Update: it's unusual for me to reread anything these days, especially only after a year, but in the wake of Harrow it seemed like the obvious thing to do. Second time round there are less surprises, but instead you get to appreciate how well they are set up and foreshadowed. The duels still stand out, capturing the intensity of combat, and the last third of the book is almost impossible too so reading (not including the substantial back matter that helps flesh out the world, which is missing from Harrow come to think of it). If you're looking for a Halloween read, this should be it as is hard to think of a box it doesn't tick: bones, witches, ghosts, monsters, costumes, face paint, prizes for showing off, childhood trauma and dad jokes.

This book seems to have been built from the parts of so many great things that is extremely hard to pin down what one thing it is, but it is certainly entertaining and hard to put down once it gets going. It's also the first book I've read where instead of yearning for a movie or TV series adaptation it really feels like it needs to be animated. Perhaps the poor souls behind the Castlevania Netflix series can pick this up.

Now follows a list of pop culture hybrid descriptions that don't do it justice: Goth Dune, literary black metal, Utena goes to the Hunger Games, Bleach in spaaaaaace, Agatha Christie's Dracula, Harry Potter except Voldemort won and everyone is in Slytherin now, etc.

While it is very much my thing, I can imagine some folk might be put off by the abrupt changes in tone, hyper modern dialog and relentless dad jokes, but all of these things just seasoned the broth to my delight. An unexpected bittersweet joy.