Book Review: The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis

The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis
Length: 416 Pages
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

"There was a dark ocean in Ora's chest. It teemed with sharp teeth and gaping maws and spiked tentacles. Most days, she floated on top in a small rowboat, parasol on her shoulder, refusing to look into the abyss. If she fell in, she was quite sure she would drown."

A special thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for giving me an ARC of this book!

Trigger Warnings in this book for Violence, Gore, and Animal Death

All my life I've loved vampires. From the soft, glittering type, to the snarling, dangerous and black-eyed kind, I love them all, and consume vampire media like it's an addiction. So of course, I've run into some bad ones, though I have to admit, I have a fondness and nostalgia for a good cheesy vamp flick. While I would never say I'm growing bored of vampires, I do admit the genre needs some new blood (😉) injected into it. That is why I was so excited for Nicole Jarvis's The Lights of Prague and even made it one of my most anticipated books of the year! And boy, did it deliver.

Set in the historic and darkly beautiful city of Prague during the early 19th-century, an era of innovation, science, and gas street lamps that illuminate the shadowed streets. We follow two characters: the brooding yet gentle Domek Myska who belongs to the guild of Lamplighters, men who go out and light the lamps dotting the streets and stalk in search of creatures of the night; and Lady Ora Fischerová, a redhaired, hundreds of years old bisexual widow who keeps quite a distance between herself and other pijavice (The vampires in this setting. The word translates to "leeches"). Both are drawn to each other again and again, neither knowing the truth about one another. Their stories run parallel to one another as they investigate a strange claim that pijavice have found a "cure", leaving them immune to the usual killers of their kind: hawthorn and sunlight.

Featuring wonderfully interesting creatures, like the shadowy bubák, the water-dwelling vodník, a fascinating take on a will-o'-the-wisp, and the more common poltergeist, The Lights of Prague is an entrancing fantasy novel, set in the utterly Romantic and Gothic city of Prague, that seamlessly blends in aspects of historical fiction and horror. A new favorite, and a must-read for any fellow vamp lovers!