Vampires and corpses and ghosts, oh my!

Set in 19th century Bulgaria, a self proclaimed Vampire hunter promising salvation and a young girl, seen to be cursed and betrothed to be wed to an odious man find themselves an unlikely team.

Monsters come in all different forms in this book not least in the masses that are so ready to cry “Witch!” at a woman for knowing medicinal remedies, being sexually active, having emotions and/or an opinion and when animal corpses and eggs filled with blood are discovered by the locals, panic sets in.

There’s a great line in the book, “The penance for adultery is greater than the penance for a lie”. Men have been blaming women for their indiscretions since the beginning of time and women have paid an unholy price for it.

The language is so evocative and the whole book is peppered with the most beautiful metaphors. I can’t wait to read more from Anna Kovatcheva.

“A vampire is hunger made flesh”
She made herself a monster is not a typical vampire novel. I’m pretty sure this original take will surprise you. I always love when stories contain elements of the Slavic folklore, fables and rituals and here everything is presented in the most raw and fascinating way. The sharp, quick writing makes the pages flow and the strong, fully fleshed-out characters were solid and complex.
I expected our vampire hunter to be the main character, but the central figure is Anka. Her story is so tragic and the real horror is what is to come for her. The familial trauma is reflected in every character, we have a true villain who is disgusting and evil, but also a person, who believes that he can undo the wrongs he did. Kiril is probably the most complex character; his arc is the most fleshed out. I disliked him at the beginning, but getting to know him, I sympathized with him and loved the way he grounded himself by the end. The least interesting person for me was Yana, but still her presence was the key for the events to unfold. The animal killings were necessary for the sacrifices, but still it was hard to read it, so check the triggers for animal death. It was done respectfully though, as respectful as a killing could be.
There were so many great elements, and superstitions, and tales incorporated here as metaphors. The tale of the golden girl is one of my favorite stories and I loved seeing it here. The two interludes were also a great touch. I feel like the physical copy of this book would look amazing, so I would recommend reading it physically. I’ll absolutely get my copy once it gets published.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage | Harvill for providing me with the ARC.