The Fox and the Devil

The daughter of Van Helsing falling in love with the vampire she’s hunted across Europe, joining forces to destroy an even bigger monster on the streets of Paris, sounds exactly like my cup of tea.

I’m big on historical fantasy, I have been leaning into investigative fantasy lately, and a gothic vampire horror is almost always on my list. So this book had so many elements in it that I could get behind. I enjoyed myself but the story lacked the depth I was searching for and the plot felt like it was being dragged reluctantly behind the characters as I read. I wanted to love it but there was something missing from it that I can’t quite place my finger on.

Inge was my favourite character and she had exactly one paragraph to reveal her plot twist before we moved on. I hate to say it but this felt like an early draft, it has such good bones!! but it hasn’t had the time to sit and stew into the delicious book it could have been.

I loved that the book honoured Dracula and the epistolary nature of Stoker’s work. Anneke was the spitfire that she deserved to be and I loved her in the early chapters when her detective work was entirely on-page.

The cover is incredible, props to the illustrator Andrew Davis for my favourite foxy cover of the year.