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poisonenvy's review against another edition
1.0
If I could give this zero stars I would. The writing is atrocious, it's barely factual, and is riddled with homophobia, racism, and ableism. Chapter nine is about an entirely different serial killer all together, with one or two sentences about Bathory thrown in for fun.
emeraldragon's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Minor: Rape and Pedophilia
noahsentireass's review against another edition
5.0
Valentine Penrose--if you aren't familiar with this very cool queer surrealist you /must/ become so--does a fabulous job capturing the macabre legend of Erszebet Bathory, the original inspiration for Dracula and the vampire lore we see today!
I would like to emphasize the fact that what we "know" about this 16th century Hungarian countess (the bathing in blood and mass murder) is a thing of myth and folklore with no substantiated evidence. Do some digging yourself! was it more likely that Erszebet was a powerful woman, who owned more land in Hungary than the king himself, treated her servants cruelly (didn't literally every royal?), was very odd, performed pagan rituals and magic, was always surrounded by a gaggle of women, and was probably a lesbian and therefore was a threat and an enigma to powerful (or power hungry) men OR she was absolutely and totally unhinged, tortured and murdered almost 700 young girls, and bathed in their blood to stay young and beautiful? The blood baths weren't added to the legend until over a hundred years after Erszebet lived. The accusations of mass murder and "evidence" in the form of "catching her red handed" came from the greedy man, Thurzo, who's land bordered her own. It seems to me like several men conspired to ruin this woman's life and legacy.
more info on Valentine Penrose:
https://www.thedementedgoddess.com/valentine-penrose-ravages-brief-caresses/
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4419&context=gradschool_dissertations
I would like to emphasize the fact that what we "know" about this 16th century Hungarian countess (the bathing in blood and mass murder) is a thing of myth and folklore with no substantiated evidence. Do some digging yourself! was it more likely that Erszebet was a powerful woman, who owned more land in Hungary than the king himself, treated her servants cruelly (didn't literally every royal?), was very odd, performed pagan rituals and magic, was always surrounded by a gaggle of women, and was probably a lesbian and therefore was a threat and an enigma to powerful (or power hungry) men OR she was absolutely and totally unhinged, tortured and murdered almost 700 young girls, and bathed in their blood to stay young and beautiful? The blood baths weren't added to the legend until over a hundred years after Erszebet lived. The accusations of mass murder and "evidence" in the form of "catching her red handed" came from the greedy man, Thurzo, who's land bordered her own. It seems to me like several men conspired to ruin this woman's life and legacy.
more info on Valentine Penrose:
https://www.thedementedgoddess.com/valentine-penrose-ravages-brief-caresses/
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4419&context=gradschool_dissertations
velvyteds's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
emmaremes's review against another edition
4.0
Me encantó. Pero hay que leerlo con tiempo y paz, está escrito casi como un poema, que es hermoso, pero también tiene su complejidad. La primera mitad me costó un poco, tuve que ir un poco más lento; pero en la otra parte no podía parar de leer. En un principio pensé que no me iba a enganchar tanto Porque es una historia real, pero literalmente la trama parece de ficción. Como describe el autor el contexto histórico es espectacular, muy amplio (hasta puede ser un poco excesivo). Y un detalle muy importante, la traducción es excelente, me parece importante destacarlo ya que la narración de este libro es una de las razones de mi puntaje de 4 estrellas.
paloma_sanchezh's review against another edition
3.0
Erzsebet Bathory es una de las primeras asesinas en serie conocidas, y su historia, el ejemplo más espeluznante de los resultados de la mezcla de la locura, el esoterismo y el poder. Habiendo leído otros libros sobre la Condesa Sangrienta, he de reconocer que este libro me costó trabajo -el original es en francés, y la autora narra la vida y los tiempos de Erzesebet Bathory, intentando explicar su contexto, su creencia en lo sobrenatural y la influencia de brujería y otros elementos esotéricos. Quizá esta fue la parte que más trabajo me costó entender, porque había capítulos enteros dedicados a invocaciones, a la búsqueda de plantas y otros elementos para pociones y hechizos, y en mi opinión, éstos no terminaron de fortalecer la narración. Bathory torturó y asesinó a más de 600 niñas, y el horror de estos acontecimientos parecen querer atenuarse ante ciertas creencias románticas de la conexión entre elementos astrológicos y brujería. Esto es quizá lo que menos me gustó. El libro contiene al final un apéndice con las transripciones de los juicios de los cómplices de la Condesa. Cinco páginas con los interrogatorios resultan más espeluznantes que todo el libro, que si bien no es malo, falla en transmitir la realidad de los asesinatos, la psicología y la perversidad de Erzebet Bathory.
silvia10's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Very slow beginning, gets better about half the book. Quite terrorific, specially knowing the character existed and everything told happened for real.
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