The Historian

"The story is pretty good, but I'm not crazy about the way it was written, jumping between past and present. In some chapters it was a little jarring and pulled me out of the immersion. Still worth reading."

"Lengthy, yes. Captivating, yes. I enjoyed this Dracula tale very much. The book is packed with history and was intriguing to learn more. "

"An alternative tale of Dracula…I could not put it down. I loved this book."

"3.5/5 If I hadn’t listened to the audio version, this would have taken me months to finish. The modern retelling of Dracula was really interesting and the historical detail made the story seem very real, but I struggled with the length of the book. The discoveries the characters made throughout the book were fairly obvious to me, so it lacked the wow factor/page turner quality that others mentioned. "

"It was a good story, but in my opinion, it was way too long for what it was."

"This book is insanely good when it shouldn’t be. There’s nearly zero action. However this book grabs you and won’t let go. You’re always asking, what’s next? When will they find what they’re looking for? Constantly propelling the story forward. The authors detail is so amazing that you get completely dragged in. I only wish it had a tiny bit of action. But, really it’s perfect. "

"I really enjoyed this book, what a great detailed story. The amount of history, woven in with details of countries, cultures and historical sites is amazing. I enjoyed every page of this novel. The characters where completely believable and likable. I felt like I was right there with them on their journey. There where several times where I was so engrossed in the book that my phone rang and I jumped out of my skin. :op I will definitely be reading more about Vlad the Impaler as I found parts of his story fascinating. I also need to read my copy of "Bram Stokers Dracula". I love the way the story is all pieced together and you are constantly fed one clue after another, but still left wondering what will happen next. Elizabeth Kostova is a wonderful story teller, I'm still in awe that this is her first novel. I hope she has not peeked with this one, and that we can expect many more great stories from her."

"Gothic, well paced and mysterious."

"Loved this book. A bit slow going, but the historical aspect is quite interesting and kept me intrigued! "

"Hard to say. Not a specific moment so much as the build up of descriptions of different places and their histories. Kosova made the places feel very real, almost characters themselves. You really got a sense of the space the characters were moving through, and the atmosphere was overwhelming. It really stuck with me."