Helpful Score: 6
This is the first book I have read by this author, and not really sure what to expect, but the title intrigued me, so I tried it. I am so glad I did. With a mixture of horror, history, and fantasy, I found it really enjoyable, and will be reading more from this author.
Helpful Score: 5
When I started reading this, I thought it was going to be a very campy, comic-bookish, off-the-wall kind of read. However, I was pleasantly surprised by all the research the author did into the life of Lincoln. If you throw out the vampire story, this would be a pretty good biography of Lincoln from his childhood through his untimely death. I especially enjoyed some of the possibilities laid out there including things like Lincoln's possible friendship with Edgar Allan Poe. The author then does a great job of blending Lincoln's history with the vampire story and at the end even left room for a possible sequel. The writing style to me was very good and did not detract from the story. I would overall give this one a high recommendation. It made me want to read more about Lincoln's life and tragedies.
Helpful Score: 3
I finally know the real reason for the American Civil War!I enjoyed the differant "perspective" on history. It was easy to suspend belief and fall into a differant world. There were enough actual facts to support the premise. A fun read.
Helpful Score: 3
I have previously read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Grahame-Smith and enjoyed it. So when I saw this book released I was interested in reading it. I listened to this on audio book which I wouldn't recommend. The narrator and Abraham Lincoln have similar voices so it is hard to tell when they switch, also I didn't get to benefit from any of the pictures that the book has. Overall it was a well done book, although it was more of a biography than a story.
I am not a huge Abraham Lincoln fan but I have read a couple books about him so I knew some of his background. Grahame-Smith has done a very good job of adding vampires to Abe Lincoln's story without hugely altering Lincoln's past. The audio book had a short interview at the end and I agree with what Grahame-Smith said when he mentioned that Abe Lincoln's history hardly needs vampires added to be incredibly interesting. The book itself switches between a narrator and actual entries from Lincoln's journals.
Saying that vampires came to the USA because of the slave trade is an interesting idea and was a good way to tie in vampirism with slavery. Grahame-Smith did a good job of making Lincoln's story very personable and he really featured what happened with Lincoln's family more than I had read in previous books. The inclusion of Lincoln's family made this book much more engaging than it would have been otherwise.
The only thing that bothered me is that I was expected more of a story about Lincoln and vampires and what I got was more of a biography. At times it got a bit boring, I didn't really want to listen to a biography. I also thought that the part added on after Lincoln's assassination was odd; but after thinking about it for a while I think it was appropriate to the rest of the story.
Overall this book is well done and interesting. Not something I would read again, but interesting all the same. You can really tell Grahame-Smith did his research and he did a good job integrating vampires with Lincoln's life story. Just be warned that this is a biography and reads more like that than a fiction novel.
I am not a huge Abraham Lincoln fan but I have read a couple books about him so I knew some of his background. Grahame-Smith has done a very good job of adding vampires to Abe Lincoln's story without hugely altering Lincoln's past. The audio book had a short interview at the end and I agree with what Grahame-Smith said when he mentioned that Abe Lincoln's history hardly needs vampires added to be incredibly interesting. The book itself switches between a narrator and actual entries from Lincoln's journals.
Saying that vampires came to the USA because of the slave trade is an interesting idea and was a good way to tie in vampirism with slavery. Grahame-Smith did a good job of making Lincoln's story very personable and he really featured what happened with Lincoln's family more than I had read in previous books. The inclusion of Lincoln's family made this book much more engaging than it would have been otherwise.
The only thing that bothered me is that I was expected more of a story about Lincoln and vampires and what I got was more of a biography. At times it got a bit boring, I didn't really want to listen to a biography. I also thought that the part added on after Lincoln's assassination was odd; but after thinking about it for a while I think it was appropriate to the rest of the story.
Overall this book is well done and interesting. Not something I would read again, but interesting all the same. You can really tell Grahame-Smith did his research and he did a good job integrating vampires with Lincoln's life story. Just be warned that this is a biography and reads more like that than a fiction novel.
Helpful Score: 3
The novel was so well written i had the hardest time finding a place to stop. It was absolutely mesmorizing with word and story. I truely kept having to remind myself this is "part fiction". The unique cover captured my attention first and then from the first page it keep my husband eating cold cuts and preparing his own meals for two days. I loved this book and i want to reread it, to make sure i didn't miss anything good. I still want to believe everything i read as it was so well presented, and what fun it would be to believe. I doubt this author can write anything that can top this, but i would be more than willing to read what ever he has written to see.
