trying to piece together in my head how it's all going to come together.

I really ended up loving the group going with Dior and I have FEElINGS for how this sampler ended because ouch.

Right now it's sitting at a 4 star read but I have a lot of hope that it will be bumped up! I can't wait to see more of Asrtid and what other crazy twists will happen like the one the sampler ended on!

This book reminded me of Game of Thrones with how intricate the world is and I've missed that high fantasy feel so I can't wait until it comes out so I can get answers and get back to this story!

Update: I finished this book and the misogyny of killing off basically every female character so the main character could have a story got real old. So did not knowing what was happening because there were too many characters to keep straight that were all so similar. All my favorite characters died for no reason and Gabe is a boring main character. The crude jokes and constant mention of boobs also got boring real fast.

I was eager to see what Kristoff would do with the vampire trope, and I confess I'm disappointed. Writing a book about vampires today means engaging-- deliberately or not-- with the extensive library of works that have come before. This feels like it assembled parts of earlier works (Interview with the Vampire, Vampire the Masquerade, 30 Days of Night, a not in-substantial amount of The Da Vinci Code, a vision of Europe with the serial numbers filed off... ) without generating something new from those component parts.

There's some aspects (like an unreliable narrator) that leave me hope this first volume has laid the groundwork for something spectacular.

It's bizarre to me that over half of the book was released as a sampler. Is that a common occurrence?

I never ended up reading it and instead just waited until I had the book checked out from the library. I wish I had bothered with previewing it though because one chapter would have been enough for me to know not to bother.

I don't have many words for this book other than.

Fuck.
My.
Face.

Ok. I suppose I have a few more. This book was both depressing and yet glorious....the first 150-ish pages ran a little slow and it felt a bit...silly. with the amount of ridiculous cursing and I felt a bit of deja vu for books/games, but after the first bit of the book the story really comes into its own. You know the stakes are always high, you know it's going to suck and yet you still keep hurtling on ahead. The ending of this book is what sent from a high 4 to a 5 star book. * Chef's Kiss *

4.5 Stars

First and foremost, the illustrations added so much to the story! I loved them and am kicking myself for not buying the color ones when they were available. I heard Jay Kristoff compare this to Name of the Wind and it's an apt comparison.

I can't wait to read the rest of the book!

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the e-arc sampler!

This was my first time reading Jay Kristoff’s solo works and OMG!! It was sooooo good!
I can’t wait for the next book.

My only complaint was that my digital copy on kindle was like reading a bootleg copy. There were numbers and the author’s name inserted into random paragraphs one every few pages, which threw off my reading mojo. But otherwise, I was amazed by just how much I loved & devoured this one.

Bloody fantastic! This book is such a wild ride. Jay Kristoff never misses. I was so excited to get a book that returns vampires to being feared without mercy or humanity. I laughed and I cried while reading this book. I need all the copies and the sequel!

Empire of the Vampire is the vampire book I’ve been craving for years, and have never gotten until now. The characters are terrific, the plot is both interesting and surprising, and the pacing was pretty much perfect. There wasn’t a single point while reading that I was bored, and when I wasn’t reading this book I wanted to be reading it. Gabriel the main character is a bit of a grey character, but you can’t help but like him. I do think the side characters were what made me love this book so much though. There were close to ten characters who I absolutely loved. Each felt unique, and I felt like I spent several books with them even though I just met them. Let’s get to the vampy parts though as that’s the important part to any good vampire book. The vampires felt both unique and the stuff of legends, and there are three types. There are the strong vampires, the bloodthirsty animal like ones and then there are the silversaints a group of half breeds who hope to kill off the vampire population. Needless to say I loved how much thought was put into the vampires, and the book in general. Overall this is probably my favorite vampire book I’ve read and is one of my favorite reads of the year. If you liked Name of the Wind, The Passage, or even The Witcher I highly recommend checking this out.

Absolutely fantastic read! I love the style of this story, the rich world building, and the full cast of characters.

“Here’s the truth about sword fighting: Even if you’re bad at it, if the person you’re fighting doesn’t have one, you’re still going to be pretty good.”

I’ll begin by saying that this is not the vampire lit book that I was expecting going in, and is really more of an epic high fantasy adventure than a standard vampire trope novel. That made it a bit difficult to settle into at the outset, but ultimately worked beautifully.

I’ve long maintained that high fantasy needs to be at least a little bit funny and a little bit buddy comedy-ish to be good, and the vibe of this book is very much in that vein. There are, of course, moments or serious intensity and devastation, but Kristoff found excellent balance between those elements and a sense of lightness and adventure through wry and clever dialogue, both in terms of our hero’s inner monologue and his banter with other characters.

Is it too long? Yes. Did it absolutely need to be this long? Also yes. Do with that what you will, but despite the high word count, once I was immersed in the story I was in no rush to get to the end.

If you like Alex Marshall, Scott Lynch, or Nicholas Eames, I expect you’ll like this one very much too.

Wow! This sample absolutely blew me away. Kristoff does an amazing job at creating such a vivid world, complex characters, and engaging storylines. The twists and turns just kept coming, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the full length novel and continue this story. In addition, it can get a bit graphic and this story is not for the faint of heart by any means, but it makes it all the more thrilling and enjoyable. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.

This had some issues, but I really liked this. This was the epic vampire fantasy I didn’t know I needed. The world building is top-tier. The writing style was very easy to grasp, I just personally didn’t like the random French thrown in for certain words. The pacing was also weird, but I think that was probably intentional since the POV is that you’re being told a story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the manner it was written in and I love the characters. I loved how I never knew that would happen when. I can’t wait for the next book!!

Jay Kristoff has once again done it again folks. Jay has written a near-perfect novel. This novel has action and is about one of my favorite things, vampires. It was truly magical to watch the storyline progress and watch the characters grow throughout this long novel.

Empire of the Vampire is such an adventure to read. The story immediately sucks you in as you’re regaled with the telling of the life of the Last Silversaint, Gabriel. From personal moments to great wars, you’ll be wrapped around Gabriel’s crude and angry finger ready to gobble up any story he’s willing to tell. From page one you’re set up to expect nothing but a sad ending, so we’ll see if that’s the truth when I finish this amazing book.

Completely mind blown by this book. It deserves all the stars available and more. It's complex and beautifully written. I eventually stop trying to save all the quotes I liked because they were just too many. It's... just... amazing!

The book follows 3 story lines. The present which is still a mystery how we got there. The before which will break your heart, and the before of the before (is this a thing?) which is where everything is set in motion and pretty much all the world building and vampire system is explained.

Gabriel de Leon character is fun, broody, complex, and full of sass. The banter between him and Jean-Francois is the best. You'll amplify your repertoire of curses with this book for sure, as well as encounter many surprises and unexpected plot twits throughout.

The book itself has a beautiful detailed map that its super helpful as well as illustrations along the book that helps you visualize and that little extra that you sometimes need with a book like this. It is long and full of information and world building but the images and map really help you.

If you think vampire books are not your thing, please dismiss that idea and give this a try. These vampires don't sparkle I promise.

"Patience" this is what I need to wait for the next book to be release. Please Mr. Kristoff take your time because after this, I know you'll need it.

I will definitely be giving this book 5/5 stars! I was captivated from the beginning! But anything Jay Kristoff does is amazing so I went into this with high expectations and he exceeded those! I will fully recommend this book and I’ve already gone out and bought my physical copy!