This novel jumps around in time between the 1830's when Anna is turned into a vampire by her grandfather, and the 1980s when Anna now Collette runs a fine arts preschool in upstate New York. In the present, Collette is suffering from loneliness and ennui as she builds a connection with a particularly gifted young student, Leo. She is also battling her growing hunger and uncertainty about what is happening when she sleeps. It's been years since I read Anne Rice's vampire novels, but this feels similar in tone and content and was well-written and a slow-burn meander through one woman's struggles with immortality.

Wow! I could not put this book down. Definitely one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. The God of Endings is a captivating story about a woman who is immortal, and her struggles with the world and all it’s drudgery, tragedy and loneliness. I was drawn in immediately and loved that the ending of the book, was truly a beginning. Many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read and review this wonderful book!

The God of Endings was one of my favorite reads of 2022. This book is beautiful but in a dark and atmospheric way (also featuring vampires). I savored every minute of reading this; it’s beautifully written and a book I plan on reading again and again.

"The God of Endings" is one of those lovely surprises -- the book that you find yourself to recommending for all kinds of readers whose tastes don't normally overlap. My book club -- a bunch of female journalists at NBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Harvard Business Review -- was looking for something female-led with literary writing craft. A friend who loves vampire books wanted something that skips the familiar urban fantasy tropes. Another friend was on the hunt for ambiguous female protagonists -- not villainesses, not Mary Sues. A third has exhausted the recent burst of Russo-Slavic fantasy books (Leigh Bardugo, Naomi Novik, Evelyn Skye) but wanted something with a long-winter, imperial Russian flavor.

But the primary merits of this book are Holland's tremendous control of writing craft and her just-in-time pacing. At the sentence level, it's a lovely book for fans of literary fiction -- Holland is unhurried as she unspools a story over centuries, anchored in the preoccupations of a vampire who runs a modern Montessori pre-school. And while "vampire tucking children in for nap time" sounds ominous, the entire book is lightened by the frank, appealing contemplations of Holland's heroine, who is constantly calculating her margin for physical survival while clinging to her own ethical boundaries, even as she begins to experience blackouts and fugue states.

Despite Holland's unhurried rhythm, the book's pacing is thoughtful, delivering puzzles and revelations in small, precise moments that build into a satisfying and fresh solution to an accumulation of troubles and mysteries. Strongly recommended.

Riveting plot combines with evocative atmosphere in THE GOD OF ENDINGS. Honors some vampiric trope while subverting others, Holland crafts an engaging story populated with complex and intriguing characters.

I read a physical galley of this and I have to say I was enthralled through the entire novel. The story was gripping, new and novel... it was everything I look for in a mystery novel but infused with a history litfic... I really enjoyed this.

Much more than a vampire story, but a thoughtful look into heartache and finding hope despite it. I took my time with this one... It’s so emotionally gripping and atmospherically dark. The book felt slow at times, but it’s one of those stories that you want to curl up and savor — and take it all in. The writing is well done and even lyrical at times. There were a lot of deep thoughts on the meaning of life and what we deserve; or what the world deserves from us.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was a sweeping story of life and growth, telling the main characters journey through dual timelines: one focusing on her becoming a vampire and moving through the world as time passes, and one "current time line" of her in the 1980s teaching children. The book is moving, lyrical, and so beautifully written that there are times you just want to pause and savor the language. Highly recommend.

I'm not a fan of vampire stories. This one was pretty good with very good writing and good pacing, and a style that worked for this story. Fantasy fans will likely enjoy this one.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

I received an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This novel is a strange mix of spooky and charming. I’m not usually one for stories about vampires, but this book did a beautiful job exploring themes of immortality and kinship through its vampire protagonist— a more thoughtful and inviting sort of vampire novel. It was well-written and well-paced— not too fast, and it never dragged. I recommend this for anyone looking for an atmospheric autumn read.

I am somewhat hesitant when it comes to vampire stories, as I've been severely burned in the past by some that I've read, but Jacqueline Holland does deliver with this story about an immortal vampire's current life as a teacher of young children and how she got to this point in her life. With very few missteps, with what I felt to be a significant and an admittedly odd inclusion of some WWII-era vampiric vigilantism that felt way out of character, and some handwaving of time passing during long periods, this is a good story told very well.

I especially enjoyed the modernish day story, and the inclusion of myth and semi-mysticism that occurs as Anna tries to figure out what is going on with her unusual cravings and prophetic dreams. The backdrop of this happening while trying to teach children adds tension and I always loved coming back to the present.

A solid recommendation to fans of vampire novels!

This book took me a bit to warm up to it, but as I settled into the comforting prose I found myself more interested in the main character's plight. I could see the ending coming about 2/3rds of the way in. Well written and well-drawn characters.

