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Had to return. I'll pick it back up in the future.

This story is built around our "hero" Gabe, telling his captor his life story. Just to get it out of the way now, the story is dark fantasy while edging into horror in places. If you don't like religious overtones, foul language, violence, or unhappy endings, this book probably isn't for you. Back to the actual story, Gabe is a vampire-killing, foul-mouthed, pessimistic son of a b*tch. I loved him from the very beginning, and he stayed my favorite throughout the book. This book really rides the line of action and horror, making me feel like all of the many characters introduced could be ripped away at any point. On top of that, the world building was magnificent. Kristoff really brings an apocalyptic setting to the tale and puts humanity right on the brink of being a total loss. In more ways than one. Different vampiric bloodlines have traditional abilities with some interesting tweaks here and there. Although at some points it really seems like some of the bloodlines are really punching above their weight just due to the vampires increasing their power with age. I haven't dipped my toes back into dark fantasy since reading Black Company, so this was a nice foray back into it. That being said, now that I am older and apparently more impressionable, there were portions that were difficult to stomach. Although in more of a "my heart hurts for these characters" way instead of an "I am disgusted" way. Sometimes I get from some other horror stories. I would urge anyone to try it. All in all, the book is excellent; definitely going to dig more into the series!

This is damn near perfect. A well crafted hard magic system a unique world filled with likable and loathsome characters. This is a stellar jumping off point for a series. I was honestly surprised at how much I enjoyed the main cast. Gavin is incredibly competent, powerful, and just a bit of a dick. Kip is charismatic in his way and was responsible for several laugh-out-loud moments. Karris' story broke my heart but also is one of my favorite characters overall. I mean you just can't beat Ironfist. The world's magic system revolves around color and light. Drafters can use color to, for lack of a better word, paint magic into physical space. Each of the colors has different abilities, and difficulties in their use. The system is incredibly flexible, and I love how powerful the drafters feel in the setting. Definitely diving deeper into the series soon!