Glittery, Gruesome, Gorgeous

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This was a fusion of so many things. From a little bit of murder mystery to Eldritch mythology, this is a slow burn horror that you don't want to miss.

I absolutely loved the Laure. I think everyone can related to her, even if it's just a little bit. We've tried our best for something, even making a little bit of an ugly side to come out, and like Laure, sometimes you shouldn't be afraid to embrace it. I liked her morality, how she's morally gray, how sometimes we wanted to root for her and sometimes we were a little suspicious. She was an interesting character and I liked her journey. We all hide monsters inside of us, some of us are too afraid to embrace them, but not Laure and that's something I loved about her. She did not shy away from all her wanting, from what she craved.

The setting was also cool. You take an already creepy place (the catacombs underneath the city) and then add a river red as blood, a pulsating God that craves for more, and you have this creepy setting in juxtaposition to the glittery streets of Paris that aren't, in fact, golden. They are dark and shadows hide in every corner and those shadows are called greed and Laure.

This book had some of my favorite writing. Some of the descriptions were lush and beautiful and some were grotesque in a captivating way. Even the opening pages captured your attention. It told you what you needed to know while also sometimes implying hidden meaning and depth that had you questioning what was going on.

This was a slow burn horror. There were times where I felt perhaps some scenes were more pretty words than action, but the lyrical writing did its job. It allowed you to lose yourself in the narrative and the character's lives instead of just action, action, action. Even the slow burn romance with a soft monster of a boy was good.

I wouldn't necessarily say this book was fun, but it was definitely captivating. It was lyrical and monstrous in an eye catching way that takes place in a glittering city with desires and craving and a frightening yearning that will have you reading just to see what happens next.