The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Lil tells the story, and we watch as she struggles with being the twin of someone she considers much more beautiful and talented than herself. There is some lovely character development in The Deathless Girls. It brings out the best and worst in them, and I particularly loved Hargrave’s representation of people responding differently to the same situation. The evil in this novel is varied, meaning Lil and Kizzy are tested on many levels.

The things they do and say are shocking and devastating, but this adds to the depth of the story. Other, human characters also fill the antagonist role. Instead, we are presented with monster upon monster, and shown the harsh realities of such a creature.īut the vampires are not the only evil in the novel. There is no hidden romance here, no dark and brooding supernatural creature come to whisk our girls off their feet. Kiran Millwood Hargrave truly places vampires back in their traditional fearsome place. There are some dark themes in this novel. Descriptions of beautiful things had me wanting to live in the world, but those of awful events had me feeling horrified. The descriptions were constantly vivid which evoked strong reactions. I fell in love with this novel within the first few lines, as the writing immediately felt lyrical. Our main characters, Lil and Kizzy, are introduced in the setting of their family and Traveller way of life, which begins their wonderfully rich backstory.

The Deathless Girls begins a long time prior to the setting of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, in a time where Travellers are common. They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate… But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts. On the eve of her divining, the day she’ll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.įorced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn’t understand.

They say the thirst of blood is like a madness – they must sate it. The story she weaves is so captivating that readers will have a hard time putting down The Deathless Girls. Kiran Millwood Hargrave has created a rich, dark world in which to tell the story of two of literature’s most mysterious women.

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave