Synopsis:

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

Review:

This book follows three women from different times, all connected by a single thread. Hunger. One is a great beauty, a prize sought after by men. One lives a pretty life on a pretty estate, but is sent away to the city after a moment of forbidden intimacy. And the last seeks a fresh start in a new country where people don’t know what she’s run away from.

Alice was my favourite of the three main characters in this book. Having moved to Boston for a fresh start, she finds herself well, not herself, one morning. Her story was so layered and her personality was very distinctive and complex. 

Maria, however, I did not like. I don’t think she is supposed to be likeable, but it was more than that for me. I just didn’t enjoy reading her chapters. She felt like a ‘not like other girls’ character, and ultimately every vampire trope in one person.

I also don’t think the book handled the multiple POVs as well as I would have liked. It felt very unbalanced, especially after the introduction of Charlotte. I did like Charlotte, and I enjoyed reading her journey, but it was very long and detailed compared to the other two and I think it should have been introduced a lot sooner, because it pushed out Alice’s POV quite a bit. The three timelines, while connected in theme, felt overall disjointed.

What shines the most for me here is the writing. It’s rich and dark and lends so much atmosphere to the story. The backdrops feel decadent and alive. I also liked the underlying themes of the book. While on the surface it is vampires, below it is about women and how they try to regain their power in a world that was not made for them.

This is very much a character story, and a drawn-out one at that. It is slower reading, so if that’s not something you enjoy, then I would hesitate to recommend this. The writing is delicious, though, and if you liked Addie LaRue, then you will probably enjoy this one too.

“Bury my bones in the midnight soil, plant them shallow but water them deep, and in my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth.”