Beautiful Eldritch Horror
The cover for this is beautiful. I can’t get over how much I love it. The inside cover is just as beautiful too, and thank you Bookish First for allowing me a hardcover to review!
A villain origin story. Laure is one of the strongest ballerinas in her company in Paris. The world of dance is brutal, and Laure is treated like an outsider for being black and American. Her best friend Coralie is one of the only people who really care about her. Her parents have abandoned her and her only joy in life is ballet. After a fellow ballerina tells her that she can have everything she’s ever wanted, Laure journeys into the Paris Catacombs and into a world where she will never be the same. An ancient being lives in a river of blood and it wants Laure. And Laure wants it too. She wants power and to control those who’ve wronged her. No one is safe.
I liked Laure but my favorite characters were Andor and Keturah. I wanted to know more of their stories. The way that everyone treated Laure had my blood boiling. I would have sacrificed my soul in order to crush them too. She never had a chance with those people around her all the time. This was a slow burn story that ramped up but didn’t go as far as I had expected. I wanted some human sacrifices and a monster coming out to tear everyone apart and it didn’t quite go that way. Either way, this was a powerful book about a girl who is tired of the world giving her the crumbs and taking what belongs to her. Even though this is labeled a “villain” story, I can’t help but feel the “good for her” in my bones.
A villain origin story. Laure is one of the strongest ballerinas in her company in Paris. The world of dance is brutal, and Laure is treated like an outsider for being black and American. Her best friend Coralie is one of the only people who really care about her. Her parents have abandoned her and her only joy in life is ballet. After a fellow ballerina tells her that she can have everything she’s ever wanted, Laure journeys into the Paris Catacombs and into a world where she will never be the same. An ancient being lives in a river of blood and it wants Laure. And Laure wants it too. She wants power and to control those who’ve wronged her. No one is safe.
I liked Laure but my favorite characters were Andor and Keturah. I wanted to know more of their stories. The way that everyone treated Laure had my blood boiling. I would have sacrificed my soul in order to crush them too. She never had a chance with those people around her all the time. This was a slow burn story that ramped up but didn’t go as far as I had expected. I wanted some human sacrifices and a monster coming out to tear everyone apart and it didn’t quite go that way. Either way, this was a powerful book about a girl who is tired of the world giving her the crumbs and taking what belongs to her. Even though this is labeled a “villain” story, I can’t help but feel the “good for her” in my bones.