blood countess: review

blood countess is a YA book that retells the chilling story of elizabeth báthory, also known as the blood countess. this novel takes place in 16th century hungary and follows the protagonist, anna, throughout her complicated relationship with the blood countess herself.

anna is skilled with herbs and is something of a nurse in her town. her father is abusive and her family is incredibly poor, struggling to get by each day. however, one day, elizabeth calls on anna as a favor that she will never forget. in fact, she is so impressed with her work, she calls on anna to be her chambermaid, which she accepts willingly.

needless to say, this position did not play out as anna thought it would. at first, elizabeth is kind and nurturing, but soon anna sees her true self. elizabeth tortures the other workers, abusing them and even murdering them whenever she pleases. anna is in love with elizabeth and chooses to take the benefit of the doubt, sticking by her mistress until she finally pushes anna over the edge...

blood countess is a face-paced book with gripping detail, however, i feel that it moved too fast at times. for this reason, i gave it a solid 3/5 stars. i would recommend this book to anyone who likes a quick medieval thriller.

TW: Abuse & rape