Kinship: The Uncertain Life of a Vampire Hunter by Caroline A. Gill
Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of Kinship for an honest review.
This was a very unique read! Caroline Gill is definitely a talented word artist. Set in a dark world where vampires certainly don’t glitter and the life of a hunter is far from glamorous, Kinship is a masterfully designed machine.
There are some interesting aspects to this novel that I normally would dislike. For example, the novel contains almost no dialogue. It is a descriptive narration that, frankly, I don’t usually enjoy. I like lots of dialogue; in fact, I prefer books where the dialogue and character development carry the story line. This book used neither technique, and yet I found myself captivated at times by the setting and the action and this strangely beautiful eeriness that envelops Gill’s world.
The only negatives I could mention would be that the long flowery paragraphs often drown out the plot, and sometimes it took me a moment to dig through it all and find my way back to the story. There is quite a bit of repetition, which slowed the story and caused it to become tedious at times. Also, Gill’s language is reminiscent of Charlotte or Emily Bronte. I am a fan of both, and so I have mixed feelings on its use in this story. Although beautiful and elegant, it caused the contemporary setting to feel out of place. I had to continuously remind myself that I was in modern day Chicago, for example. But surprisingly, it still worked, and this strange mixture of all these things somehow added to the wonderment of this story and confused my emotions… in a good way. That’s pretty brilliant, really.
I do plan to read the sequel, as I was given a copy of it as well, and I am looking forward to it!
