ReaderMarija's Reviews

This series is one of my guilty pleasures. From the first book, I was immediately taken in by the Milton-esque lore: Vampires as fallen angels trying to return to Paradise. Quite interesting along with the idea of “old souls” being born again across generations, hence the concept of vampire “immortality.” The “old soul” concept isn’t necessarily new; there’s a religious philosophy that follows this idea, though the name, at the moment, escapes me.

The outline for this series is rather grand and complex, hence the need for this guide. It’s supposed to clarify some of the concepts and iron out the kinks, as well as provide some new information. The book does do that, but overall, I wasn’t really that impressed. De la Cruz changes some of the minute details (age, character’s stature), and I truly don’t understand why she does this. Schuyler and Jack are taller than initially described and Charles Force is actually 20 years younger than once believed. Was this really necessary? And she never really answers the main question I had about this series: The books tell us that Gabrielle broke her bond with Michael when she ran off with her human familiar, Stephen Chase. But wouldn’t her previous indiscretion, the child she had with the Morningstar… wouldn’t that have been evidence that she had already broken her bond with Michael?

The book’s also padded with short stories and sneak peaks from upcoming books. Some were fine, like the Venator’s tale and Jack’s story (which in my opinion needed to have been added to Revelations to make it a better book; and even though it’s told from Jack’s pov, it wouldn’t have spoiled the integrity of the work), but others were just teasers that ultimately left you unsatisfied, such as Schuyler’s story, describing her and Jack’s first rendezvous. Her story leaves you hanging in mid-thought. Though, did like their literary argument surrounding Camus’s The Plague… reminiscent of their prior discussions about Kafka’s The Trial and Camus’ The Stranger in the series proper.

One thing I liked: Bliss’s story, the introduction to Wolf Pact. I was really surprised to actually like this, as I never really warmed to Bliss as a character in the series. I was going to forgo this book when it comes out, but De la Cruz peaked my interest.

Overall, Keys is OK, but nothing special.