I adore vampire stories. This book was beautiful and well-written, and a great take on an age-old creature. Along with this, the writing is lyrical and absolutely gripping and beautiful. I adore it.

I rarely read vampire stories anymore, and truthfully I did not realize God of Endings was such a tale. However, I’m glad I didn’t know because I found this to be a memorable reading experience which I would have missed if I’d known the “immortal” being was a vampire.

Holland skillfully weaves together multiple threads of Colette’s life, from her beginning as Anna through the Anya days and finally to her current life. I enjoy stories that slip back and forth between very different times, but often find a lack of attention to detail and consistency which muddles to story. None of that to be found here! It seems the author is a meticulous plotter and that care and skill form a solid foundation for beautiful descriptive and narrative writing.

The is a book to be savored, perhaps read over a rainy autumn weekend, wrapped in a blanket in front of a fire.

Highly recommended.

This was a truly lovely story. It was unlike any other vampire story I've ever read and it had a very romantic/gothic feel without being a romance story. This was not a page-turner for me, however, it was one I wanted to savor and take my time experiencing. Anna/Anya/Collette was turned at a young age and spent her life fearing her eventual demise. It led to her becoming isolated and just going through the motions, but still experiencing really beautiful or tragic moments in history.

If you are looking for a lovely slow-burn, I would recommend giving this a go, especially as we enter into spooky season. This was very much a "curl up on the couch with a hot drink and a blanket in the rain/snow" book for me. I do wish the story was a little more fast moving, but I think that's just a personal preference as I'm typically more of a suspense/thriller fan. I genuinely enjoyed this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of "The God of Endings" by Jacqueline Holland in exchange for an honest review. This was an absolute absorbing, atmospheric, spellbinding read. Anya/Anna/Colette is an immortal woman who has suffered destruction and loss over her two century long existence ever since she was made immortal (a vampire) by her grandfather. The tale weaves back and forth between the present (sent in the 1980s) and the past as we watch her come to terms with what she perceives the end of her life. I appreciated the subtlety by which the author wove some up "lifeisms" into the story without cramming it down your throat as a reader. Without giving anything away, I maybe expected the side story with Katherine/Dave/Leo to be going somewhere else but I liked where it ended up. Overall this was a fantastic read and I look forward to reading more books by this author.

So, the writing in this book was pretty good. It was detailed but still easy to read. I thought the premise was interesting. This was definitely a more unique take on a vampire story. I loved reading the details about the French preschool that Anna was running, and a lot of those scenes were delightfully cozy. However, the book was too long, and there were too many simultaneous conflicts. The scope was way too grand. Many of the scenes were nice to read, but they didn’t contribute to the overarching plot or do much for character development. They just added more insignificant names and locations into the mix. I was really invested until around the halfway mark, after which I started to get bored as the story dragged on and situations became senselessly awful.

I feel like the author set the beginning of the story way too early in time. The time skips were drastic and jarring. Major world events were barely mentioned or skipped over altogether, and the WWII section in particular was very strange. Anna suddenly became a vigilante murderer of Nazi soldiers who was slurping their blood up like it was some good soup. I thought she had always refused to drink human blood though… It also made no sense why she couldn’t have removed all of the evidence from her shed or why she didn’t tell the men that she was American.

The section with Dream and Sergio was interesting, so I wish more had been done with that setting. It was honestly kind of random, but the ambience was really good. Story wise, they barely had any impact. They might as well have been nameless. I felt similarly about Halla and the Alexandria arc.

Paul was probably one of my favorite characters, and I liked his relationship with Anna. It felt like a meaningful way to show the beginning of her history with art. The author really could have done more with Josef, for the sake of Anna’s character development at the very least.

Unfortunately, since Anna faced virtually no consequences for her actions in the present-day timeline, it ended up just feeling very low-stakes. The tension was there, but I quickly realized that she would Mary Sue her way out of everything.

Fortunately, the ending was rather satisfying.

This was beautiful. Holland has such a way with words - this was almost lyrical in how masterfully it was written. It's tonally really interesting and gripping, I can't recommend it enough if you're a fan of the summary.

The God of Endings is a lyrical, ambient and atmospheric tale. The prose and writing moves heavily through the saga like a hand cutting through mist. Part fictionalized memoir of the main character and part thriller - the story weaves together a morose and relatable tale of what it means and feels like to long for something without a name just for it to be not only indescribable - but forever just out out of reach and stolen away. At first you may feel that this is a story of eternal life's existentialism. You would not explicitly be wrong, but this novel has so much more to offer than just vampiric ennui.

This novel is perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, atmospheric tales with a hint of dark academia, and best on a cold night by a warm fire.

This was a big, epic, sweeping tale of an immortal woman (a vampire) and her life in the past and present, through alternating chapters. It was very easy to get lost in this story and follow it as it moved through the years. A very engaging and thoughtful saga. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!