It started out promising and I enjoyed the climax but honestly a bit boring, both plot and character wise. I dunno, might be a me problem-- it *felt* generic even dressed up with unique elements. Really cool idea that I didn't love as much as I wanted. Still a decent and pretty fast read though!

This book was fun! Lucy from Dracula and Bertha from Jane Eyre together as vampire and ghost battling against Dracula and Rochester in 1967 LA and the Haight in SF. Psychedelic vampires and ghosties make for a hilarious tale that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Renfield even shows up. Overall, it’s a great feminist revenge story for these side characters to finally get their chance to kick some butt. I always wondered what was up with Rochester and the first wife in the attic anyway… That always seemed a bit shady to me! ( )

One of my favourites of the year. ( )

I was intrigued by the beginning of the book, but alas I found my interest in the story slowly started to ebb away as the story continued. I liked the idea of the book, mixing characters from classic novels in a new setting, but I never really grew to really like the characters in the book. On the plus side, the narrator of the book, Charlotta Brentan, was really good, but not even she could keep my mind from drifting away now and then. ( )

This was just a whole lotta nope for me. And I'm sorry, but the SGJ quote on the cover is false...at no point did anything ever occur in this novel that remotely hooked me. Nothing.

I guess, let's start with horror. Horror is a lot of things to me. Scary monsters. Scary situations. The building of dread. Terrible things happening to good people. Hell, terrible things happening to no-so-good people. I've even classed some of the (admittedly few) true crime books I've read as horror.

While I don't like slasher stuff whatsoever, and consider it more torture porn than horror, I do understand that it has its place too.

But, for all of that, horror must do one thing. It has to make you uneasy in some way. It could be slight, it could be terrifying, but it has to be there. If it doesn't, sorry, it ain't horror.

This, boys, girls, and everyone else, ain't horror. So, then comes the question...what is it?

Well, here's my truncated version of the book.

We're old. We can't die. Except, yeah, apparently we can.
We hang out. We do the same things every day. Apparently this is how we've survived for 70-odd years.
We meet people. We like some, we don't like others.
The ones we trust shouldn't be trusted. Until they can be. But wait, maybe not. Okay, yes.
We go here. We go there. We come back here again.
All those rules about being a vampire? Forget them. Oh, wait, unless we need it. Nah, forget them.
We get into bad situations. Never mind, that was easy to escape.
"So, my grandson tells me you're a vampire." "Yes." "Kids these days!"
Dracula and Rochester are scary. Okay, they're really not. But they try. A bit.
Dracula coming back is the worst thing ever! Okay, maybe not.
Everyone wants to help us! Yay! Everyone can be trusted! Yay!

Good god, this was just...not terrible. It is guilty of a worse sin. It's boring. It goes nowhere. Every character is dreadfully dull. There's no spark here. There's nothing to hook the reader.

Well, at least not me. Yes, this is strictly my opinion. But dammit, don't classify a book as horror when its general fiction at best. Just because the name Dracula appears in the text doesn't make it horror. Especially this toothless, conceited, officious buffoon that appears here.

I think the greatest sin this book indulges in is having a perfectly wonderful starting idea for a plot. Come on! Two somewhat forgotten characters from two classic books who are now immortal? The possibilities are endless. Such a shame none of them were explored.

So, is this horror? No. But, hey, I'll try and be a bit generous. This is, like I said about Such Sharp Teeth before it, cozy horror. Nothing terrible happens. Actually, virtually nothing happens. And there's very little violence and no horror.

Perfect for those horror fans who actually don't like horror, I guess.

Nope nope nope nope nope. ( )