Blood Countess by Lana Popović

 

Whoa. I'm honestly kind of shocked that this has such low ratings because it seems like it's a pressure cooker of everything that the YA community claims to love: mature voice, lyrical writing, chaotic sapphic energy, morally grey characters, poison, and court intrigue. Even better yet, I read this hot on the heels of another work of Elizabeth Bathory fanfiction, THE BLOOD CONFESSION, and I actually think this one might be better!

Less is more going in but I'll try to give a brief summary. Anna Darvulia is a midwife's daughter who lives in a home with an abusive father. She and her mother barely scrape enough together to earn a living with the father drinking all his profits, so when she catches the eye of Countess Bathory and earns her favor, it seems too good to be true. Anna and Elizabeth eventually grow close, developing an almost romantic bond. And as Anna falls deeper and deeper under her spell, it seems like there's nothing she won't do to keep her status as Elizabeth's "dove."

The writing in this book is great and I thought the author did a really great job managing that historical tone without being too verbose. Once the book started rolling along, it had me clutching the book with white knuckles, desperate to find out what happened next. It's pretty violent for a YA and the fraught relationship between Anna and Elizabeth reminded me of some of the 1970s bodice-rippers I read, where the "hero" was actually blatantly unapologetically evil, and I think this is the first F/F book I've read that captures that same energy-- although this is not a romance.

I'll definitely be checking out more from this author because this was slipping-off-the-edge-of-my-seat good.

4.5 out of 5 stars