Review: Quiver

Quiver by Holly Luhning

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



If you've ever been intrigued by the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, better known as the Blood Countess who liked to bathe in the blood of young girls to stay young, then you would find this book enjoyable.

This is the story about Dani, a young psychologist fellow in London, who had a fascination with Bathory, and then is given a patient who killed in the name of the Blood Countess. And, supposedly, he is in a secret society who worships the Blood Countess and kill in her name.

Dani has this old "friend" named Maria, who was also fascinated by Bathory. A few years ago, they went to Hungary looking for the lost diaries of this crazy countess and come up empty handed. Then, in the present day, Maria comes back into Dani's life having found the diaries, feeding her tidbits of them as she translates them to english. Dani is fascinated but also cautious to trust this woman again.

I liked it, but I felt the main character was just a pitiful loser who is easily talked into anything. She doesn't seem to have much depth to her. She doubts herself and seems like she just gives excuses for everything. She can't even stand up to the bullying and outright lies of a more senior psychologist at the mental hospital where she works. She seems intoxicated by Maria, even when her clinical self doubts Maria is nothing more than a narcissistic freak.

It's a good mysterious story, especially getting to read the absolute horror of Bathory's diary entries. They just made me cringe.

Even with the character issue, I really enjoyed it.



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